MY TESTIMONY TO SUPPORT HB 544 IN NH

Thank you Chair and Committee members:

My name is Lily Tang Williams. I live in Weare, and I am here as a private citizen to strongly support this bill.

I fled Communist China for America in 1988 because I truly believed this country would protect each citizen’s Constitutional rights based on the founder’s principal: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

I was born and grew up in Communist China. I was as Assistant Professor in a law school in Shanghai before coming to the U.S. I first landed in Austin, TX, without speaking much English; there I was the first mainland Chinese in my Texas neighborhood and the first in my graduate school. Everyone in Texas was so nice and welcoming. They helped me to adapt to a foreign country, offered me free rides to stores, and donated clothing, housewares and other items to me because I was very poor. You see, I started with only $100 in my pocket and even that was borrowed. Because my English was so bad, my classmates let me copy their notes, and helped me with schools’ projects.

Later, I married my husband who is a Texan; his entire family embraced me with open arms without reservation. We have three mixed race children. To be honest, in my total 32 years of living in America, I have never experienced discrimination due to my skin color or background except for one minor road rage verbal insult in Colorado. Still, I am living the American Dream today and I love this country.

I strongly reject “Critical Race Theory” because it is based on accusation that all white people (60% of U.S. population, 97% of NH population) are inherently and irredeemably racist. I know about the history of slavery as well as discrimination of the Chinese, Japanese Americans. I love Dr. King’s speech “I have a dream”. I understand that there are individual cases of racism still today, but America, one of the most diverse countries in the world, has progressed greatly since the Civil Right movement. Many people of color were elected into public offices, running corporations, NGOs and their own businesses.

America today is not a “systemic racist country”. America is a “shining city on the hill” that attracts millions of immigrants want to come to this country to better their lives that many, like me, have come to achieve American Dream.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is based on skin color and race, pure and simple. It creates hatred, guilt, and division in our country. It is a tool to be used by the radical left to divide and conquer. I grew up during the reign of Mao, and experienced his entire 10 years cultural revolution. Let me tell you - This racist theory is nothing more than a tactic to separate citizens into “oppressed” and “oppressor” classes, and it is something I have heard before. Mao used “DESTROY 4 OLDS” (Old ideas, Culture, Habits and Customs) campaign to silence dissident citizens, destroy the institutions of society, purge his political enemies, and gain absolute control over China. He and his regime used identity politics to divide people into 10 classes, FIVE RED, and FIVE BLACK. (The red classes included Poor and lower-middle peasants, Workers, Revolutionary soldiers, Revolutionary cadres who are active members of the CPC in good standing and Revolutionary martyrs. Black classes were Landlords, Rich farmers, Counter-revolutionaries, Bad-influencers, and Rightists.) He urged RED GUARDS (young people who worshipped him), to publicly shame the black classes by raising their fists, make them to do self-criticism, confess and denounce themselves, or they would get beat up, and sent to re-education camps to do hard labor.
Per the former CCP leader Mr. Ye Jianying who died a few years ago, 20 Million Chinese died during the Cultural Revolution due to those murderous policies.

I want to warn you, my fellow citizens: do not allow the Cultural Revolution to happen here, don’t teach and train our young people becoming like Red Guards in the name of “anti-racism” or “social justice”. We have lots of common ground to work together, have conversations about what is the best for our country and reduce racism. CRT is not the answer. CRT is a tool used by Marxists/Communists to divide us and destroy our country, take away our individual rights and freedom.

I urge you all to support this bill to stop the rise of this new form of racism.
Thank you.

Best Regards,
Lily Tang Williams