Asian-American Youth Venture Into Cal Politics

As I have commented many times in the past on 8asians, Asian-Americans are not very politically active or involved, so it’s nice to read “Asian-American Youth Venture Into Cal Politics” (sorry for the late post on this article..):

“In recent years, several Asian Americans have risen to prominent political positions, such as U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta. Californians have also elected several Asian and Pacific Islanders to state legislative office, including Sen. Leland Yee, Assemblymen Mike Eng and Van Tran, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma. But despite increasing leadership in this community, Asian Americans make up less than 10 percent of the California legislature even though they are 13 percent of the population….Overall civic participation in the Asian-American community, including voting, has been historically low. A study conducted by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center showed that, overall, 53 percent of registered voters went to the voting booth in the 2006 primary elections, while only 43 percent of registered Asian and Pacific Islanders voted.” (New America Media, Aug 07, 2007)”

The article goes on to describe organizations trying to inspire young Asian Americans to pursue public service, including the California state legislature. One organization is the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus that organized “Internship Day at the Capitol.” This year’s event brought together about 50 young Asian Americans to meet legislators, students and staff members to get insight on working with state legislation. With more efforts like this, let’s hope that more Asian Americans across the nation get involved in public service and politics.