Fang, Obama, and expanding the definition of "Asian American" political issues
02.01.08 - Posted by AsiansVote
New American Media has posted a letter from Jennifer Fang (the force behind Reappropriate) about why she supports Barack Obama for President. A key excerpt:
As an Illinois state senator, Obama was also a strong advocate for protecting minority-owned small businesses and improving K-12 education. Obama was influential in immigration reform to ease the process of immigration and naturalization. Under an Obama presidency, Asian Americans would benefit from a $2500 reduction in healthcare costs for the average family, allowing the estimated 17.2% of uninsured Asian Americans to afford quality healthcare. Recognizing that over half of the Asian American community has achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher, but that an increasingly large segment of the Asian American community is having a difficult time paying for tuition, Obama would make the first $4,000 of college-level tuition free. And Senator Obama has committed to the Asian American community that he will end workplace discrimination and maintain open lines of communication to established Asian American leadership throughout his presidency.
Fang's letter does a great job of expanding the definition of so-called "Asian American" issues. In contrast, the 80-20 Initiative's
questionnaire for presidential candidates focusses on just two things: discrimination in the workplace and Asian American representation in the judiciary. With all due respect to 80-20 for its impressive work in organizing Asian American voters, Fang's more expansive argument feels more convincing. Asian American voters are deeply and probably disproportionately affected by anti-immigrant policies, poor health care coverage, and tuition increases. Kudos to Fang for bringing progressive solutions to those problems to the forefront in her appeal to Asian American voters.
Click here to read Fang's entire letter at Reappropriate.com. And a tip of the hat to Angry Asian Man for the link.
02.01.08 |
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