Asian Americans seek greater political power in the wake of recent attacks

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.”

Biden did pick Katherine Tai, who is Taiwanese American, as his top trade envoy. She was confirmed last week, becoming the only Asian American to hold a Cabinet-level post in the new administration. Vivek Murthy, the son of Indian parents, is Biden’s nominee for surgeon general, a sub-Cabinet position.

Many Asian Americans say feelings of being marginalized politically will take years to fully overcome. Last week, an emotional congressional hearing cast a national spotlight on combating racism among the community — but major legislation addressing it isn’t likely forthcoming.

“I think symbolism and representation matters, but only up to a point,” said Aarti Kohli, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. “What’s more important is actually doing the work.”

There are signs of change. Kamala Harris, whose mother was born in India, is the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to become vice president. More than 300 Asian American and Pacific Islanders ran for office up and down the ballot in 2020, according to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

More appear to be preparing campaigns for the future. Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke, the group’s president and CEO, said her organization recently held a training for people interested in joining municipal and state legislative races and had about 30 attendees. She also encourages members of the community to join local boards and commissions.

“We are subject matter experts in a wide array of industries, and we should have that be a reflection of our democracy by having people like us and others be a part of any sort of public policy conversation,” Mielke said.

Asian Americans are eyeing other major offices across the country.

In New York City, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is gaining attention — and campaign cash — in a bid for mayor. And in California, home to the nation’s largest Asian American community, elected officials are urging Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint an attorney general of Asian descent as a successor to Xavier Becerra, who was picked as Biden’s health and human services secretary.

Still, Stop AAPI Hate, an activist group that formed as shutdowns related to the pandemic were taking hold across the U.S., had received nearly 4,000 self-reported incidents of bias or discrimination from all 50 states as of last month. And nearly 3 in 10 Asian Americans said they’d been subjected to racial slurs or jokes since the coronavirus outbreak began, according to Pew Research Center data released last summer.

Associated Press ■ Katherine Tai, then the nominee for U.S. trade representative, speaks during a Senate Finance Committee hearing last month on Capitol Hill. A gunman killing eight people at three Atlanta-area spas has awakened much of the rest of the country to incidents of racism and hate targeting Asian Americans that have spiked amid the coronavirus pandemic. But Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders and activists say days of tragedy and fear could help motivate the community to demand greater political influence.