|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
 |
APA Newsbriefs and Notes from the MidtermsCommunity News and Tidbits from the Campaign Trail 2006Asian American Village Staff
Historic Cycle for Asian American WomenAPA Grrrlll Power will come into play this season, observes Don Nakanishi, Director of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center, with there being a strong chance that the Nov. 7 Election Day will make history by sending no less than three Asian American women to Congress: Mazie Hirono (Hawai’i), Tammy Duckworth (Illinois), and Doris Matsui (Calif.). Duckworth, a Thai/Chinese American veteran who lost both her legs in Iraq, recently moved ahead of opponent of Peter Roskam in her bid to replace retiring Henry Hyde in Illinois’ Sixth, according to Reuters. Hirono is a highly experienced politician who served with Ben Cayetano as former Lt. Gov. of Hawai’i. Matsui has continued to be popular in her district, where she began her life in Congress after the death of her husband, the highly popular Bob Matsui. (Also see: Controversy Stirs as VFW Committee Snubs Vet Duckworth after Changed Rules)
Anti-Affirmative Action Leader Takes it Where He Can Get It -- even the Ku Klux KlanWard Connerly, the so-called “racial privacy” movement guru who successfully led the Proposition 209 effort in California, has now publicly announced, accepted, embraced the Ku Klan Klan’s support for the measure. Even this: “God bless them,” said Connerly of these kindred spirits, in a video broadcast circulating on YouTube.com. At issue is a proposal on Michigan's ballot that would ban affirmative action in both university admissions decisions and the awarding of state business contracts. As reported in the Associated Press, Connerly defended his remark after the controversial video began widely circulating, saying he accepts support for banning affirmative action "wherever he finds it". Connerly, a one-time Regent of the University of California, was a main leader of the Prop 209 effort, which barred California public universities and other institutions from considering race or gender in admissions and hiring. The proposal at the time had enjoyed support among many Asian Americans, although its unanticipated consequences over the past 10 years have caused some to rethink the issue. According to the AP, the ballot initiative is blamed for plummeting numbers of Black, Hispanic and Native American students in the year following its passage. As the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund observes, after Proposition 209's passage, enrollment by Asian Pacific Americans at University of California law schools dropped from 18.3 percent to 17.4 percent, while Caucasian enrollment jumped from 58.8 percent to 71.7 percent. (Also see: “Hello? Excuse me? Don’t forget I’m here, too.” by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, University of Michigan alum, on "Asian Pacific Americans, Affirmative Action, and Michigan’s Proposal 2")
New Mexico Looks to Do the Right ThingNew Mexico voters will find on their ballot form a referendum to finally strike from their Constitution the vestiges of Asian Exclusion-era “Alien Land Laws” designed to prohibit Asians from the right to land ownership. The outdated, discriminatory regulations have remained embedded in the laws of a handful of states to the present day, even though they have since been found unconstitutional and thus rendered unenforceable. (Similar laws in Wyoming and Kansas were struck in the 2002 elections.) Although striking the prohibitions is a largely symbolic act – seemingly a no-brainer – such ballot initiatives have taken on a new currency. First, opponents of the initiative argue that given the “war on terror,” Patriot Act, and general trend of broadening executive discretion in bypassing certain civil liberties protections, there is a utility in leaving the language intact so that its prohibitions could be easily reactivated again at such time that other broad classes of people might again be deemed “ineligible for citizenship,” as Asian immigrants has been historically. Further, in the current climate, such measures may well be reaffirmed for no purpose other than to serve as a symbolic expression of anti-immigrant sentiment. For a not-unrelated example, it’s worth keeping in mind that 2002’s midterms saw ballot measures similarly seeking to strike unenforceable statutes banning “miscegenation” actually opposed by some 40% of voters in South Carolina and Alabama.
Macaca-gate – Continued
Asian Americans continue to mobilize in an all-out effort to oust incumbent VA Senator George Allen – “from sea to shining sea” and beyond. Most recently, television star Daniel Dae Kim, one of the regular Asian American leads from ABC’s smash series Lost, joined forces with filmmaker Eric Byler (Americanese, Charlotte Sometimes) to film a new spot in Hawai’i. With his handsome, chiseled face and quietly strong demeanor, Daniel Dae Kim may just be the most famous, generally notable Asian American in mainstream popular culture right now. The spot’s power lies in the calm, measured tones the actor employs to explain, soberly and eloquently, his admiration for Democrat Jim Webb and why Allen is unsuitable to represent the nation’s citizens. For non-Asians who “don’t see the big deal with the whole macaca/N-word thing,” the spot is a good way to catch just a glimpse of the fury bubbling in our community. The spot was first released on Nov. 2 to coincide with the “Asian Americans Choose Webb” rally held in Virginia, and the announcement of Webb’s endorsement by the national organization, APAs for Progress. It is viewable nationally on the YouTube.com web site, which played a prominent role in the “Macaca-gate” scandal earlier this season when videos of Senator Allen insulting a Indian American man from Virginia were posted to widespread outrage.
The Long, Long Arm of Jack AbramoffHow wide a pall has been cast by the Jack Abramoff scandal? How about all the way to the N. Mariana Islands, the non-voting Commonwealth near Guam. Hired by island officials to lobby on behalf of continuing poor labor laws and low minimum wages, Abramoff (successfully) lobbied mainland lawmakers now running for re-election and haunted by the ghosts of massive labor exploitation, especially of laborers from throughout Asia and the Pacific. The AP reports that the issue has come to the forefront in local California politics, where Democrat Charlie Brown has accused Rep. John Doolittle of ignoring abuses permitted in the Islands, which include not only substandard, sweatshop-type working conditions, but allegations of possibly more “grim conditions” for women and children. The AP reports that Doolittle, who had received $14,000 in contributions from Abramoff, opposed any imposition of U.S. federal labor laws or the raising of the minimum wage in the islands. Also affected by the scandal is the campaign of Doolittle’s fellow Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Tracy), who has denied being lobbied directly by Abramoff and has “given away” $7,500 his campaign received from Abramoff.
Not So “Minnesota Nice”: GOP Candidate Operative Caught in “Jap” Rant on Video
It’s déjà vu all over again as the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that former state Rep. Mike Osskopp has been caught in a videotaped rant railing against “Jap” cars outside a campaign event for Democratic Coleen Rowley. Rowley is running against state Rep. John Kline, for whom Osskopp is serving as political director. The video has been making the rounds, and can be seen streamed with commentary by The Pacific Citizen, the newspaper of the national Japanese American Citizens League.
80-20 Initiative Weighs in on Additional MO RaceFollowing its announcement that it would back Democrats in all but two races this year, the tripartisan swing-vote group 80-20 Initiative announced that it was expanding the number of targeted campaigns it would actively support. Limiting its efforts and expenditures primarily to specific locations where high Asian American concentrations could make a difference in close, key races, the group initially announced it would focus its efforts mostly on behalf of Tammy Duckworth in Illinois 6th; Nicholas Lampson in Texas 22nd; Darcy Burner in Washington 8th; and the re-election campaign by Senator Robert Menendez in New Jersey. However, on Nov. 3, the group announced that it was also urging its supporters to actively work with its two chapters in Missouri to help the Senate campaign of Democrat Claire McCaskill, suddenly in an dead-heat. At a 49/49 split, the organization argues, “even the 1.1% Asian Am. population [in MO] can make a difference through a bloc vote.”
AAAFUND: Barve, Lee and Valderrama All Move Ahead in MD
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Asian American Action Fund (AAA-Fund) announced in September that three of its endorsees in the state of Maryland had each won the opportunity to move ahead to the November 7 general election, after impressive showings in the September 12 primary. These were: Susan Lee, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates since 2002, and Kris Valderrama, a candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates. Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, a member of the AAA-Fund Honorary Board, also prevailed in his reelection effort. "We congratulate Kumar, Susan and Kris," said Erika L. Moritsugu, executive director of the AAA-Fund, "and extend them our best wishes for the general election. We are especially happy that Kris was able to break out of a large field of candidates for an open seat and, as a first time candidate, show that she has what it takes to represent the people of Maryland." The AAA-Fund is a national Democratic political organization whose goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in local, state and federal government, by encouraging APAs to volunteer on campaigns, raise money for candidates, and run for political office. For more on these and other AAA-Fund endorsees, please visit the AAA-Fund website's candidate page.
Controversy Stirs as VFW Committee Snubs Vet Duckworth after Changed RulesThe Chicago Tribune reports that the Veterans of Foreign Wars' political committee, astonishingly, had endorsed Peter Roskam rather than one of its own – VFW member Tammy Duckworth, a veteran who lost both legs in an attack while serving in Iraq. As the Tribune reports, a Chicago news conference, “Roskam and Joe Buttice, a past commander of the Wood Dale VFW post, were unable to thoroughly explain how the endorsement occurred.” The article suggested that the unusual move might have been related to what amounts to little more than a technicality and so much paperwork, after a recent change in the organization's endorsement procedures calling for certain procedures to request specific endorsement application materials. The Duckworth campaign and many local vets contend that they were never made aware of the new procedures, and never contacted by the organization. At her own news conference in response, the paper continues, “Duckworth, joined by a group of veterans, said she had never been contacted for an endorsement by the VFW's political action committee. Some local VFW members said they had never heard about the endorsement process.”
APA Youth Voters: The Good News and Bad
There’s good news and bad news for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in a recent study of youth voting conducted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan research group CIRCLE: The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. In CIRCLE’s 2006 Civic and Political Health of the Nation Survey, supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers conducted one of the most comprehensive, detailed studies to date of APA youths' attitudes about politics, voting, and the community issues that concern them. The results introduce a glimmer of light into an otherwise gloomy picture of today’s APA youth participation, but there's clearly a lot of room for improvement. The Bad News: Young Asian American voters have been and remain the least likely to vote among all race/ethnic youth groups. Only 20 percent of Asian-American youth, ages 20 to 25, identified themselves as regular voters, according to Mark Hugo Lopez, Research Director at CIRCLE. The Good News: The level of engagement in important community actions and political interest among APA youth seems to be on the rise – even soaring – outside the realm of electoral politics. “Even though most don’t vote, 51 percent – the highest result among the racial and ethnic groups surveyed – said they tried to persuade others in an election.” So, how are we to account for being the most interested in politics and civic engagement, and the least likely to actually show up when push comes to shove? Is it really that young APAs are living up to our stereotype as the passive, submissive, keep-your-head-down non-players who just go along and kow-tow to decisions made from on high by those who more naturally lead? Or that they just don’t care, or feel they can be effective? Or is it something else? There's no doubt that younger Asian Americans are fully capable of conducting highly organized, deeply impassioned activities in the interest of significant social concerns. Just imagine what kind of difference it could make if young APAs turned out at the polls with the same passion and energy – the leadership – we’ve seen in nationwide rallies and even hunger strikes for Asian American Studies, or in combating corporate stereotypes (Abercrombie & Fitch) and media ridicule (Details “Gay or Asian”)? It could make a winning difference. A new, objective study released in September by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center called Asian Americans “the new 'Sleeping Giant' in California politics,” with the number of eligible voters climbing by over half a million, from 2 million to 2.5 million, in just the five years between 2000 and 2005. Constituting 12 percent of eligible voters (and growing), the Asian American vote is moving toward the kind of role that Hispanics have taken over the last two decades. Asian Americans could well have the clout to swing the state’s 54 electoral votes, or allow the Terminator keep or lose his job. But there are real obstacles to APA youth voting. As the nonpartisan voter education group APIA Vote showed in its presentation to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights during the 2004 election season, a host of problems and outright acts of discrimination conspired to suppress voting by young Asian Americans across the country – especially, but not exclusively, those who were recently naturalized immigrants. According to APIA Vote, problems ranged from unfamiliarity with the electoral process and new polling requirements, lack of language assistance and inaccurately translated materials, and discriminatory obstruction by poll workers. The nonpartisan Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) has published detailed plans to protect voters' rights in the 2006 midterm elections, which will entail -- among other measures -- soliciting volunteers and monitors to help with language assistance and defending voters against harassment at the polls. The Asian Pacific American Legal Center’s Voting Rights Unit also monitors poll sites in areas with high Asian and Pacific Islander (API) population concentrations, and seeks volunteers to help with both monitoring and exit polling on Election Day, Nov. 7.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
