How Far We've Come

Three weeks after an amazing national election, another American institution did something that was unimaginable only a few years ago: A major league baseball team, the Seattle Mariners, made a Japanese-American man, Don Wakamatsu, its manager.


You kids probably don't think this is a big deal. That is a good thing, for the truth is, you shouldn't. But, it is a pretty big deal to me. Not Barack Obama big, but big enough, for it is another indication of America's growing acceptance of people of color.

This was not always the case.

You probably know that the first African-Americans arrived here against their will as slaves. Slavery was legal in the United States from 1654 to 1865. When America declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776 by saying that "all men are created equal" and that everyone was entitled to "life, liberty (freedom) and the pursuit of happiness", they didn't include slaves. Slaves weren't freed until after the long, bloody American Civil War.


Once freed, African Americans weren't treated equally. They couldn't hold the same jobs, go the same schools, or use the same businesses as Caucasian Americans. This is called racial discrimination.

Not only that, they were only allowed to live in certain areas of most cities and towns. This is called segregation.


You may not believe this now, but all of this was legal until the Civil Rights Movement of 1955-1968 fought against and succeeded in ending all of these unfair practices.


The relations between African Americans by Caucasian Americans have been slowly but steadily improving ever since.

African Americans were not the only ethnic group subjected to racial discrimination.

When the US was building the Transcontinental Railroad, many Chinese immigrated to the United States to help build it.


Fearful that the Chinese would take jobs from others, the US government created a law called The Chinese Exclusion Act in 1883.


This law prevented most Chinese people from moving to the United States. After the law was enacted, very few Chinese were allowed into the country. In the 30 years between 1910 and 1940, only 56,113 Chinese were allowed to enter the US, an average of 1,870 per year. By comparison, 1,004,756 Europeans were allowed to enter the US in 1907 alone.

The law wasn't repealed (canceled) until 1943. Even today, if one were to look at the United States Code (the book of US law), one would find that Chapter 7 of Title 8 is entitled "Exclusion of Chinese." Of the 15 chapters in Title 8 (Aliens and Nationality), it is the only one that is completely focused on a specific nationality or ethnic group.

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1942, the United States government decided that all Japanese living in the US were threats to national security.


All Japanese living in the US were moved into places called "internment camps" which were really prisons in remote, unpopulated areas of the country.


By being forced to move, all of these people lost their jobs, their homes and their businesses.


The funny thing was, America was also at war with Germany, but no Germans were placed in internment camps.

So why were the Japanese moved? For that matter, why exclude only Chinese immigrants and segregate the African American population? Simple answer: they were all visibly different from the Caucasian majority because of the color of their skin.

Today, I marvel at how much has changed.

In a sport where African Americans were once excluded from participation, Tiger Woods is regarded as the greatest player of all time.



Ang Lee, a Chinese man, won an Oscar for Best Director (Brokeback Mountain).



A Japanese man is such a big star in baseball, America's game, that he is known only by his first name, Ichiro.



And an African American man has been elected President of the United States of America.


Best of all, most of you don't think much of any of this. To me, that is the best indicator of how far we've come as a nation.

Big Man on Campus

I keep hearing students talk about the "popular people". My question is: what makes them popular? They exclude others, they make fun of the less fortunate and hang out only with themselves. To me, their "popularity" is a figment of their own imaginations.

Here's the story of a guy who was genuinely popular; liked, admired and respected by everyone he met.

My first high school coaching job was at San Rafael High School, where I coached freshman girls, then JV girls and was varsity assistant. While I was there, the undisputed Big Man on Campus was a boy named Will.

The term "Big Man on Campus" (BMOC) usually refers to the most popular and famous athlete at a school. This is not an elected position. It isn't even a formal or real position. It is really just a reflection of how a school's population views a particular student.

Will's dad, Max, was a major league baseball player. Will was a basketball star. You might think that a kid with this kind of background and ability would be arrogant, or self-centered or a bully, but Will was none of these things. He was, in fact, one of the nicest kids I've ever met.


Whenever our paths crossed at school, he'd nod at me and say: "Hey, Coach," even though we'd never really met. He'd also say "hi" to the girls on my team (one of my girls practically fainted after he said hi to her. "Will knows my name!" she cried). If his teammates on the varsity team started to make fun of the kids on the lower level teams, he's just shake his head and say, "c'mon guys, just leave 'em alone."

During this time, there was another student at school named Ryan. Ryan was on the Cross Country team. Ryan wasn't very good, for he had Cerebral Palsy, a brain disorder in which a person cannot fully control his body.

Cross country practice consisted of running many, many laps around the school's track. Ryan was very slow, so he ran alone, far behind the rest of the team.

Will would also run laps to get into shape for basketball. One day, he saw Ryan running alone, so he decided to run with Ryan.

Soon, each day, Will would run a half lap with Ryan, then continue on his way.

After that, whenever Will saw Ryan at school, Will would give Ryan a little punch on the shoulder and say: "Hey Ryan, how's it going, man?"

Later that year a banquet was held for all of the school's basketball players. While the boy's coach was talking about his team, Ryan's dad suddenly stood up and interrupted him.

"No matter what kind of player Will is," he said, "he is alright by me. He is my son's friend. Because of that, my boy looks forward to going to school everyday, and that wasn't always true. If Will were to run for mayor today, he'd have my vote."

Will was a great player. He became well known because of his basketball skill, but he was genuinely popular because of the kind of person he was.

Will was such a good player that several colleges offered him scholarships (where the school pays for the player's education) in the hope that he would play basketball for them. Instead, true to his character, Will chose to go to Princeton, one of the most difficult schools in the country to get into and a school that didn't offer scholarships.

"I've always wanted to go to an Ivy League school," he said at the time.

While there, Will became a star basketball player, leading his team to an NCAA tournament appearance. He also played for the Princeton baseball team. Baseball was Will's second sport, but he worked as hard at it as he did at everything else.

Today, Will is an outfielder for the San Diego Padres.

The Power of the People

This week the people of the United States elected a president who ran a campaign unlike any seen before. While his opponent ran a campaign based on fear, Barack Obama ran a campaign based on the ideas of inclusion, cooperation, communication and hope. He ran a campaign in which he made every American feel that they had a voice, then did everything he could to insure that every American expressed that voice by making sure they registered to vote.

Everywhere he went, 10s of thousands of people came to hear him speak, because he made them feel included and important. When he was elected many of these people cried tears of joy.

When he appeared in Chicago to address the huge crowd gathered there, he said:

"This is your victory."

Instead of bragging or thumping his chest, he said:

"Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same ... pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long."

To his opponents, he said:

"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too."

And, to the American people, he said:

"But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you."

The President of the United States of America is often viewed as "the most powerful man in the free world." Everything he's done so far shows that president-elect Obama understands the responsibility that comes with so much power. He also knows the true source of his power: it is the power of the people. All people, not just his people.

Obama wants to make America a country others aspire to be, a place which is admired and respected, not a country which is feared and hated.

We can all learn a lesson from this.

Halloween 2008

Captains

"With great power comes great responsibility" - Uncle Ben Parker to nephew Peter, a.k.a. Spiderman

Okay, so now we've elected captains, the captains have picked teams and the soccer tournament has started. All the captains have to do now is Ro Sham Bo at the beginning of each game, right?

No. In some ways, the captains responsibilities are just beginning. The position of tournament team captain is a great chance for those who earn it to explore and test leadership abilities.

The two biggest challenges captains face are: 1) Keep the games competitive, but friendly, and most importantly, 2) Keep everyone on your team happy.

Through the years, I've seen some great captains. Examples:

Julia R.

Julia was a hockey captain. After her team tied its first playoff game, they chose a shootout as the tiebreaker. One of the team's players, Emily, was very nervous about it and told me so: "Mr Tong," she said, "I'm so scared I think I'm going to pee in my pants."

Julia heard this. She walked to Emily and said, "It will be okay. Just do your best. I'll still be your friend no matter what."

Emily missed. Julia ran over to her and gave her a huge hug.

Max K

Another hockey team captain, Max decided early in the tournament that his team was too slow to score many goals, so he convinced his whole team to concentrate on playing defense. The entire team purposely spent most of its games on the defensive end of the field.

They tried to score by slapping miss opponents shot way down the field and chasing them, hoping for a breakaway. This approach lead to many ties and no wins during the round robin. In the playoffs, they recorded their first win, 1-0 scoring their only goal on a breakaway. They made the finals.

In the championship game, they stuck to their game plan and held a high scoring opponent scoreless for most of the game. The game was decided in the last 30 seconds, when Max's opponent scored on a desperate 70 foot slap shot that bounced over several defender's sticks, including the goalie's.

A truly valiant effort by a physically over-matched team whose captain found a way for them to be successful.

Phebe M

Phebe did a remarkable job of rotating players in such a way as to insure that everybody got to play every position they wanted to play. The players were happy and it showed on the field, where the team finished the round robin in 1st place.

In the first round of the playoffs, Phebe stuck to her plan, rotating her players as usual, even though by now it was clear that some lineups were stronger than others. Phebe kept her players focused and enthused by offering words of encouragement like "good shot", and "it's okay" to her players. The players worked hard for each other, but the game ended in a tie. This meant a shootout.

During the shootout, Phebe, instead of putting her team's best goalie in goal, continued to rotate players at that position. One player allowed two goals, but the shootout ended in a 2-2 tie. This meant a sudden death shootout.

When it was time for the player who allowed the goals in the first shootout to take his turn, he hesitated. "I think maybe someone else should take my turn," he said.

"We can do that if you want," Phebe replied, "but I think you're one of our best goalies. I know you can this. We trust you."

The boy stepped into the goal and stopped the shot. Phebe's team went on to win the championship.

Afterward, one of Phebe's teammates, Sareesha, told me, "Mr. T., Phebe's a really good coach. I wish I could always be on her team."

Pat C

Pat C was a natural leader. He would organize whatever team he was on whether or not he was the captain. He came up with cheers for all of his teams. The team would use the cheer before each game. Any team he was on was always motivated and fired up through the sheer force of Pat's personality.

In the spring of 2002, Pat was officially the captain of a baseball team. We were having a mock World Series between the "Yankees" and the "Twins" (yes, I know that these are both AL teams, but these are the names the kids chose).

Before the first game, Pat walked out to address the whole class.

"Okay," he said, "I want the Twins to line up on the 3rd base line, and the Yankees to line up on the 1st base line."

Both teams did as they were told.

"Now," continued Pat, "Everybody take off their hats."

Everyone did.

"Okay. Now let's have a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11."

Once play started, Pat had plans for both offense and defense.

When his Yankees were in the field, he positioned his defenders according to where he thought the hitter was going to hit the ball.

When his team was batting, Pat always stood in the 3rd base coaches box. From there, using signals that he made up, he would tell his batters where to hit the ball. He would also give base runners instructions.

The result was almost unbelievable. His team played like it had been together for years; crisp, precise, machine-like.

On top of all this, he was very supportive of his players.

One girl, Lila, was a very good hitter, but not very confident and very shy. Pat knew this.

During one game, Lila came up with the bases loaded. The Yankees were behind. The Twins needed one out. Lila grounded weakly to the pitcher. Inning over. The Yankees groaned.

"Shut up!" shouted Pat, "she's a good hitter."

Turning to Lila, he said, "Nice try. You'll get 'em next time."

Later, Lila came to bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd. This time, Lila singled sharply to right, driving in both runners. Pat, from his spot on the 3rd base line, glanced at his team, nodded as if to say "see?", then shouted to Lila: "Good Job, Lila! Nice Poke!"

For the remainder of the tournament, the Yankees cheered for Lila every time she came up and she became a very valuable hitter for the team.

So you see, a captaincy is what one makes of it. Will I be writing about one of you someday?