We have looked at political inequality in youth engagement today, let’s turn our attention to the U.S.’s political inequality. The ‘model minority’ mindset is a microaggression many Asian Americans Pacific Islanders (AAPI) face – the stereotypical idea of a “minority group perceived as particularly successful” (Omakeke 2021), used in reference to over accomplishment and an extremely harmful myth.
When it comes to politics, the view is especially harmful – disregarding AAPI voices on the basis that their interests are already met or solely in educational achievement, leaving them underrepresented in the political field. The AAPI community is 7% of the United States’ population (United States Census Bureau 2020), but rising hate and racial stereotyping throughout the pandemic demonstrate the lack of meaningful representation. So, with only “0.9% of federal, state and local representatives” being Asian American Pacific Islanders (Ruiz-Grossman 2021) let’s examine these inequalities, and why it is hard for Asian Americans to have a political career.
A History of White Politics
In 1882, President Chester Arthur passed the Chinese Exclusion act – “absolute ban on labourers immigrating to the United States”, creating harsher requirements for immigrants to enter the country and forcing settled Chinese immigrants to reapply for restricted citizenship (United States National Archives). This was followed by the implementation of US internment camps which incarcerated 120,000 thousand Japanese citizens following Pearl Harbour (National Archives).
These events shaped views of the U.S. AAPI community, with the Vietnam and Korean wars cementing xenophobic sentiments towards all Asians in the United States, and giving AAPI members less power within the US political system. Vestiges remain today within U.S. voting law – requiring citizenship which was withheld from many AAPI people. This exclusion from the political system creates internalised views wherein AAPI members fear to speak up and participate in politics, creating generational gaps and a lack of political education.
Generational Gaps
Especially when it comes to civic education or teaching the tools to ask “critical questions about our social and political system and taking informed action within those systems” (DiGiacomo et.al 2021), AAPI children are stuck between cultural landscapes. I am Vietnamese American – family and responsibility were paramount, and I grew up around these socialised values of my elders, contrasted to a western cultural landscape and value system that often conflicted with more culturally traditional values at home. These values further put AAPI members at a disadvantage when it comes to politics as civic education is often overlooked by elders. However, the political aspiration in civic engagement is evident today as 59% of the AAPI community reported voting in the 2020 presidential election (United States Census Bureau 2020), but many generational barriers remain for aspirations of political careers.
Growing Up, I never thought I would or could or should be involved in politics. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me in spaces of power. We are redefining what leadership looks like”
– Michelle Wu 2021
Intersectionality is important
So what can be done? Let’s think intersectionally – the idea by Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how “race, gender and other individual characteristics ‘intersect’ (Coaston 2019) often compounded forms of discrimination – about the possible solutions for how to approach the problem of political representation. We’ve explored how the AAPI community faces discrimination within the political system, but what about one’s gender? Figure 1 shows the trajectory for women within the US Congress.
Rodgers (2020) How Congress Will Change
While the trajectory looks positive, with more women entering Congress, these women wield higher socioeconomic privilege. Only 9 of those women in congress identify as AAPI, reflecting the history of women’s rights centring on white wealthy women in their political representation. 78 women in congress identify as white – those with the most influence in politics (Centre for American Women in Politics). A singular view shows that AA women are disadvantaged here, battling not only sexism within politics but cultural and racial opposition too – creating political disadvantages and underrepresentation in political areas. However, solutions have been proposed to combat such underrepresentation.
EMA Human Rights Blog (2019)
The Problem with Quotas- Campaigning and Funding
Scholars have been interested in the ideas of quotas or “group-based representation” (Hughes 2011) to rebalance our electoral system. This can be important as it ensures a certain percentage of seats are equally allocated to women and people of colour, which the United States lacks and has ruled unconstitutional (Menand 2020). However, I don’t believe this is the right solution – as it reduces the conversation to tokenism. Especially considering the expectation for women in politics, many face imposter syndromes or “flawed self-perception” (Tulshyan & Burey 2021). Quotas direct the conversation towards women’s sense of self and belonging, especially for AAPI women, and does not fully address the issue of political careers as an institution in which underrepresentation occurs. It further does not allow for as much intersectionality to occur within the categorical quota system, as not every person within these quota groups can fully represent their community.
Quotas won’t solve the fact that Asian American Women earned just 52 cents for every white man’s dollar; AAPI women would struggle to fundraise to get on political ballots (National Partnership). AAPI persons comprise more local electoral positions than federal or state positions – 152 AAPI members in state positions compared to just 15 in congress (Dugyala 2021), thereby decreasing the scope of change influence and reach. So, what is the solution? I believe civic education is the most important way to ensure a more equal system. More classroom-based, practical, and outside volunteer work can teach marginalised groups the tools they need to be successful in political careers, tools currently only being passed down within the social elite in society.
Getting Involved
Photograph of the NYC public art installation “I Still Believe in Our City” featuring artwork by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya.
Especially with the rise of AAPI hate during the coronavirus pandemic, over 3,800 anti-Asian attacks in 2020 (Yam 2021), action by political leaders who understand and represent us is needed. While the Biden administration’s anti-hate bill (Cathey 2021) is a step in the right direction, political engagement and political representation is the way to truly represent marginalised communities. If we all share and educate ourselves on issues from people in the AAPI community and boost awareness for those candidates who are qualified, yet underrepresented, we can make a difference.
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