March Forth Conference in Review:

Washington D.C. conference spotlights growing political presence of Asian Americans

March 5, 1999

By Allen Teng

Three days before Super Tuesday, CAPAL, in partnership with 1999 CAPAL Board Member Jenny Yang and the National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum, DC Chapter (NAPAWF-DC), hosted a nearly 12 hour extravaganza of speakers, workshops, roundtable discussions and a political forum in Washington D.C. set the stage for greater Asian Pacific American participation in the 2000 elections and census drive. Exceeding the expectations of organizers, the event drew more than 250 professionals, community leaders, government employees, students and academics to Georgetown University Law Center from across the country.

Keynote remarks by newly elected Houston City Council Member Gordon Quan touched off the event and were taped for rebroadcast by C-SPAN. Quan described his modest ascension into politics, feeling as he believes most Asian Americans do, that "someone else must be better qualified for job." But after being convinced by a political mentor, he sought out experienced political consultants who advised to forgo what was obvious about him, as a minority and an immigration lawyer, and instead tell white Conservative votes what he would do for them.

Quan, realizing that Asians composed only 7% of the electorate, sought out support from other communities such as the Latino community, the Jewish community and African community. He gained that support by being involved in their community throughout and not just stopping by when he needed their vote. In his role, he as worked for all Houstonians but feels that he has proven the value of diversity by being able to get more Asian Americans appointed into city positions and speak out for the community.

The morning session featured panels on political appointments, coalition building and an update about "APIA Vote 2000," a national coalition campaign working toward APA voter education and registration. One of the highlights of the morning sessions included a NAPAWF-sponsored session on APA women shaping public policy. Participants spoke both personally and professional about the reality of the "old boys network" limiting opportunities and the critical need for APA women to organize and create their own network by "reaching one hand behind and one hand ahead."

During the lunch, over 20 different APA elected officials and community leaders from a diverse range of professions and backgrounds participated in intimate roundtable discussions with conference attendees. Congressman David Wu began the lunch with a speech concerning the importance of APA voter mobilization and the effect of community participation in his own election. Lunch facilitators included Sandy Dang and KaYing Yang. Dang from Asian American Leadership Empowerment and Development talked about her program to help the children of Vietnamese refugees in the Mt. Pleasant community of Washington D.C. Yang of the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center, who is a board member of the National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum, also talked about her work with the multiethnic, Washington-based coalition and her past experiences working with Hmong in Minneapolis, Minn.

Highlights of the second half of the day included panels on campaigning and fundraising as well as a discussion of news coverage of Asian Americans. Former Delware Lieutenant Governor S.B. Woo described the "80/20 Initiative," Fred Yang described the role of polling and Phil Nash covered new trends in internet campaigning. Karen Narasaki, director of the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium warned that Asian Americans because of the campaign financing miscues may become a political pawn in the Presidential Election and NBC New York reporter Ti-Hua Chang riveted workshop attendees with his 9 "P's" of getting news media to cover an event. Census 2000 outreach efforts were detailed and materials were also handed out in an attempt to correct the 2.3% undercount that occurred in the Asian Pacific American community in 1990.

Representatives from each of the four major Presidential Candidates were on hand to act as surrogates from their respective campaigns. Shari Macias, a reporter for the local NBC news station served as moderator and began the discussion. Delegate Jean Cryor of the Maryland State Legislature representing the George W. Bush campaign disputed the new report by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics that described Asian Americans as feeling perpetually as outsiders despite economic success. Part of this debate was covered by the local NBC affiliate for the 11 p.m. news.

The most heated discussion ensued when a student asked about John McCain's use of the word "gook" in referring to his Vietnamese captors while a prison of war. Augustus Alzona, a Filipino American McCain supporter and member of the Maryland Republican Central Committee, stated that he had personally brought up the issue with McCain's staff and that McCain had apologized for the racial slur. Alzona pointed to McCain's strong support among the Vietnamese community during a rally in Westminter, California as a sign of the community's willingness to overlook the slur. This response was met with a chorus of boos and hisses and a sharp rebuke by a Vietnamese audience member in the balcony who pointed out that millions of Vietnamese experienced similar internment as McCain during the war.

Howard University Law Professor Frank Wu concluded the day session with a very well received and stirring speech about the state of Asian Pacific American political participation and the signs for optimizing for this and coming years. The evening session featured prominent Asian Pacific American women leaders, Shamina Singh of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Helen Zia, an award-winning journalist and activist. Zia was on hand to read for the first time from her new book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People that documents the formation of an Asian American community into a political force.

Organization of Chinese Americans -Young OCA President, Joanne Chan writes about the event.