On my drive home Friday night, I heard on KQED’s The California Report, a nice story on the radio “Asian Asian American Politics”:
“Race and identity politics are hot topics this election year. As Barack Obama becomes the first African American to represent a major party in the race for the Oval Office, another historic transformation is quietly taking place here in California. Several Asian American candidates are poised to win seats in the state legislature, while others are running for Congress.”
You can listen to the whole program here (5 minutes, 49 seconds – Real Player needed). There is mention of Paul Fong, “The Godfather of Silicon Valley Asian American politics” and a brief interview with him. Only a decade ago, there was only 1Asian American in the California State Legislature. This fall, there could be a total of 11 (out of a total of 120 Senators and State Assemblymen). California is about 12% Asian American, so on a purely representative basis, statistically it would be nice to have at least 24 Asian Americans in the state legislature…
