I was only 13, but I remember it vividly, John.
My younger sister was in the first class of students in San Francisco who were going to be bused across the city as part of the school desegregation program.
My parents, and four other Chinese-American families in our neighborhood who also had children affected, tasked me with going to our local school board to make a statement on our community’s behalf.
The parents wanted me to say, “We don’t oppose the goals of the busing program, but none of us drive. We have our businesses open six to seven days a week. If anything should happen to our child, we would have to close up and take public transportation for well over two hours to bring our child home — causing real financial hardship.”
“Why don’t you take the money that you would spend on the busing program to make every school better?”
Of course the busing program still went through, but that moment stuck with me.
I was inspired from that day to be a voice, an advocate. I was their advocate.
People hear about a program that sounds like it would be beneficial, and they don’t think about the downsides. The best of intentions, but with consequences that can cause hardship and harm to some.
Too often, we’ve faced that in California. Too often, we don’t have voices in the room with lived experience to offer the “extra” to the plans to make them work.
That’s why I’m running for Governor – at a time when the dream of getting ahead to better provide for ourselves and our families is getting out of reach for too many among us. I want to ensure everyone has a voice in the room.
If you’re with me on this journey, please chip in a donation to my campaign today. Any amount is appreciated as we build the grassroots army of all stripes we need to bring positive change and growth.
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More soon,
Betty
