Asian Majority

Netherlands-born Pete Hoekstra is trying to steal American jobs! This is just the beginning of having immigrants trying to take away US Congress jobs. Netherland-born people will soon run this country if we allow this to happen!

Be scared! Be very scared! As a US-born Asian American, I say we must protect our jobs. USA! USA!

Ok…all of the above was satire. I have no problem with “foreigners” or people born in another country coming to the US and making it. I have a problem with blatant racism as displayed in Pete’s commercial without apology. Do you see the double-standard? Let’s fix it. Vote against Pete Hoekstra.

This is ridiculous portrayal of a Chinese person. I don’t even know where to start about the actress that agreed to do this. I try to withhold judgment, but this is a job no Asian should accept. I’m not sure what the situation is there…

Regardless, the real perpetrator is Pete Hoekstra who approved this ad.

This ad shows a person riding through rice fields on a bike and stopping to speak some really bad broken English. It’s not even the kind of broken English that makes any sense. Her words are perfect and without accent, but she just skips words and sounds stupid. You go all the way racist, and she would at least have some sort of accent with her English words.

Regardless, most people don’t even know what it’s really like in China. This rice paddy, riding bikes crap is really offensive. Are there parts of China that are still like that? Yes, but there are parts of America that some may consider “backwards” as well.

The best part is always looking at comments left by articles. It’s amazing where you get these comments of “I don’t see why it’s racist…and I’m Asian!” In many cases, these are brain-washed by the media Asians. Then there are the people of other races that don’t understand it at all…but in many cases these people have never felt racism. Not the “they don’t think I can dance because I’m white” racism but real racism where you feel not accepted in the country you were born and grew up in.

Enough for now. On a positive note, Jeremy Lin shattering stereotypes by playing some great basketball with the Knicks!

Huffington Post article

In an area that I thought would take a long time to penetrate, Asian-Americans are making big strides. There has been more and more participation by voters along with a record number of elected and appointed officials. Another surprising tidbit is that Asian Americans are the fastest growing minority population. Of course when you are working with a smaller base, your percentages increase much quicker.

Let’s keep providing positive role models, changing stereotypes, and be heard!

Article here

SF has elected its first Asian-American Mayor Ed Lee. This is quite historical with Ed coming to prominence after serving as a temporary mayor when Gavin Newsom left for a statewide job. Right across the river in Oakland, there is also an Asian-American mayor making this a hotbed for Asian-Americans in politics.

Given the large Asian population in California, this is not a surprise, and yet, Asian-Americans are making bigger and bigger achievements in areas not typically associated with Asian-Americans. Finding success in being doctors, engineers, lawyers, and tech entrepreneurs is a start. Providing more positive role models in politics, dancing, acting, arts, etc. is the next step.

Let’s give Asian-American kids other positive goals to attain.

Five members of Congress on May 26, 2011 announced the introduction of a resolution which calls Congress to express regret over the anti-Chinese laws approved at the turn of the 20th century. We applaud the following politicians of taking such an act and trying to bring some equality. Asian Americans is undoubtedly ignored in the past when injustices arise, but I am encouraged by progress we have made:

- Judy Biggert, Illinois
- Judy Chu, California
- Mike Coffman, Colorado
- Diane Feinstein, California
- Scott Brown, Massachusetts

This isn’t highlighted in many history books, but about a century ago when many Chinese came to the US to seek a better life, they faced harsh conditions including ones passed by Congress. Equality was not for everyone apparently. They didn’t have the same basic rights that other immigrants had. These acts fostered an environment of hatred and prejudice towards Chinese resulting in murders, abuse, and harassment.

Chinese Exclusion Laws passed between 1870 and 1904 including the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. These were not overturned until 1943! This was mainly due as a response when China became a US ally in World War II. Apologies are long overdue.

Congress, do the right thing!

Asian Americans are getting comfortable with politics it seems, shattering a long-time stereotype that Asians shy away from political roles. In the latest news, Sam Yoon, who was elected Boston’s first Asian-American city councilor four years ago has announced his run for mayor of Boston. Although I’d love to see more Asians in office, I also do want to promote responsible voting. So, please take a look at what he stands for and choose wisely.

Whether he wins or loses, we have yet another role model for the younger Asians who have an interest in politics. Pursue your dreams!

Currently most of the Asians in politics are in areas which have a lot of Asians, but hopefully we will see success and participation even in other areas.

Article: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/09/yoon_launches_groundbreaking_bid_for_mayor/

Obama isn’t the only one shattering barriers. John Liu who is a Taiwan-born former business consultant, who moved to the US at 5 years old, became the first Asian American elected to NYC’s City Council. Congrats!

He appears to have his eyes set on becoming a public advocate as well.

Aside from Liu, there are also a slew of other Asian Americans elected in Flushing and Chinatown areas as well. It’s great to see more involvement by Asians in politics to make their voice heard. Thanks for continuing to pave the way.

Story here: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/immigrants/20090120/11/2796/

It is always nice to see some signs of progress. Announced on the 67th anniversary of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, president-elect Barack Obama has picked Eric Shinseki to head up the Department of Veterans Affairs. Back at the beginning of World War II, many Japanese Americans were rounded up and placed in internment camps. Read more here. I only hope we don’t repeat the same mistakes we have made in the past.

Shinseki is the first Asian-American to reach the Army’s 4-star rank.

Article

President-elect Obama…congrats! This is huge. This is showing the maturation of America. The African American community has made big strides over the last few decades. Now I want to be clear that Obama is only half-black, but in a very real way, I think he has had an African American experience due to how America views and treats him.

This is exciting, and hopefully he will be able to restore the US to a respectful place in the world.

It also does bring up thoughts on the Asian American experience. Will we in 4 decades see Asian American candidates? I have hope that it is possible, but to get there, we can’t just sit there. Politics is not a big aspiration for many Asian Americans, but times are changing. For those who are interested in that type of career, go for it!

More and more minorities are entering politics and even winning in regions where there aren’t a lot of minorities. A recent example is a Long Island village called Laurel Hollow where a Sikh was elected mayor. There are other cases across the country where this is happening although they tend to be more Indian-Americans. Other Asian-Americans elected officials tend to be clustered on the East and West Coast as well as Hawaii.

There is speculation that many other Asian-Americans such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, etc. come from countries where voting is not promoted as a value. As the Asian-American population continues to go and more generations stay in America, hopefully they will exercise this power more and also run for positions of influence.

Here’s an article to read more: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/01/asia/indian.1-107082.php?page=1