Attacks put Yang in spotlight
For NYC mayoral hopeful, it’s a test of leadership, empathy
During a surge in attacks on Asian Americans last spring, Andrew Yang — then recently off the 2020 presidential campaign trail — wrote an op-ed suggesting that “we Asian Americans need to embrace and show our Americanness in ways we never have before.”
To many Asian Americans, the message seemed to place yet another burden on victims, and it stung.
One year later, as Yang hopes to make history as New York City’s first Asian American mayor, some New Yorkers have not forgotten that op-ed, or their sense that Yang’s remarks during the presidential campaign — describing himself as “an Asian man who likes math,” for instance — could feed stereotypical tropes.
But many Asian Americans also see in his candidacy an opportunity for representation at the highest level of city government, an increasingly meaningful metric amid violent attacks on Asian Americans in New York and across the nation, including the fatal shootings in the Atlanta area last week that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent.
“I grew up Asian American in New York, and I was always accustomed to a certain level of bullying, of racism, but it took a form of mockery, of invisibility, of disdain,” an emotional Yang said at a news conference in Times Square the next day. “That has metastasized into something far darker. You can feel it on the streets of New York.”
As New York’s diverse Asian American constituencies grapple with both overt violence — the city saw three more anti-asian attacks
Sunday — and more subtle forms of bigotry, Yang and many of the other leading mayoral candidates are racing to show how they would lead a community in crisis. They are holding news conferences, contacting key leaders and attending rallies in solidarity with Asian Americans who have at once demonstrated growing political power and are experiencing great pain now.
But more than any other candidate, it is Yang who is in the spotlight, with the moment emerging as the most significant test yet of his ability to demonstrate leadership and empathy under pressure. He is also looking to respond in a way that will strengthen his support among Asian Americans, a group whose backing he is counting on, while simultaneously building a broader coalition.
Yang was not, however, the first contender to condemn the Georgia shootings, tweeting late that night instead about a St. Patrick’s Day scarf, in a move that struck some observers as tone deaf. (He later said that he had not seen the news Tuesday. He issued a series of tweets about Atlanta on Wednesday morning, before making public remarks.)
On Thursday, Yang’s voice appeared to waver with emotion as he spoke at an event convened by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader. Speaking in starkly personal terms, Yang discussed the importance of “seeing that Asian Americans are human beings, Asian Americans are just as American as anyone else.”
“I’m glad that he’s leaning in,” said Rep. Grace Meng, the only Asian American member of New York’s congressional delegation. “I felt like he was getting a little emotional. And I think that the Asian American community likes to see more of that.”