The case of Wen Ho Lee, the Asian American nuclear scientist from Los Alamos National Laboratory(LANL) who was accused of spying for China and later charged with the lesser offense of mishandling classified information has fueled
the debate and struggle over the issue of racial profiling and should be of concern to those working on intergroup relations. Similar to the "Driving While Black/Brown" (DWB) campaign headed by the ACLU calling for
data collection in police stops, supporters of Wen Ho Lee feel that "Downloading While Asian" like "Driving While Black and Brown" has become a crime in this nation. On March 8, 1999, Dr. Lee
was fired from his job of 20 years for downloading "classified information" onto "unsecure" computers and tapes within LANL. He was subsequently indicted on December 10, 1999 and charged with 39 counts of
violating the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and 20 violations of the Federal Espionage Act, making him the first civilian to be prosecuted for mishandling classified information. Dr. Lee has been held in solitary confinement
without bail for 23 hours a day and shackled at his waist, wrist and ankle whenever he is out of his cell and is allowed to see family members for one hour a week. If convicted of these charges Dr. Lee faces life in
prison.
Though the Department of Justice has not charged Dr. Lee with espionage for lack of evidence that he passed or attempted to pass on classified information to unauthorized persons, his treatment is
severe compare to other civilian workers committing similar offenses. In contrast Former CIA Director Deutch who had also downloaded top secret "classified information" onto his unsecure home computer was never
investigated or prosecuted and continues to maintain a working relationship with the Defense Department. More recently the LANL suspended six managers and senior scientists placing them on LEAVE WITH PAY as part of an
investigation into the disappearance of two computer hard drives containing nuclear weapon secrets. In comparison the information mishandled by both Deutch and staff members in the case of the missing hard drives are of a
higher security level than the "classified information" downloaded by Dr. Lee, which was not considered classified information prior to his termination at LANL. Neither Deutch nor those suspended were ever accused
of espionage nor were they subjected to media leaks and smear campaigns suggesting that they might possibly be spying for foreign countries as did occurred with Dr. Lee.
Supporters of Dr. Lee held a nationwide day of
protest on June 8, 2000 to express their outrage over his prosecution and treatment calling for an end to racial profiling and scapegoating of all communities. They also demanded an investigation into the circumstances
leading to Dr. Lee's indictment, the use of racial profiling against Asian and Pacific Islander employees, due process and fair treatment for Dr. Lee, and his release on bail. At the rally held outside of the Federal Building
in San Francisco, Rene Saucedo of La Raza Centro Legal stood in solidarity with others and spoke of Dr. Lee as another victim of racial profiling, remarking that "We (immigrants) are never Americans and always a foreigner…We
are all illegals in the eyes of others." Others spoke of the similarities of Dr. Lee's case to that of Japanese Americans who were forced to abandon their homes, communities and possessions to relocate to guarded
internment camps because of their perceived threat to the U.S. due to their ethnic heritage.
Media reports and statements made by government officials in the prosecution of Wen Ho Lee are reminiscent of
reporting and comments made by officials during WWII which fueled wartime hysteria and popular support for internment. Until recently, most media reports have implied that Dr. Lee's contact with the Institute of Applied
Physics and Computational Mathematics in China, which was encouraged by LANL officials, makes him a likely suspect in leaking U.S. nuclear secrets. Other media have failed to report that counterintelligence expert
Robert Vrooman, who was a former investigator in the case wrote in a two-page statement that Federal investigators had "not one shred of evidence" linking Dr. Lee to Chinese espionage and that his ethnicity "was a
key factor" in his prosecution.
Advocates for Dr. Lee argue that the refusal to release Dr. Lee on bail and not allowing him to speak Chinese without Chinese speaking federal agents present is a result of
racial discrimination. They state that the use of racial profiling by Federal agents and law enforcements alienates minority communities and contributes to perceptions of A/PI's as foreigners, Latinos as immigrants, and
African Americans as criminals.
From popular opinion to institutional bias be it politically motivated (as in Prop 187 against immigrants, Prop 209 against affirmative action, Prop 227 against bi-lingual education) or
not, racial profiling, stereotyping, and racial targeting needs to end. As one of the most diversely populated state with dramatically changing demographics, California has become the testing ground for the nation when it
comes to intergroup relations. In some communities throughout California, intergroup tension is ripe for violence. The continuing prosecution and targeting of minority groups (soon to be a majority in CA) fails to ease that
tension.
Despite sincere efforts to create a colorblind society, racial bias continues to permeate our institutions, our laws, and our daily existence. It is difficult to ask people of all races to join
together and build intergroup relations when our policies continue to target them based on their race and ethnicity. Intergroup relations starts with trust. The refusal to do data collection and continued racial
profiling by some state and federal officials does not work towards building that trust. The struggle for data collection in "Driving while Black and Brown" cases and the campaign for due process for Dr. Lee and
investigation into the process leading to his prosecution are crucial steps in addressing issues of intergroup relations. To that end, it is incumbent upon all of us who work in the field of intergroup relations to continue
to advocate for an end to all racial profiling and for due process for all people regardless of their race and ethnicity.
