Yvonne Lim Wilson, Felicia Tsao, John Chen and Robert Huyhn discuss Asian American politics.
April 16, 2009 | Yvonne Lim Wilson
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Have you ever tried to define Asian American politics? What does it mean? Conservative or liberal … what are the issues … who are our Asian American political leaders?
A group of about 30 UT students and community members met on Monday, April 13 to discuss politics and the political process.
Thu Doan, a UT government major who organized the event, said she found many students are reluctant to talk about politics, and she wanted to get more students involved.
“I was really passionate about politics and getting the message out,” Doan said.
Panelists included Eugenia Beh, Taofang Huang, Ramey Ko, Amy Wong Mok, Kimberly Tran and Yvonne Lim Wilson, with an introductory presentation by Alvina Yeh of Asian & Pacific Islander American (APIA) Vote.
Mok, founder and CEO of the Asian American Cultural Center and also former vice president of the Board of the 80-20 Committee, a national Asian American political group, encouraged all young people to get out there and learn all they can about politics.
“Politics is not boring! It can be fun!,” she said.
As a group, “Asian” includes so many diverse groups – Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, etc. While diversity is good, it can also present a challenge in working together.
“Hispanics are united around immigration, but we’re not aligned to the same goals, so I feel that’s a barrier,” said student Andrew Kim. “Most people don’t really think about it, but we are a minority within a minority.”
I had the pleasure of joining students Felicia Tsao, John Chen and Robert Huynh in a discussion about how do we define Asian American politics and what are some of the unifying issues among Asian groups?
We discussed how there is a generation gap when it comes to politics. Several students in the group said their parents are not active in politics and there is the perception that the older generation tend to be more conservative in their outlook. There was a general feeling of hope for more involvement among the younger generation with the election of President Obama.
Other topics discussed among other groups included: how to get involved with politics, why it’s important to be involved, how a bill becomes law, and barriers to participation.
It’s important to move past the traditional Asian immigrant outlook of only focusing on ones own work, Mok said.
“We have to move away from self-persevere to how can I make a difference,” Mok said. “I encourage you to go out of your comfort zone and find an issue you are passionate about. Find an NGO organization and see how a small group of dedicated people can make a difference. It can be enlightening.”
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