As I have mentioned in a previous post, Asian-Americans are under-represented in politics - even in California - where we are the 2nd largest minority group behind Latinos. It’s nice to read in The New York Times the article about “Asians Flex Muscles in California Politics” :
“There are now nine Asian-Americans in the State Legislature, compared with one 10 years ago. In November, a Chinese-American, John Chiang, was elected state controller. Three of the five members of the Board of Equalization, which administers the state’s tax policies, are Asian-American, including Mr. Chiang.”
I know John Chiang! - John is the HIGEST ranking elected Asian-American in California. He is my friend’s friend’s husband and I have met John several times. He’s a really down-to-earth guy and truly a public servant. I am proud to say that I was a support for his campaign effort.
However, given Asian-Americans’ representation in voting is *still* under-represented:
“According to a study by S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside, only 37 percent of Asian-Americans in California voted in the 2004 elections, compared with 68 percent of blacks and 73 percent of whites. Latino turnout, at 32 percent, was even lower. The disparity can partly be explained by lower rates of citizenship: only 67 percent of Asians and 59 percent of Latinos living in California at the time were citizens. But even those who were citizens had much lower rates of voter registration than other ethnic groups.”
What ever happened to The Model Minority? 
Obviously, the “Model Minority” is NOT the “Model U.S. Citizen.”
Come on apathetic Asian-Americans - get involved in your community and get involved at the very least to vote!
One of the major benefits of being a U.S. citizen is to exercise your right to vote! If you don’t vote, you have no reason to complain about the government!
Other posts you might be interested in:
Blog RSS Blog Comments RSS
8 Asians » SF Chronicle: Clinton pushes hard to lock up Asian support wrote:
[...] If you don’t know, the Sing Tao Daily, World Journal and China Press are U.S.-based publications targeting the Chinese-reading public in America, and I hope you would understand why there might be controversy (of course, those newspapers should have been on time!). Note: amazingly, there are SIX Chinese language newspapers in the Bay Area, according to this 2004 Chronicle article. As I had blogged earlier this year, “Asian Political Power, but wait - apathetic Asian-Americans???” - get involved and don’t forget to vote in 2008. Asian-America - you can rock the vote in California and for the nation! [...]
Posted on 18-May-07 at 9:20 am | Permalink
8Asians.com » activist imagination. & irrelevant side notes. wrote:
[...] to my own post–when you google “apathetic asian,” what should come up first? a february 2007 post from 8asians‘ [...]
Posted on 27-Nov-07 at 9:09 am | Permalink