Bridges with Asia: Asian Americans in the United States

Bridges with Asia: Asian Americans in the United States:
Asian Americans in Politics: Our Roles in Domestic and Foreign Policy

Congressman Robert T. Matsui _*
Fifth District (California), U.S. House of Representatives

Asia Society

Congressman Robert Matsui presented the pitfalls of and the possibilities for Asian American political unification and empowerment. He recognized that Asian Americans have not attained true political representation, that they remain divided over political issues, and that these divisions play out along ethnic lines. He, however, insists that these adversities can and should be overcome. Because Asians are racially distinct from the rest of the U.S. population, they have been categorized as a minority. Matsui believes that because this harmful distinction will never be erased, because Asian Americans must build coalitions to provide themselves the only means of broad based unity. Most importantly, these coalitions (as well as any Asian American political alliances) must not limit themselves to race-specific issues. Only then can they claim the political and social rights that they deserve as Americans.

Congressman Robert T. Matsui sees the role of the Asian American in politics and foreign policy as unique since Asian Americans cannot blend in as other immigrants have. He used the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as an example, emphasizing that, no matter what, Asian Americans will always be linked to their mother countries. As a consequence, Asian Americans must strive to define their identity and to acknowledge the differences among themselves.

Despite significant demographic growth over the last twenty years, Asian Americans have not achieved an equivalent rise in political power. In California, they make up 11 percent of the population but have only two seats out of fifty-two in the delegation to the United States House of Representatives. There is only one Asian American in the 120-member state legislature. In the last gubernatorial race, Asian Americans cast only 3 percent of the vote. They are a long way from attaining substantial, or even representative, political power.

In the area of domestic policy, Asian Americans share very little unity over issues that do not pertain to their ethnic group. During the 1987 drive to redress the World War II internment camp survivors, the strongest allies of the Japanese were not other Asian American ethnic groups but the Jews.

They are similarly divided over immigration issues. Chinese and Filipino Americans are the only Asian American groups active in the current debate over immigration. They also happen to be the two groups that the proposed immigration restrictions would hurt the most severely.

Asian Americans, in fact, will unite only over four issues: anti-Asian hate crimes, discrimination, glass ceilings, and community-directed criticisms. Because they do not support each other on domestic issues, unity is impossible, and their difficulty in uniting over foreign policy is debilitating.

Despite these divisions, Matsui suggested that common interests do abound. He believes that the experience of being a racial minority is an underlying bond. Common experiences of discrimination stemming from this status, such as glass ceilings and stereotyping, help to unify disparate Asian American communities. Matsui cited Washington, D.C., as a community in which Asian Americans work together on such issues as immigration restrictions and the compensation of internment camp survivors. He expressed hope that this level of cooperation would permeate the lower levels of community organization. Such coalition-building is in fact the nature of U.S politics, a lesson that Asian American ethnic groups need to learn and perfect. This could stimulate Asian American public involvement and hopefully lead to greater political activism.

Though Asian Americans have much to unify them, they also have many divisions to overcome. They must work especially hard to enter the mainstream political system. In so doing, they would finally gain control over their own communities, a goal all Asian Americans can agree upon.

Discussion

In addressing the lack of large voting blocs, a common barrier to political power that most Asian American communities encounter, Matsui offered some very concrete political strategies. He suggested that

instead of using voting blocks to elect a candidate, Asian Americans must “appoint” a single candidate, thereby eliminating the need of a majority, which would enable an Asian American candidate to win. In Matsui’s district, Asian Americans make up only 6 percent of the population. His victory came from the drive to raise support and funds nationally. Even though he receives much of his support from Asian Americans, they have allowed him to expand his issues beyond the scope of Asian America. Limiting a representative to specific issues would only marginalize that person from the political mainstream.

Matsui also enumerated ways to build political power in states with low Asian American populations. He suggested that a candidate must form a coalition around one issue and then campaign and win using that issue. That candidate also must cultivate a vast network of connections.

On ways to balance one’s ethnic versus national identity, Matsui suggested that representatives must follow the will of their constituents. If the demography of a constituency is primarily white, a representative must follow that lead and transcend a narrow Asian American focus. But he acknowledged that while different strategies must be applied to individual cases, the interests of the United States in general must be always be placed first, along with sensitivity to Asian American issues.

Finally, Matsui addressed the legacy of World War II and its negative impact on the coalition-building potential of Asian American communities. He feels that this legacy of division is not a deterrent to younger generations, but the experience of internment has made it especially difficult for Japanese Americans to concentrate on ethnic-specific activism. They are too conscious of appearing “pro-Japanese.”

Endnotes

*: Robert T. Matsui, Congressman for the Fifth District, Sacramento, California, is a member of the House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee and serves as Deputy Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). During his political career, Congressman Matsui has become recognized as a leader on free trade issues. While serving as Acting Chairman of the trade subcommittee, he had jurisdiction over international trade issues, including GATT, and Most Favored Nation trading status for China, and US-Japan trade negotiations. Congressman Matsui is also actively involved in child welfare reform and has worked to promote children’s health insurance. He is married to the former Doris Okada, who is Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Public Affairs for President Clinton. Back.