2012 Honoree

Kaity Tong

Anchor, PIX11 News

“Oh, for sure. I think the biggest challenge they face is an economy that threatens their long-term independence. In my day, we rarely got out of school with loan obligations equivalent to substantial mortgages. That they do now is just crazy to me. This system is simply unsustainable.” (When asked “Do today’s young people face a bigger challenge than you did?”)

What do you think of the media portrayal of women?

I think the media portrayal of women is becoming as varied as there are women. Which is a huge improvement, frankly. It used to be the hard-driving, take-no-prisoners, corporate type or the submissive missus defined by her husband or the bimbo. Now, you can find empowered women taking charge, smart as hell, and funny to boot. With all their insecurities and foibles, but still standing tall. Think Tina Fey.

Have you seen any changes in the political landscape for women over the past few years? What are they?

In my view, progress for women in most areas comes glacially slow. Politics is no different. Geraldine Ferraro ran for the vice-presidency in 1984. It took another 24 years for another woman, Sarah Palin, to do the same. And yet there were myriad women over that time who could’ve served with distinction on both the Republican as well as Democratic tickets. There’s just no rational explanation for that kind of drought.

Do you feel the extreme left and right wings of U.S. politics are destroying the United in United States, or is it just healthy debate?

It reminds me of a story a good friend of mine–a lawyer–once told me. He said that a veteran lawyer once gave this advice to a young lawyer about to enter the courtroom: “If the law isn’t on your side, yell about the facts. If the facts aren’t on your side, yell about the law. And if neither the law nor the facts are on your side, just yell like hell.” Everybody these days just yells like hell. They’re certainly entitled, but it doesn’t do them any good. Most of us are rarely intimidated into agreement; there’s nothing more persuasive to us than a reasoned, rational argument. But, our union has withstood more than just loud, obnoxious people. We’ll survive.

Can you tell us about one of the biggest challenges in your life that you think helped you become the person you are today?

Don’t know if this qualifies, but my first day of kindergarten was a big challenge because I didn’t speak a word of English, having just come to the States from China. I remember my mother putting my hair in pigtails, dressing me in a little red Chinese outfit with pants, walking me to the door of the classroom and sternly saying to me, “Now never forget. Everything you do from now on will reflect on you, your family, and…the entire Chinese people.” I was five!

Do today’s young people face a bigger challenge than you did?

Oh, for sure. I think the biggest challenge they face is an economy that threatens their long-term independence. In my day, we rarely got out of school with loan obligations equivalent to substantial mortgages. That they do now is just crazy to me. This system is simply unsustainable.