Laura Cha (查史美倫), member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and board member of HSBC uttered a statement in Paris which appeared to drag HSBC into political controversy. She said: "American slaves were liberated in 1861 but did
not get voting rights until 107 years later, so why can't Hong Kong
wait for a while?"
I applaud Mrs Cha for comparing the "Umbrella movement" to the
American civil rights movement. There are indeed many similarities,
including the organic, leaderless, amorphous character of both
movements, and the overwhelmingly non-violent character of their civil
disobedience. The hostility and violence to both movements are also
important similarities. Most importantly, the underlying issue – equal political rights for all – is identical.
But let us not allow the historical facts be perverted by self-serving politicians to fool the people into accepting a Kim-style democracy – a cheap imitation of the real thing.
Abraham
Lincoln pushed through the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution to
abolish slavery in 1865. The 15th Amendment
adopted in 1870 gave blacks
the right to vote. Despite the new constitutional guarantees, blacks
continued to be opposed and their rights denied by vested interests,
which erected all sorts of practical obstacles to enfranchisement.
These barriers to full political rights for blacks were only swept away
by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
I find it ironic that Cha made those comments in Paris, where the rich and powerful lost their privileges (and some also lost their heads) in 1789. Mrs Cha seems to be implying that Hong Kong people should shut up and wait up to 107 years for rights that are regarded as fundamental by the United Nations. Yet the vested interests of today act just like the slave-owning states of yore, hoping to maintain the status quo and unjust privileges, with the government's connivance.
I just hope that our future leaders will be genuinely accountable to Hong Kong as a whole, have the wisdom, strength and vision to fight for citizens and to tame the vested interests on whom their predecessors depended.
According to her HSBC corporate bio, Laura Cha is a member of the bank's Conduct and Values Committee. I'll leave you to figure out for yourself what conduct and values she promotes.
See also:
*Petition to HSBC regarding Laura Cha's remarks at change.org