中国人与西方左派的道德盲点 Moral Blind Spot - On Abdul-Jabbar's Article

中国人与西方左派的道德盲点 Moral Blind Spot - On Abdul-Jabbar's Article

每日一语：

除去1936年柏林奥运和1980年莫斯科奥运外，将2008年北京奥运与任何其他奥运比较只能说明比较者的致命道德混乱与道德盲点。 大多数中国人与西方左派正是这种道德混乱与道德盲点的典型代表。 --- 陈凯

Besides 1936 Berlin Olympics and 1980 Moscow Olympics, comparing, not contrasting, Beijing Olympics with any others Olympics only demonstrate the moral confusion of those who compare, and only shows the fatal moral blind spot of those who compare. Most Chinese and the left in the West are typical representatives of such moral confusion and moral blindness. --- Kai Chen

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Dear Visitors:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Laker great, wrote an article in LA Times today, comparing 2008 Beijing Olympics with 1968 Mexico City Olympics in which some American athletes protested the US government's inadequate response to protect civil rights of the American citizens. He is grossly mistaken.

I like Jabbar, a very conscientious and intelligent man, a great basketball player. But to compare 1968 Mexico City Olympics with 2008 Beijing Olympics shows exactly what is wrong with the American left who only wants some so-called human rights without addressing the fundamental issue of legitimacy of the Chinese government, or any despotic communist regimes in the world.

I have seen articles written comparing 2008 Beijing Olympics with 1988 Seoul Olympics, hoping such event will bring change to China as it did to South Korea. The fundamental moral mistake of those who compare the two missed the qualitative differences between a communist regime and an authoritarian regime entirely under American influence. History shows us time again that only those countries under American influences can reform and change. The Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan.., to name just a few examples.

None of the communist regimes in the world, same as Nazi and Fascist regimes, can reform itself. They either collapse under their own weight, or are defeated in wars by the free world.

People like Jabbar are either naive or ignorant about the nature of the Chinese communist regime. Or they are simply intellectually lazy and morally dishonest when they make such comparison. My wife made a comment on Jabbar by saying that 1968 Olympics was the only one that Jabbar experienced with some protest, so he has to compare the two. I replied that this does not give him excuses not to be morally clear about the communist regime in China. To compare China with 1960s America only shows Jabbar is indeed morally confused and intellectually ignorant. This fatal moral blind spot will cause many lives and great misery for the people of the world in the years to come.

The illegitimacy and criminal nature of the Chinese communist regime must be exposed to its fullest extent as the Beijing Olympics approaches. I, as Jabbar, do not advocate boycotting the Olympics because I don't want to deprave the athletes the opportunity to compete. But I do indeed advocate boycotting the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. And I strongly urge President Bush not to attend the Opening Ceremony in Beijing on August 8, 2008.

I have repeatedly stated my position on the nature of the Chinese society and the Chinese government. Now I paste Jabbar's article on today's LA Times here for you to read.

Best. Kai Chen

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COMMENTARY

Abdul-Jabbar compares calls for Olympic boycotts in 1968 and 2008

Associated Press

Spencer Haywood ( leads way during U.S. gold-medal win at the 1968 Games, where there was a protest by black Americans but no boycott

Politics shadow Mexico City and Beijing Olympics, but Abdul-Jabbar sees different options in China.

By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Special to The Times

May 5, 2008

In 1968 I was a 20-year-old college junior whose basketball success had made me famous. I'd been honored as most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament, named the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. player of the year, and played the "game of the century" against the Houston Cougars at the Astrodome. So it wasn't surprising that I was invited to try out for the Olympic basketball team to represent the U.S. in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Any other year I would have been proud and elated at the prospect of playing for my country against the world's elite athletes.

But 1968 wasn't like any other year.

The Vietnam War had divided the country more violently than any time since the Civil War. The nightly news clips of U.S. planes bombing the Vietnam jungle were paralleled by clips of angry, sometimes bloody, clashes between war protesters and war supporters.

Violence was almost as rampant at home. First Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, then Robert Kennedy. The 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago featured thousands of anti-war protesters who were met with police violence.

In the midst of all this international and domestic turmoil, the Olympic Games represented, to some, an opportunity to bring people of all nationalities together, maybe heal some wounds. To others it represented the usual hypocrisy of ignoring the political problems in the name of entertainment and profit.

And there I was in the middle. Twenty years old. The age of many of the soldiers who were fighting and dying in Vietnam. Some of them were my childhood friends. Because of my visibility as an athlete, whatever I chose to do would have international reverberations.

At that time sociology professor Dr. Harry Edwards, only in his mid-20s, urged black athletes to boycott the Olympic Games in Mexico City.

"For years we have participated in the Olympic Games, carrying the United States on our backs with our victories, and race relations are now worse than ever," he told the New York Times Magazine in 1968. "We're not trying to lose the Olympics for the Americans. What happens to them is immaterial. . . . But it's time for the black people to stand up as men and women and refuse to be utilized as performing animals for a little extra dog food."

Harsh words to many white sports fans and self-proclaimed patriots alike, but for African American athletes, there was a clear ring of truth behind the rhetoric. Clearly the Olympic Games and the Vietnam War were parallel competitions. In each, blacks were supposed to go overseas to drive themselves as hard as they could in order to bring glory to their country, only to return home and still be treated as second-class citizens.

All that gave me a lot to think about. Then baseball-pro-turned-broadcaster Joe Garagiola interviewed me on the "Today Show" and for the first time I spoke publicly about my concerns and frustrations regarding the direction the country was taking politically. Garagiola was clearly annoyed that I would even consider boycotting the Olympics. My response was that for black Americans life in this country was still something that included racially based discrimination in every area of life.

Eventually the idea of a boycott was abandoned because Edwards was unable to attract a critical number of athletes to the idea. In my case, I had a summer job with the city of New York that paid me very well and enabled me to attend school without having to worry about financial matters.

However, that October at the Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, after winning first and third in the 200-meter dash, raised their black-gloved fists from the medal podium and bowed their heads during the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." This image captured the spirit of the times: Whites were outraged, blacks felt some rush of pride. Ironically, their gesture was a compromise; dozens of black American athletes had debated boycotting the Games but decided that this gesture would speak louder than not showing up. Edwards was credited with suggesting this compromise.

Here we are 40 years later and we are once again about to send our young athletes overseas to compete in games while we send our young soldiers overseas to fight in war. And, as before, there is a social agenda attached to the Olympic Games.

Should we boycott the Olympic Games to protest China's arrogant human rights performance, its political imperialism, its shoddy exports that recently have left some Americans ill or dead?

The answer is no. While it may seem disingenuous to be playing games with countries that aim weapons at us, the same claim can be made about us by many other countries.

I am of a mind that the actions of Smith and Carlos made a difference in 1968. However, this Olympics is an entirely different situation that requires different tactics to achieve a satisfactory resolution. Instead of turning our backs, we need to continue a dialogue with the Chinese.

The more we talk with each other, the more we understand each other and can reach compromises that will benefit the lives of those we are trying to help. Jackie Robinson once said that the great thing about athletics is that "you learn to act democracy, not just talk it." That's what our athletes will demonstrate to the 1 billion Chinese who may be watching.

A second means of influencing the Chinese is through globalization, in which we share products, entertainment, and culture with others -- and they share theirs with us -- in order to break down the barriers that make us fear each other's differences.

The NBA is a good model for globalization. The Chinese Basketball Assn. permits only two foreign-born players per team. But the NBA's policy of choosing the best players, regardless of nationality, has not only kicked up the level of play, but it's made basketball more popular on an international level than ever. The fact that the NBA brought in China's Yao Ming, Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, Sun Yue and Mengke Bateer has increased NBA fans in China -- and when the Chinese people are exposed to America through basketball, we become more human to them, less a threat.

So, let's not just pick up our ball and stay home. We have many more options -- political, commercial, and cultural -- to express our displeasure with China's policies. The more we have in common, the more impact we can make. It's all about building trust.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, is the author of six books, including "On the Shoulders of Giants: My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance."
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Kai Chen's Email to Jabbar:

Dear Kareem: 5/5/08

"Slavery is not a matter of simple oppression. It is an insidious codependency between the slaves and the slave-owners. This is also true in today's Chinese State Slavery". I as a modern abolitionist will stand up to address the issue of the nature of the Chinese government and society, as a conscientious athlete, as a free man. --- Kai Chen

I am a former basketball player for the Chinese National Team in 1978. I published my book last year. "One in a Billion - Journey toward Freedom, the Story of a Pro-Basketball Player in China". You can go on Amazon to get it.

After I read your article in today's LA Times, I wrote a piece in my forum http://www.youpai.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=5. I will paste that article in my blog as well: http://olympicsfreedomtshirt.blogspot.com/. My personal website is www.freewebs.com/oneinabillion

I am very disturbed by your comparison between 1968 Mexico City Olympics and 2008 Beijing Olympics. To me there is no comparison, but only contrast. To compare America with China is a gross moral mistake and such a moral confusion must be addressed.

China is not a nation. China is a Party-state. The Chinese communist government is not only illegitimate but criminal in nature. If you know China's constitution, you will see that the communist party's absolute control over the Chinese population is guaranteed in it. The Chinese press, court, army, police are all under the command of the communist party, not under the government. Throughout the reign of terror under the communist regime, 70 million innocent lives have been lost over murder, torture, starvation, labor camps. Today those atrocities are still being perpetrated upon the Chinese people. Christians, Monks, Falungong practitioners, minorities..., are still being persecuted. If you truly want to compare the Olympics from the past with the Beijing Olympics, only two come to my mind: 1936 Berlin Nazi Olympics and 1980 Moscow Communist Olympics. To compare the Beijing Olympics with any other only shows your moral confusion and ignorance.

I am not advocating boycotting the Beijing Olympics for the sake of the athletes. But I do advocate boycotting the Opening Ceremony in Beijing August 8, 2008. And I strongly urge President Bush not to attend the Opening Ceremony.

I read your book "The Giant Steps" and I admire your intelligence and integrity. But your moral blind spot on this issue and your position on the Chinese communist regime will cause negative consequences for the freedom-loving people in the world. Tolerance of differences is a virtue. Tolerance of evil is beyond a vice, for such tolerance will bear grave consequences in the years to come, and will put one squarely into the camps of evil regimes. Please rethink your position on the Beijing Olympics. Or if you want to educate yourself on this issue, you can establish regular communication with me. My phone: 323-734-2544, or 323-734-3071. My email: Elecshadow@aol.com

Yao Ming is facing a great moral dilemma. He, as I was, is not a free person. He signed a soul-selling contract with the Chinese government before he entered NBA. He will never reveal the extent of involvement he is with the Chinese government, in political propaganda, in slaving for a criminal state, in offering himself for a little material gain to oppress others... We are only tools and lackeys for a regime who holds our love of our profession -- basketball as hostage against our free will. I say this for all the Chinese athletes who are still under the thumbs of tyranny. I as one, one of a very few, today stand up to tell the world the truth about Chinese athletics and sports. I hope you will take a stand against evil as well.

With respect. Kai Chen, a fellow athlete.