One Vote Victory, Recounts, and Failed Recount Requests: Asian American Votes do Matter

Our writer John has written about Asian American voter apathy over the years and sometimes brings it up when we have lunch, but for me, three recent events really bring out the importance of Asian American votes.  The first is the one vote victory of Murali Srinivasan over Justin Wang in Sunnyvale’s District 3 City Council race in that heavily Asian American Bay Area city. The second is Justin Wang’s request to have a recount as a result.  The third is the failed attempt at a recount and challenges to the election system in Sheng Thao’s Oakland mayoral race victory.

The Srinivasan victory (at least so far) shows the importance of every vote, and in the 48% Asian American city of Sunnyvale, the importance of Asian American votes.  I can’t blame Wang for wanting a recount, and he is taking a loan to cover the costs.  Recount costs and short notice for paying those costs is why the NAACP local chapter’s request at a recount of Sheng Thao’s election win failed.

Santa Clara had a mandatory recount for the Sunnyvale race because it was so close.  According to Srinivasan, the recount procedures looked good to him.  I can’t see why they wouldn’t look good to him!  The NAACP contends that the ranked choice voting system is confusing to voters.  I can see their point, but then again, Oakland has been using that system for some 10 years now, and that system is a key reason why Jean Quan became Oakland’s first Asian American mayor.

 

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Michelle Yeoh is Time Magazine’s 2022 Icon of the Year


Michelle Yeoh has been selected to be Time Magazine’s 2022 Icon of the Year. She is riding a streak of hit movies in the United States, from Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings to this year’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. as well as a successful run in Star Trek: Discovery. Yeoh is nominated for a Golden Globe best actress award in her performance in that movie.

In the interview in the Time Magazine article, she says that younger people who first saw her as the stern mother in Crazy Rich Asians, and after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, now come up her amazed that she also can do action/martial arts scenes.  I agree that her range is amazing, although my view on progression is just the opposite as I first saw her in Hong Kong action movies and was pleasantly surprised that she could play the stern mother role in both Crazy Rich Asians and Everything Everywhere All at Once.  I especially appreciate that she is taking on Asian American roles, showing the Asian American experience as in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

She is not resting on her laurels, as she is currently in Avatar: The Way of Water and other projects are coming up, such as the Witcher and the American Born Chinese TV series on Disney+.  I am especially excited about American Born Chinese, which reunites her with some of her Everything Everywhere All at Once co-stars Stephanie Hsu and Ke Hy Quan and also talks about the Asian American experience.

 

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Documentary: Rising Against Asian Hate: One Day in March

The documentary Rising Against Asia Hate:  One Day in March came out about a month ago, but it some of its key points are particularly relevant today, particularly with the Senate runoff in Georgia between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker.  It focuses on the Asian American experience and fight against Asian hate after the 2021 Atlanta Spa killings.  I found the Sandra Oh narrated documentary at times moving, infuriating, and enlightening.

One part of the documentary that I found moving is the story of Robert Peterson looking for his mother Yong Ae Yue in the aftermath of the shootings.  PBS provides a preview of Peterson’s story here.  A part that might make you mad is how quickly the local police dismissed any motive of racism in the shootings, saying it was that the shooter was having a bad day.  Media seemed to focus on saying what a good guy for the most part the shooter was rather than focusing on the victims.  An enlightening part focused on the difficulty of prosecuting hate crimes against Asian Americans.

A substantial section of the documentary is about the Asian Americans in politics in Georgia and their reactions.  After Asian Americans help flip Georgia in 2022, one politician states that her district was being redistricted to weaken Asian American voting.  Still, both parties are courting Asian Americans in Georgia.  We mentioned that in general and before the runoff election between Raphael Warnock and Heschel Walker on December 6, both parties worked to attract Asian American voters in Georgia and other states. Asian American voters overall favored Warnock, which may have been the difference in that close election.

Rising Against Asian Hate:  A Day in March was produced by Repartee Films, LLC in association with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).  The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), The WNET Group for PBS, and the Asian American Foundation are among the many groups and individuals that funded it.

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From Homeless Single Mother to Oakland Mayor: Sheng Thao wins through Ranked Choice Voting

In an amazing journey from being a homeless single mother living in a car, Sheng Thao was elected mayor of Oakland. The journey is even more amazing considering that in the initial count of votes, Thao was in second place.  Because no Oakland mayoral candidate won a majority of votes, instant-runoff voting, also known in the US as ranked-choice voting, propelled her to victory.

Instant-runoff voting saves the trouble of having a separate runoff election, such as what is happening with the Herschel Walker – Raphael Warnock Senatorial Race in Georgia.  In this voting method, voters rank their preferences to candidates.  If there is no majority preferred candidate, the lowest vote getting candidate is eliminated, and those votes are redistributed according to the preferences.  If there is no majority winner, the process continues until there is a winner. This article provides excellent detail on how this worked for Thao.

The second place winner, Loren Taylor, conceded but was none too happy about ranked-choice voting. The process made for an interesting election, as coalitions of candidates formed to influence voter rankings.

Sheng Thao is the first Hmong American woman to be elected to the Oakland City Council and first Hmong American to be mayor.  She is also second Asian American woman to be elected Mayor of Oakland, the first being Jean Quan, who also won through ranked choice voting. She will have to deal with a number of challenges facing Oakland, including economic problems and crime as well as an ethics complaint.

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Study finds that Cyberbullying of Asian American Youth increased during Pandemic

Generating a result that should surprise no one, a study concludes that while all youths (teens 13-17) experienced increased cyberbullying compared to before the pandemic, Asian American youths endured were increasingly targeted because of their race after the pandemic started. Asian American teens saw the largest increase in cyberbullying, as well as the biggest increase in what they felt were race-based harrassment (self-reported).  Multi-racial teens also saw an large increase in general cyberbullying and race-based cyberbullying.

Note that the full text of article is behind a paywall.  A summary of the study can be found at this link at the US National Institute of Health.

(Cyberbullying image by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free)

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Remembering Asian American Veterans: Richard Hoy

As the “Americanness” of Asian Americans is often questioned these days despite the long history of Asian Americans in the United States, Veteran’s Day is a good time to point out the contributions that Asian Americans to the country.  In this StoryCorps excerpt also featured on NPR, Richard Hoy tells how he joined the Army to have a life of adventure and be a war hero and soon learned that he there were other ways he could be a hero without being a “tough guy.”

StoryCorps is a great to capture and preserve the oral history of family and friends, and we have featured a number of those stories about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

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Exploring the History of San Jose’s Pinoytown

I have been going to San Jose Japantown for most of my adult life, but the only thing Filipino there that I noticed was a small Filipino community center building.  Only after taking a Historical Walking Tour of the area did I learn that there was once a thriving Filipino American community there that worked and live in conjunction with the Japanese and Chinese people who had already settled there.  Given what I learned, and I would like to suggest a 13th way to add to the 12 ways to celebrate Filipino American History Month I talked about earlier – going on the Filipino American National Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley‘s Pinoytown Historical Walking Tour.

After getting burned out of the largest Chinatown in San Jose in 1887, Chinese were permitted to settle on the Heinlenville Chinatown on 6th street in San Jose.  That Chinatown proved attractive to Japanese bachelors, who could comfortably frequent restaurants and gambling establishments there without much fear of discrimination.  On the tour, I learned Filipino agricultural workers (Santa Clara/Silicon Valley used to be know as the Valley of Heart’s Delight because of its farms and orchards) in the 1930’s would stop by this Chinatown for the same reasons.  In that way, a Japantown and a Pinoytown would form near that Chinatown, making up what is now known as San Jose Japantown today.

One of our guides, Robert Ragsac, grew up in San Jose’s Pinoytown and regaled us with stories of what was there and his experiences.  He talked about making friendships with Japanese Americans and what happened during the internment, seeing his friends and neighbors packing what they could fit in luggage as they were sent to Tanforan for processing. We learned that in the camps, San Jose developed a reputation as a nice area to live, so many other Japanese Americans settled in San Jose after their release, even Japanese Americans who weren’t originally from San Jose. In another story, he said that when he was a teenager, he put together a basketball team to play against the Japantown Zebras basketball team made up of kids who had come back from the internment camps.  Robert said his team got clobbered, as one of the main things those kids did in the camps was play basketball!

I loved the history in the stories that, not just of Filipinos but of the other ethnic groups of the area, including Mexicans and even dust bowl refugees. San Jose Japantown makes it easy to learn history, as there are commemorative benches and interpretative signs that talk about the history of the area.  I have included one above.

Pinoytown faded away as the farm workers who settled there grew older and their children, for whom they wanted better lives, moved away and had different careers.  Robert said had worked in the fields in his youth but went to college and became an aerospace engineer.  By the time that the immigrant wave of the 1960s started, there was nothing much left of Pinoytown to hold any interests to that wave.

Still a few things remain of that era.  The community center I mentioned is still going strong and actually had a health event going on.  The Zebras basketball organization still fields teams – a number of my children’s friends played on Zebra teams. While the area of San Jose Japantown is gentrifying, it is still a lively area that my family frequents to this day. A new park there will be named after the Heinlenville Chinatown.

Pinoytown tours take place only during October.  Still, you can walk around San Jose Japantown and learn a lot of history from the stands and benches there.  Also, the video below is a good overview of the history of San Jose’s Pinoytown.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Lanhee Chen for California State Controller

I first heard of Lanhee Chen when he had first worked for then Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a policy advisor, and I met him the first time when he was a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University discussing his observations on the Taiwanese elections in 2020, which was really interesting.

Chen is now currently running for California State Controller, a role most previously held by two other Asian Americans, John Chiang and Betty Yee. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, for Chen to get elected in heavily Democratic California is that he is a Republican. The state controller race, a statewide elected office, is not that well known among the general public. The last time a Republican in California was elected for a state wide race was when Arnold Schwarzenegger was re-elected as governor in 2006 (and he obviously had  name recognition).

I most recently met Chen when former presidential candidate Andrew Yang had endorsed Chen for Controller earlier this year at an event. As you may know, Yang started a new “political party” last year and is looking to promote more centrist candidates, through the political mechanisms of open primaries and ranked choice voting (both of which I support).

To my surprise, I’ve heard on a few instances, some fairly liberal political friends of mine that they are considering voting for Chen. I say surprisingly, because the U.S. has gotten so partisan that I think it is hard to get beyond party labels. Most impressively, The Los Angeles Times has endorsed Chen for State Controller:

“The selection should boil down to this: Do you want the position to be held by someone who’s in tight with the officials who run state government? Or would you rather see it occupied by someone with the independence and skills to examine why state spending has not yielded better results?

We believe the latter is the better choice, which is why we endorsed Lanhee Chen in the June primary election and why we urge a vote for him on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Chen’s focus is on the controller’s power to audit government spending. He pledges to scrutinize the biggest categories of spending and rate programs based on their effectiveness. This is an urgently needed service in a state that has a record of poor performance despite its soaring $300-billion budget. During the last several years of strong revenue, California pumped billions more into education, healthcare and alleviating homelessness. Yet too few students can read at grade level, too many Medi-Cal patients can’t see a doctor and too many people sleep on the streets.

Cohen is positioned to work well with the Democrats who run the state. But we believe that California needs a controller who has more independence. That’s why Chen is the better choice in this race.”

California and the U.S. should not be a one party system, and there needs to be the rule of law and checks and balances. So it makes sense to have a rational non-Democrat to provide a check against one party rule in California when it comes to spending. This is Chen’s strongest argument and I think that will resonant with Californians, no matter their poitical affiliation, because Americans in general are increasingly becoming less confident in our government’s ability (at all levels in my opinion) at effectively governing.

Best of luck to Chen on trying to win statewide office!

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8Books Review: Rice is Life by Caryl Levine and Ken Lee

Rice is Life: Recipes and Stories Celebrating the World’s Most Essential Grain is a new cookbook out from Caryl Levine and Ken Lee, founders of Lotus Foods. It’s hard to disagree with a title like that. I mean, my rice cooker is among my most used kitchen appliances.

But Rice is Life goes far beyond what I anticipated. Aside from recipes, it includes a lot of information about rice varieties and especially about rice cultivation that was new to me. Sure, part of that is the origin story and genesis of the author’s company, Lotus Foods, but it’s also about how rice is grown and what SRI means, how it benefits women and global farming communities. Mouthwatering images of the food are accompanied with images of farmers and the many places that rice is grown.

I also really appreciated how the authors incorporate global recipes and even recipes adapted from the farmers that the company works with — such as the Central Javanese Nasi Goreng (which having tried, I can assure you, is good). The recipes are generally straight forward and seem easy to make. And the authors often add suggested possible adjustments, such as for complexity and spice, in the head notes. Classics, like Ken’s Fried Rice (I mean, you gotta have a recipe for fried rice in a rice cookbook) are accompanied with innovative takes, like a version of shakshuka with rice.

Next on my list to try? Black rice risotto with dashi, scallops, and furikake butter.

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Asian American Commercial Watch: Sheng Thao for Oakland Mayor: “Determined”

Sheng Thao for MayorAlthough I live in the San Francisco Bay Area (since 1999), I’ve never lived in Oakland and rarely make it there, but I do know that Oakland City Council member Sheng Thao is running for Mayor of Oakland this November. I don’t think I’ve ever met Thao. If Thao wins, she won’t be the first Asian American woman to have been elected mayor of Oakland – that would have been Jean Quan, who was elected back in 2010.

Best of luck to Thao – I don’t know much about the race except for a brief radio piece I heard stating that both leading candidates were not that well known – that both didn’t have much name recognition and that is why political endoresements are important in this election. There are 10 candidates running for the post of mayor, including fringe candidate Peter Liu, who recently threatened local Jews in an anti-Semitic outburst in mass e-mails.

You can learn more about Thao at – https://www.shengforoakland.com/

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12 Ways to Celebrate Filipino American History Month

Google published 10 Ways to Celebrate Filipino American History, which is appropriate as October is Filipino American History Month. The article talks about learning about and honoring notable Filipino Americans like Larry Itliong, Lea Salonga, and Victoria Manalo Draves. It’s great to see major corporations embracing this Filipino American History Month – I know that a variety of tech companies have Filipino American Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that celebrate it. Every year, the Golden State Warriors celebrate Filipino Heritage Night (October 23 in 2022), which would be an 11th way.

I would add one more way to make it 12: see Nursing These Wounds by KULARTS in San Francisco this weekend and next.  This immersive dance performance (preview above) investigates the impact of colonization on Filipino health and caregiving through the lens of Filipino nurses’ history.

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8Books Review: My Diwali Light by Raakhee Mirchandani

My Diwali Light by Raakhee Mirchandani, art by Supriya Kelkar is a lovely picture book about celebrating Diwali with family and friends. With Diwali just around the corner (it’s on Monday), this is a great read for this time of year.

Follow along with Devi, her parents and her Nani (grandmother), as she prepares for her favorite holiday and then shares it with her neighbors, going from house to house. Each celebration is a little different. You’ll be hungry by the time you’ve read through all the foods that Devi and her family have prepared and eaten throughout the day. And of course, there’s lessons from Nani on the meaning of Diwali, that will help little ones unfamiliar with the celebration learn more about it. Bright and colorful art accompanies the story — including pieces of fabric from the artist’s family members, which feels particularly apt and special.

Don’t miss the notes at the end from the author and illustrator, discussing how their own families celebrate Diwali and what making the book has meant to them. It’s another reminder — should you ever need one — that representation matters. Happy Diwali all!

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