Profiles In Outrage

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Previous forays into the political process have proved disastrous. The campaign-finance scandals of the past few years have smothered Asian contributions and hence influence. John Huang, a Democratic fund raiser, pleaded guilty to conspiring to break campaign-finance laws; Johnny Chung, a California businessman (also represented by Lee's lawyer Sun), pleaded guilty to making illegal campaign contributions. Even public service was seen as dangerous territory. Clinton appointee Hoyt Zia, chief counsel for the Bureau of Export Administration, faced conservative challenges to his loyalty as an American before he left the post. Says his sister Helen Zia, author of the new book Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People (Farrar Straus & Giroux): "Every Asian-American in Washington became a potential suspect."

"There is the perception that Asian Americans are easy to pick on because we don't have political clout and we don't speak out," says aids researcher Dr. David Ho, TIME's 1996 Man of the Year. He and others plan to use a Sept. 18 White House-sponsored "Asian-American initiative" at New York University to rally support for Wen Ho Lee and Asian-American civil rights. Says Ho: "We need our Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons to scream bloody murder when an injustice is carried out against our community." Lee's nine-month imprisonment may be the last time an Asian American suffers in silence.