On July 4, the world watched as US President Donald Trump delivered a speech in front of Mount Rushmore, a US national monument that depicts four former US presidents, two of whom owned hundreds of slaves. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, choosing such a controversial venue left many baffled, confused and even outraged.
On July 6, Hwang Kwang-kuo (黃光國), a professor of psychology at National Taiwan University, published an article in the Chinese-language United Daily News, analyzing race issues in the US.
However, instead of sticking with the topic, Huang took the opportunity to criticize President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) foreign policy.
He suggested that Taiwan should re-evaluate its diplomatic ties with the US by positing that “America [is not] really the ‘heaven of democracy’ that Tsai Ing-wen thinks it is.”
As an American, I completely agree that the US is not a heaven of democracy. Heaven is outside this Earth.
The US has many shortcomings. However, it also has functioning political institutions. In the US, we use the democratic process to resolve ethnic tensions as best we can, given our vast differences in opinions and values.
Right now, the US is angry. Many Americans are using their democratic right to assemble and protest peacefully. In the short term, this is the most suitable course of action.
However, a more comprehensive solution would also include petitioning the government to pass relevant legislation.
In terms of resolving ethnic tensions, the US should study how Taiwan has solved similar issues.
For over 25 years, the nation has been legislating official apologies and awarding compensation to the victims of ethnic violence. This process is called transitional justice.
The first step of transitional justice is studying one’s own history. This takes courage because the outcome is uncertain. Many people fear that acknowledging the past will aggravate current tensions. However, Taiwan has seen the fruits of transitional justice for at least 30 years.
In Taiwan, 228 Peace Memorial Day on Feb. 28 is a national public holiday. It is important to know what Taiwan is commemorating: the peace and harmony between two ethnic groups that previously hated each other.
These two groups are the Mainlanders, people who came to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) after the Chinese Civil War, and the ethnic Taiwanese, who had come previously, since the 1600s.
In 1945, Japan gave Taiwan to the KMT as a post-war concession. Soon after, KMT troops arrived from China, weary from fighting Japan for eight long years. These troops saw Taiwan, which was relatively unaffected by World War II, as paradise on Earth.
However, with little oversight, the Mainlanders ran amok, looting and taking advantage of the ethnic Taiwanese.
The hatred reached a flashpoint on Feb. 28, 1947.
Later named the 228 Incident, it was the outburst of two years of anger and rage toward the Mainlanders. Agents from the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau brutally beat a local woman they suspected of selling illegal cigarettes. The ensuing riots and eventual clampdown on dissidents resulted in 38 years of martial law in Taiwan, which is also known as the White Terror era.
During the 228 Incident and the following authoritarian period, tens of thousands of ethnic Taiwanese were killed, disappeared, intimidated or imprisoned because of their political views.
Given that the White Terror era ended in 1987, it is incredible that these two ethnic groups can just a generation later live together peacefully.
Taiwan can credit a large portion of this harmony to the second phase of transitional justice: The government in 1995 began issuing official apologies and compensation to victims.
Two things have happened since: First, the victims have come to trust the government. They see it as an entity that listens to their grievances and takes concrete action to lessen their pain.
Second, the Mainlander perpetrators have come to feel the relief of forgiveness. They trust the government that they will not be further punished or scorned for things that under the circumstances seemed necessary, but were later deemed harmful.
Transitional justice is a process that extends indefinitely. In 2018, Tsai established the Transitional Justice Commission to further compensate victims and declassify documents related to the atrocities of the White Terror era. The government is still acting in the best interest of the victims.
When we keep investigating, uncovering and listening, the wounds of the past can heal.
Now, there is space for parents to tell their children positive messages about other ethnic groups. This generation of young Taiwanese has moved beyond the divide between Mainlander and ethnic Taiwanese. Now, everyone just calls themselves Taiwanese.
In the US, transitional justice has been fragmented and remains incomplete. In 2008, the US House of Representatives signed legislation apologizing for slavery and subsequent segregation laws.
Twelve years later, its initiative, unfortunately, is almost entirely forgotten. The descendants of enslaved Americans are still waiting for an official apology from the US Senate and the White House.
When transitional justice is in the public eye for decades, like it has been in Taiwan, there is a chance for sustained change.
I admire Taiwan’s commitment to transitional justice. A peaceful and harmonious society is one where all ethnic groups feel that the government hears and includes them.
The US is a dynamic and exciting country, but it is far from perfect. I hope the US, in the same way Taiwan has, can use the democratic process to turn the wheels of transitional justice. Through the past, the US can make the present a harmonious place for everyone.
Theodore Leshnick is an English teacher living in Taipei.
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