A River runs through it, Franklin New Hampshire that is. The Winnipesaukee river, which attracts many water sports fans, will become the first white water park in New England starting this summer. It’s called the Mill city park at Franklin Falls. It has been six years in the planning, and the man-made built concrete standing waves are expected to attract River surfers and their fans far beyond the Granite State. And that is just the beginning for the Central New Hampshire city which used to be the home of working mills. In this podcast, Roger Wood speaks to the people who have worked for six years to make this coming attraction possible.
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From a person for whom I highly admire and respect
MY NAME is Lily Tang Williams and I grew up in Communist China under the reign of Mao Zedong during a painful era called the Cultural Revolution. The origins of the Cultural Revolution preceded my birth, when a Western ideology, Marxism, was injected into China by Mao.
Marxism would later evolve into Maoism. Like all forms of Marxism, Maoism epitomized the worst in humanity: division, hatred, envy, and vengeance. Unlike most revolutions, the Cultural Revolution was not a war against a regime, but a regime-inspired holy war against its own people, society, and culture. Mao’s Cultural Revolution sought to destroy the “Four Olds”: traditional ideas, culture, habits, and customs. Through it, he led a campaign to silence dissident opinions, purge his political enemies, and, in the process, destroy age-old social institutions and gain absolute power.
Identity politics was a hallmark of Maoism, dividing people into five “red classes” and five “black classes.” The “red classes” were identified as poor and lower-middle-class peasants, workers, revolutionary soldiers, cadres, and revolutionary martyrs. The “black classes” were landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad-influencers, and rightists. Mao shut down the schools and universities, urged the Red Guard (urban youth) to hate and hold “Struggle Sessions” to shame the black classes publicly by forcing them to self-criticize, confess their “crimes” and denounce themselves. The consequences for defiance were assault, torture, or imprisonment at a “re-education” camp. Some children were so brainwashed they would even change their surnames, cut ties with their families, and publicly denounce and betray their families.
Mao’s Cultural Revolution was a top to bottom orchestrated social justice movement like no other. An estimated 20 million Chinese died during the Cultural Revolution due to Mao’s toxic ideas and murderous policies. Today in China, no memorials or museums to those of this forgotten holocaust exist; even the phrase “Cultural Revolution” is banned on the Internet by the Chinese government.
In today’s populist, racially-charged “social justice” movement in America, I see the shadows of the Cultural Revolution in Critical Race Theory (CRT), and in the ideology that inspired this movement. For those unfamiliar with CRT, it is the idea that American law, society, and institutions are inherently racist. Whites are born racist because of the cultural domination by White people in furthering their own economic and political power at the expense of “people of color.”
After I left China for America at the age of 23, arriving in Austin with nothing more than a suitcase, I discovered Texas to be filled with the kindest and most generous people I have ever encountered. There I was, a stranger in a strange land, being invited into American homes and offered help. Now, 33 years later, I am living the American Dream. This is not something one would expect to happen to a non-White, non-English speaking foreigner in a country that is “systemically racist.” My experience is certainly not unique. Many people of color agree with me that America has made huge progress since the Civil Rights Movement.
While CRT and Maoism are not identical ideologies, they share five features in common. The first is the development of a quasi-religious following of zealous youth devoted to unrestrained destruction of what is old to advance that which is new. Whereas Mao called for traditional Chinese culture to be destroyed, CRT calls for “dismantling systems of oppression,” which, like Mao’s definition of “the old,” is subjectively dependent on what they define as oppressive. The second feature is that both ideologies reduce complex problems to the classical Marxist dichotomy: society is constituted of those who “oppress” and those who are oppressed. CRT divides society into oppressor class (White) and oppressed class (people of color). Third, the processes in CRT training are similar to those in Struggle Sessions: writing self-criticizing letters, apologizing for being born White, public shaming, instilling guilt and hatred. Fourth, both ideologies are taught to school-age children without parental consent. The students are made to feel ashamed and guilty about their family history going back generations. Children are taught and trained to be “social justice warriors” by advocating for racial equity, which is about wealth redistribution. Fifth, the chaos, violence, identity politics and social division conjured up by both ideologies open the way for political factions to systematically divide and conquer until usurpation of the existing political system is one check-mate away.
I genuinely believed that the spirit of American individualism would resist the Siren’s song of Marxism that I left behind. I was naïve. It once again returns under a different name — as it always does — and now threatens to poison America, my refuge. This time, however, I have nowhere to run. I plead with you, learn from this immigrant’s story and the lessons of history — fight back.
Lily Tang Williams is co-chair of New Hampshire Asian American Coalition. She lives in Weare.
Asian American by choice, by Roger Wood. Her comments come from an interview that he conducted with her.
Lily Tang Williams arrived in the US with $100 in her pocket. She had basically fled the strict regulations imposed by her former home, The People’s Republic of China, PRC. Lily had gained the right to attend graduate school in the states, after overcoming many bureaucratic obstacles in order to leave. She has never returned to her homeland after being threatened with “consequences“ if she returned. She now says she is “an American by choice“. After graduate school she became a lawyer and then an activist for Asian Americans. She says that she has faced minimal derogatory comments or threats while living in Colorado and then a small New Hampshire town. But, sensing the need for activism during a time of hate crimes against Asian Americans, she formed the New Hampshire Asian American Coalition or NHAAC. She says that she feels all Americans should be able to seek the American dream. She also hopes her coalition will make a difference by shining a light on the need for people to welcome and accept different ethnicities and races.
Roger Wood bio
Roger Wood is an award winning radio, newspaper and television journalist, with over 40 years of experience in the media. Roger has spent his entire professional career in New Hampshire. Roger currently serves as associate publisher at InDepthNH.org. He has produced news and special feature reports for InDepthNH, New Hampshire Public Radio, NPR, and other Public and commercial radio stations. He also produced spot news for CBS Radio.
Does Racial and ethnic hatred exist in New Hampshire? Probably, but hopefully in small amounts. Roger Wood, in his latest podcast, had the opportunity to speak to an Asian American woman who has found safety and acceptance in a largely white state. Lily Tang Williams lives in a small town in New Hampshire, and talks about her difficult exodus from the PRC, the People’s Republic Of China. She helped found the New Hampshire Asian American Coalition which she hopes will make a difference by shining a light on the need for people to welcome and accept different ethnicities and races.
People within New Hampshire and beyond will hear her message of hope.
The Ponzi scheme is so named for its fraudulent founder Charles Ponzi. That was in the 1920’s, and the perpetrator was eventually stopped and brought to justice. Here we are in the 21st century and the fraud still lures unsuspecting victims. Only recently, convicted schemer Scott Farah was denied an early release from a 15 year prison term when a couple from Kittery Maine protested it. They lost $850 thousand dollars when they invested their life savings in the Meredith based Financial Resources Mortgagee Inc. It is the largest of such frauds in the history of the state. Roger Wood, in his latest podcast, talks with Attorney Kathy Bazoian Phelps, an expert on the issue.
She discusses the importance of researching investment opportunities before parting with their dollars.
If you have ever had a question about an employees rights or responsibilities, you may have Consulted with or tried to contact a human relations representative of your company. In some cases, people may be on the site to help answer questions. Other businesses are too small to have one, but there is a new service that at no charge offers consultations on such questions.
Richie Colidarci is founder of A friend in human relations.org.
In his latest podcast, Roger Wood talks to a man who has initiated a new service for employees in small and large businesses. Richie Coladarci is a human relations expert who works in New Hampshire at Merchants Fleet vehicle leasing in Hooksett.
What’s it like to live and work on a tiny island off RI? Lars Trodson is a veteran journalist and most recently served as editor of the Block Island Times. I recently had a chance to catch up with him. This podcast was also featured on InDepthNH.org
Should New Hampshire businesses be exempt from employee lawsuits when those working are affected by the covid virus while at the job? The New Hampshire Business and industry Association thinks so. That’s why they are continuing their push for safe harbor legislation. I spoke to David Creer, Director of public policy about the issue.
The recent riot or insurrection at the Capitol brings into focus the violence that springs from it. But a group of people in law enforcement formed a company called Blue-U. com. They conduct training nationwide on dealing with violence or potential dangerous situations. I spoke to one of the agency founders for InDepthNH.org.
In the aftermath of insurrection at the nation’s capitol, I speak with the daughter of a senator caught in the riot’s crossfire, and a university professor about the consequences of the insurrection.