8 Asians

The New [Asian American] Face of the [California] Grand Old Party

I came across this somewhat self-serving article by Republican Michelle Park Steel the other day in AsianWeek, The New [Asian American] Face of the [California] Grand Old Party, it’s exciting to read the increasing involvement of Asian Americans in public service:

“For the first time in California history, Asian Americans hold four out of the five [elected] seats on the [State Board of Equalization] board, with three of the five members Asian American women.”

John Chiang, who formerly was on the Board of Equalization, is now California’s highest ranking elected Asian American, as State Controller,formerly held by Steve Westley. I’ve complained in the past about the lack of Asian American involvement in politics, so it’s exciting to see that we’re getting more involved. In fact, in a UCLA study released last year (2006), “Asian Americans Called the New ‘Sleeping Giant’ in California Politics.” I’m glad Asian Americans are waking up!

Other posts you might be interested in:

• Congressman David Wu Highlighted on The Daily Show
• The California Report: Asian American Politics
• LA Weekly: The Rise of Fil-Am Hip-Hop
• AsianWeek: The 25 Most Infamous Yellow Face Film Performances (Part 1 & 2)
• Californian Asian-American Culture Shock!

Comments (2) to “The New [Asian American] Face of the [California] Grand Old Party”

1. jennifer wrote:

   It’s about time! Sad to think that in the NYC council, we have our first and only Asian American council member, John Liu, from Flushing, Queens. Sad to think that even Chinatown in Manhattan isn’t represented by an Asian American council member.

   Glad to see California’s on top of things

   Posted on 28-Apr-07 at 5:28 pm | Permalink

2. Bertie wrote:

   Sad to think that even Chinatown in Manhattan isn’t represented by an Asian American council member.

   Say, for example, I, an Asian American, would want to run for office in a predominantly non-Asian American district. I would hope that my Asian-American-ness would not prevent me from representing everyone in the district. Likewise, if the representative in NYC representing Chinatown listens to Chinatown’s residents’ needs and helps them out, I don’t see why race should be the DETERMINING factor.

   I have a relative ranked pretty high in California politics (I decline to say who, but he’s a rock star), and he is quite adept at representing the population at large.

   Posted on 29-Apr-07 at 8:08 pm | Permalink

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