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New Generation of Asian Americans Makes Political Waves
By Deborah Kong, Pacific News Service
Though their numbers in some California communities are high, Asian
Americans have a reputation for staying away from mainstream political
life. Now, several Bay Area candidates are challenging that stereotype.
CAMPBELL, Calif. - August 20, 2004 - The candidate resembles a
typical politician clad in a navy blazer, pressing the flesh and
casually dispensing business cards -- except for two things. Evan Low is
just barely past the legal drinking age, and he's Chinese-American.
After Election Day Nov. 2, the 21-year-old grandson of Chinese
immigrants is hoping to become the first minority elected to city
council in Campbell, a Silicon Valley suburb. His candidacy reflects the
changing demographics of California and a younger generation of
political aspirants who don't look anything like the incumbents.
Fifty years ago, prune orchards and packing plants dotted Campbell's
streets. The city of 38,000 still clings to its small-town atmosphere
and agricultural heritage -- its largest shopping center is still called
The PruneYard. But Campbell's ethnic landscape is shifting.
So is the make-up of surrounding Santa Clara County, the high-tech
industry's epicenter, which today is approximately 28 percent Asian. And
Low isn't the only young Asian American in the sprawling Silicon Valley
suburbs whose name will be on November ballots. In the city of Santa
Clara, Gap Kim, a 28-year-old Korean-American, is hoping to become the
first Asian American city council member. In Mountain View, 34-year-old
Japanese-American Margaret Abe-Koga is running for city council.
Behind these candidacies is the changing story of how successive
generations of Asian Americans view politics. Low says his grandparents
discouraged him from running, telling him, "Don't do politics. It's
expensive, you don't get paid well, you're on 10 different committees,
people are always mad at you. You should be a doctor."
Campbell is home to growing numbers of Asians and Hispanics, who now
make up about 16 and 13 percent of the city, respectively. Mayor Donald
Burr, who is running for re-election, is 69. Residents' median age is
35. In part, Low says, he's running because the city council no longer
looks like the city.
Along with Low, three white men and a Hispanic man -- all considerably
older -- will vie for two council seats on Nov. 2.
Low's opponents all hold elected or appointed posts and emphasize their
experience.
"Evan's a nice young man," Burr says. "He should serve on a city
commission of some kind, put a couple of years in with the city,
learning it a little bit better.
"I just think he needs a little more seasoning," he adds.
But Low says his youth and outsider status provide a fresh perspective,
and he's selling himself as an alternative to politics as usual. Though
he has done community service with groups like the Campbell Chamber of
Commerce and the Lion's Club, he says, "I'm not part of the
bureaucracy."
Low says he hopes his campaign will inspire others to think, "'Hey, this
guy can do it. He had many barriers, he was going against the old boys'
network, but hey, he still did it. And he stayed true to his
convictions.'"
"A lot of Americans nowadays feel so distraught over the fact that
politicians just don't listen, they're bought by special interests," Low
says. "What makes me different from the average politician is that I
listen, I am young. If you look at, for example, the California state
legislature, or even the Congress of the United States, it's not
representative. Is that what America looks like? All gray hair?"
Notwithstanding these opinions, Low knows he needs a political base to
win office.
"It's a mainstream campaign," Low says of his approach. Low can talk
public transportation, downtown development and dog parks with the best
of them. In part, this reflects the reality of running in the suburbs,
where despite their numbers, Asian voters are still a minority.
"One can be docked on playing, quote, the race card," says Low. "That
can be seen in a negative light."
But that doesn't mean Low has left his identity behind. The candidate,
who co-teaches a summer Asian-American youth leadership class at a local
community college, hopes to shatter a few stereotypes in the race, such
as the one that assumes all Asians are doctors or engineers. Or another
that says Asians are so hardworking that they're too busy to participate
in civic life.
"We are involved, we do have issues, we do contribute and we do have a
voice that needs to be heard," he says.
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PNS contributor Deborah Kong is a San
Francisco-based freelance journalist who writes about race and culture. |
