Perhaps Vincent Chin, whose death in 1982 fomented the pan-ethnic Asian American movement, can rest assured that America's leaders have finally heard his community's voice.
At a recent voter fair at Placita Olvera, Carmen Gutierrez practiced punching her ballot in a mock polling booth and received information about the state's propositions.
Though she has lived in the United States for more than a decade, Gutierrez only became a new citizen in September and registered to vote earlier this month. Gutierrez said she is eager to vote in the presidential election.
The stunning demise of prolific Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu is another tragic setback for Asian Pacific American engagement in electoral politics. On the one hand, this must be seen as an isolated incident. Hsu did not share his meteoric rise with the community. Indeed, he often boasted of private meetings with heavyweights like Senator Edward Kennedy, New York Governor Elliot Spitzer and Presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton.
The New Millennium marked a “New Awakening” in American politics. In just one presidential cycle (between 2000 to 2004), the Asian American vote came of age. Our nation experienced a dramatic increase in the number of Asian American voters — nearly 1 million newly registered Asian American voters, roughly 6 percent of all newly registered voters nationwide.
Our country continues to struggle with Democracy 1.0, the best political system that was available in the 18th century. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the world has moved on to Democracy 2.0 and beyond, with proportional representation, instant runoff voting and other expressive innovations.
