| By
S. B. Woo
Associated Press sent out an article entitled
" Unlike Hispanics, Surging Asian Population
Lacks Political Clout ."?Although it
didn't say "Shame on Asian Americans,
" to me it certainly implied it.
Hopefully, APAs will recognize that our
lack of political clout is a shame on us.
Lacking political clout is a big reason
why a law, EO 11246, that is supposed to
break the glass ceiling for all
Americans was NEVER enforced for APAs. It
means that we failed to secure equal opportunity
for our children.
How come we are so impotent?
Here are some reasons. Our focus on personal
benefits rather than community benefits
is one reason. For example, our rich people
give tens of thousands of dollars for a
handshake or a photo with a famous politician
or a possible later appointment rather than
to APA political organizations. Even our
political activists have focused on their
respective turf concerns rather than APA
unity, the bedrock of political clout. Another
reason is that our support for politicians
foolishly depends on their titles and likelihood
to win the next election, NOT by how much
they have served our community. In other
words, we might have been too selfish for
our own good.
80-20 is normally positive and optimistic.
?However, every once in a while we need
to look at our own shortcomings in order
to build a brighter future.
The article ended with a quote from S.
B. Woo, 80-20 President: "To have one
minority ignored by the political establishment
is not healthy."
Let's vow to erase that shame. Help our
community to help ourselves. If you like
80-20's message & its fierce determination
to establish political clout for APAs, JOIN
US.
Using a credit card, visit <http://www.80-20initiative.net/membership.html>.
PERSONAL checks are payable to "80-20
PAC", mailed to: Jing-Li Yu, 80-20
special Assistant, P.O. Box 527340, Flushing,
NY 11352-7340.
Write down your E-MAIL address & PHONE
no. on the BACK of the check. Basic membership
is $35; Family (2 voters) is $50, Life Membership
is $1,000. Student membership is $15.
The nice article was written by Genado
C. Armas, & was carried by many mainstream
papers.
【美聯社華盛頓十九日電】
亞裔是全美成長第二快的少數族裔，僅次於西班牙裔。但是，亞裔不像拉丁美洲裔那樣積極，因此幾乎沒有全國性的政治影響力。
維護亞裔權益團體與政界人士及於改便此種情況，現在正依靠「試驗後證明有效」的方法，動員更多亞裔投票，這些方
法包括推動選民登記，以及教育選民。
根據人口普查局的統計，到2003年7月為止，全美達到投票年齡的亞裔超過900
多萬人，比三年前多一百萬人。但與其他族裔相比，亞裔投票人口遠遠落後於西語裔的2630萬人及非洲裔的2570萬人。
2000年的大選時，亞太裔背景的選民只佔所有選民的2%，相比之下，非洲裔佔現10%，西語裔佔5%。整體而言，亞裔只佔全美人口的4%，而且美國境內有許多移民尚未成為公民，不能投票。
紐約市「亞美聯盟」(Asian American Federation)行政總監鄔敬高(Gao.K.O)說：
「政黨不應把亞裔視為當然，應該努力爭取。同時，政界人士和政黨又不知道如何爭取亞裔選民，許多亞裔對政治過程也欠缺了解。這個問題不易解決。」舊金山的「華裔選民教育委員會」(Chinese
American Voters Education Commitee)行政主任李志威(David
Lee)表示，這是一個「惡性循環」，他說：「從歷史來看，美國政黨沒有爭取亞裔選民，花在讓亞裔辦理選民登記的經費很少。」
學者專家指出，了解亞裔選民的影響，並非易事。據李威和鄔敬高估計，登記為民主黨員及共和黨員的亞裔，人數大致相當，還有許多亞裔是無黨無派。理論上，這將使亞裔在內選情緊張的總統選舉中，成為決定勝負的重要游離票。
但是，另一個因素也會影響亞裔的政治影響力。亞裔大多數集中在夏威夷、加州和紐約州，但在這些州，大選選情大勢往往十分明朗。
前民主黨籍德拉瓦州華裔副州長吳仙標(S.B.Woo)正領導「80/20促進會」，推動亞裔「集團投票」策略，發揮團結力量。他希望今秋動員全美80%的亞裔投票，集中支持一位總統候選人(無論是那一政黨)。吳仙標說，這將把亞裔結為一股舉足輕重的全國選票力量。
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