Asian Americans seek greater political power
WASHINGTON >> Speaking on the floor of the Georgia state Senate last week, Michelle Au implored her colleagues to “stand up” to the hatred aimed at Asian Americans that’s increased during the pandemic. A day later, a gunman shook the Atlanta area by killing eight people, including six women of Asian descent.
For Au, who joined the state Senate in January as its first Asian American woman, the attack was a heartbreaking validation of her fears. It’s also spurring her and other Asian Americans to push for greater political influence in Washington and other power centers.
“People in our communities are hungry for representation that looks like
them,” Au said in an interview. “I don’t think people can see problems if they haven’t lived it in the past.”
There are at least 160 Asian American and Pacific Islanders in 33 state legislatures nationwide, according to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional
Studies. A whopping 51 of those sit in Hawaii’s legislature. And, out of the 535 members of Congress, just 17 are of Asian or Pacific Islander descent, according to the Congressional Research Service. There are also three nonvoting delegates who are Asian American and Pacific
Islanders.
President Joe Biden and his aides have been repeatedly pressed to include Asian Americans in his Cabinet, including during a private meeting with Senate Democrats late Monday. Sens. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois pushed Biden’s senior advisers to expand the representation of Asian Americans in the administration.
Duckworth then went a step further, telling the White House on Tuesday that she’d oppose any upcoming nominees who wouldn’t bring diversity to the Biden administration — a move that could sink some, given a Senate split 50-50.
“I’ve been talking to them for months and they’re still not aggressive,” she said. “I’ll be a no on everyone until they figure this out.”