Advice to New Immigrants? Don't Shy From Representation

Statistician and activist Nancy Lo, Ph.D. was born in southwestern China, but escaped to Taiwan at age six. (See post one.) For most of her early days in Taiwan, she was sheltered with other Air Force families, only meeting the local children when she went to Middle/High School. (See post two.) Despite this foreign atmosphere, where she didn't always understand the language, she succeeded in going to the top university in Taipei.  And, while social pressure shunted her away from pure math, it also pushed her to attend Oregon State University (See post three).   She was an early pioneer of cross-cultural relationships in Oregon, marrying her classmate John Ferguson in 1967. She graduated with a Ph.D. in statistics. (see post four). Over the years, she's returned to work/visit relatives in China on numerous occasions. In addition to seeing pollution as an issue, she is concerned about the false "cloak of Communism." (see post five.)  Her concerns about the U.S. include excessive military intervention and our unbalanced immigration policies. (See post six.)While she isn't concerned about the U.S./China relationship, she has had concerns for China and Japan. She has worked tirelessly over the years to improve the relationship through acknowledgement of past mistakes/forgiveness through the Association for Preserving Historical Accuracy in Foreign Invasions--APHAFIC. (See post seven.) It hasn't been easy.

 Nancy lamented APHAFIC's' lack of political muscle.

“I tell lot of young people staying in the U.S. If your kids are interested in political science/social science, let them do it, instead of just getting a degree in medical science/computer science. We need more power in the political arena where can we talk through the Congress.

“You look at how many of Chinese descent are in the Congress.  (Currently, Judy Chu remains the one person of Chinese descent in the 535 members of the House and Senate.)

First Chinese-American Elected to Congress--2009

“Hopefully people will see the system in the United States. Without representation in the legislature, it’s hard.”

(With gratitude to Nancy, this concludes our interview.)

Educating People About History

Statistician and activist Nancy Lo, Ph.D. was born in southwestern China, but escaped to Taiwan at age six. (See post one.) For most of her early days in Taiwan, she was sheltered with other Air Force families, only meeting the local children when she went to Middle/High School. (See post two.) Despite this foreign atmosphere, where she didn't always understand the language, she succeeded in going to the top university in Taipei.  And, while social pressure shunted her away from pure math, it also pushed her to attend Oregon State University (See post three).   She was an early pioneer of cross-cultural relationships in Oregon, marrying her classmate John Ferguson in 1967. She graduated with a Ph.D. in statistics. (see post four). Over the years, she's returned to work/visit relatives in China on numerous occasions. In addition to seeing pollution as an issue, she is concerned about the false "cloak of Communism." (see post five.)  Her concerns about the U.S. include excessive military intervention and our unbalanced immigration policies. (See post six.)

Nancy is not concerned about the relationship between China and the U.S. (“Right now it seems to be good.”) But, she is concerned about the relationship between China and Japan.

“I was hoping the U.S. would put some force on Japan, and ask them to apologize for what they did during WWII…For example, Obama went to Hiroshima in May 2016. I wish (Japanese Prime Minister) Abe would go to Nanking to visit the Nanking Massacre Museum.”

It will be very difficult for China and Japan to develop a strong relationship with this glaring wrong being unacknowledged. “Chinese are not going to get over with that until Japan does something.”

Since 1998 Nancy has lobbied on behalf of legislation involving the teaching of Asian history,  has organized conferences with San Diego State University and UC San Diego, hosted documentary screenings and book signings, raised funds to send teachers to China and hosted Global Alliance conferences on the preservation of WWII history. In 2002 she and a handful of people founded TheAssociation for Preserving Historical Accuracy in Foreign Invasions in China(APHAFIC.org.)

“Her commitment is one of such passion,” said Aaron De Groot, a San Diego High history teacher Lo’s association sent to China in 20017. “It’s not about retribution. Nancy’s group is just working to get the Japanese government to acknowledge the horrors that took place.”
“Right now, it’s (APHAFIC) basically educational. We wish we could get into the politics. It’s not so easy...the best we can do right now is to educate people about history.”

(To be continued. Final segment: Advice for new immigrants? Don't Shy from Representation.)

American Immigration--All Farmers, No Scientists

Statistician and activist Nancy Lo, Ph.D. was born in southwestern China, but escaped to Taiwan at age six. (See post one.) For most of her early days in Taiwan, she was sheltered with other Air Force families, only meeting the local children when she went to Middle/High School. (See post two.) Despite this foreign atmosphere, where she didn't always understand the language, she succeeded in going to the top university in Taipei.  And, while social pressure shunted her away from pure math, it also pushed her to attend Oregon State University (See post three).   She was an early pioneer of cross-cultural relationships in Oregon, marrying her classmate John Ferguson in 1967. She graduated with a Ph.D. in statistics. (see post four). Over the years, she's returned to work/visit relatives in China on numerous occasions. In addition to seeing pollution as an issue, she is concerned about the false "cloak of Communism." (see post five.) 

As for problems in the U.S., Nancy sees two issues: “U.S. wants to be the king of the world.  So much of the U.S. government budget is spent sending the military people around the world. Even like the islands that China claims in S.E. Asia—U.S. can send the troops to that area.

“If people ask for help, you can help. If people don’t ask for help, you don’t have to (get involved.)”
Just as Jason Tu mentioned in our interview, Nancy was also troubled by our immigration policies.

“I know some scientists from China. They come here, get Ph.D. degrees, and work as Post Docs. 

"They have their names put on the list to stay in the United States legally, but it takes many years before their documents are approved. But, if you come here illegally you get protected. 

"So, we welcome the illegal immigrants that are doing farm work, but the ones who have high-tech backgrounds, we don’t want them.”

(To be continued. Next: Educating People about History.)

China's Big Problem--Pretending to Be Communist

Statistician and activist Nancy Lo, Ph.D. was born in southwestern China, but escaped to Taiwan at age six. (See post one.) For most of her early days in Taiwan, she was sheltered with other Air Force families, only meeting the local children when she went to Middle/High School. (See post two.) Despite this foreign atmosphere, where she didn't always understand the language, she succeeded in going to the top university in Taipei.  And, while social pressure shunted her away from pure math, it also pushed her to attend Oregon State University (See post three).   She was an early pioneer of cross-cultural relationships in Oregon, marrying her classmate John Ferguson in 1967. She graduated with a Ph.D. in statistics. (see post four). 

Over the years, Nancy has been back to China quite often.  She joined a United Nations project in Shandong in 1987. She wrote to her cousin in China, suggesting they meet in Beijing. He wrote back and said, “You need to write a letter to my principal for permission.”

At the time Chinese needed a permit to travel…even if it was just to the next province.

Since then, citing specifically the skyscrapers and bullet trains which travel at 187 miles/hour, she said, “the change in China is incredible, I tell you. It’s just incredible.”

Like many, Nancy says the biggest issue facing China is air pollution. On top of this, she is troubled by, “the cloak of Communism. They are more Capitalist, in general. It would be real nice--I don’t know if it’s possible—if one day they could accept some political parties to make it a really Democratic country.”

(To be continued. Next: American Immigration--All Farmers, No Scientists.)

Pioneer in Cross-Cultural Relationships

Statistician and activist Nancy Lo, Ph.D. was born in southwestern China, but escaped to Taiwan at age six. (See post one.) For most of her early days in Taiwan, she was sheltered with other Air Force families, only meeting the local children when she went to Middle/High School. (See post two.) Despite this foreign atmosphere, where she didn't always understand the language, she succeeded in going to the top university in Taipei.  And, while social pressure shunted her away from pure math, it also pushed her to attend Oregon State University (See post three). 

At Oregon State she entered the MBA program.  In her class, she was the only female, only Chinese, only non-native speaker. Despite the challenges, she earned straight A’s, and switched her emphasis to something even more to her liking: statistics. She got her Ph.D. in 1972 and began her career in fisheries.

But, to back up a bit, in one of her classes, she met the love of her life: John Ferguson. Oregon had repealed all legislation banning interracial marriage in 1951, and the Supreme Court finally jumped on board in 1966. So, I wondered how they fared.

“It was early for a cross-cultural relationship, especially in Oregon. I think American people are more open-minded, but not some of my Chinese friends. One classmate of mine told me, ’You better think twice, because I don’t think your parents will be very happy ’”

The classmate was correct. Although Nancy and John went ahead, marrying in Corvallis in 1967, her father (initially) was not happy. . He wrote to her from Taiwan…“'I have two sons-in-laws. One does not talk, and another one doesn’t speak Chinese.' My mother however was very open-minded…She ordered a cake, and invited her friends to celebrate.”

(To be continued. Next: China's Big Problem--Pretending to Be Communist.)