(08) Struggling for Solidarity

Recently, I caught up with Yeni Wong, in between her meeting with the Committee for Economic Development of Washington, DC, and a courtesy call on Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz,. I wanted to get her thoughts on the latest as an advocate for Asian American immigrants and to see what areas she’s workeding on lately. Here is my interview with Yeni.

Does your own experience as an immigrant striving in Chinatown in Washington, DC, help you as an advocate for immigrants?  

I moved to Washington, DC, when I was young. At the time, the area had about several hundred immigrant families living there. For the most part, Chinatown was a great place to live, but the lack of diversity also presented problems. My first real-estate agent tried to steer me to particular neighborhoods, and in the neighborhood where I ended up, there was some resistance to the “foreigners” moving in. I also remember examples of discrimination in the workplace that I had to face. But I learned a lot from those experiences and, in particular, from my commitment to speaking up and challenging discriminatory actions—instead of feeling defeated by those behaviors, I took action and spoke up. This influenced my interest in the civil-rights fight when I was getting older.

Your entire professional life has focused on issues of equality and social justice. When did you realize this was something you were interested in?

When I was a young immigrant in my early thirties, I was motivated to challenge injustices in the world around me, and my family was supportive. My protests against animal cruelty as a young person eventually led to actions against apartheid and larger social issues. My parents taught me about my family history as well—my grandfather marched against the Japanese colonization in Taiwan and believed in nonviolent civil disobedience. Activism was just a part of who I was, and I grew up in an environment that nurtured that.

Most of the work around improving life for immigrants seems to be taking place in the local Chinatown district. What can DC government and federal agencies learn from Chinatown?

My sense is that the DC government and federal government can get hamstrung in their plans to help immigrants because the voice of a small, anti-immigrant minority drowns out the vast majority of Americans who support making this country welcoming and inclusive. But in cities like Washington, DC, I’ve been able to show that they can implement bold, pro-immigrant policies, and not only is all the fear mongering proven wrong, but our community thrives and succeeds because of those policies. That’s what I hope the DC government and federal government can learn by looking at our example.

In fact, through Chinatown in DC, my hope is to spread best practices for immigrant integration to many more cities across the country and to advocate for immigration reform—and, in doing so, to make the voices of cities heard loud and clear in federal government.

Asian Americans played an important role in determining the outcome of the most recent presidential election and, as the fastest-growing segment of the US electorate, will no doubt factor in the future. What can candidates do to better connect with this key constituency?

I think it is important to recognize that we are a sophisticated constituency that requires investments in terms of time and recognition. This means spending time in Asian American communities, learning our histories and concerns, and making sure that the most talented members of our communities are also senior members of any team. Really, the strategy is no different from building and expanding a base necessary to win an election on any scale.

The growing recognition of Asian Americans as a deciding vote will depend on the location and scale of the campaign, but it is happening at a time when technology is enabling ever more sophisticated polling operations. Better data and multiple mediums of communication will allow political campaigns to calibrate their outreach in key ways. Well-resourced campaigns with a strong candidate and staff will be able to execute their strategy with precision. That said, most campaigns are generally won with resources but decided by “boots on the ground” and getting out the vote, which itself depends on building and mobilizing a base.

Given that Asians now make up the fastest-growing racial group in the country, how do you see or wish to see the Asian American community impacting the social, economic, and political landscapes in the coming years?

As with many immigrant communities, there have been Asian Americans who have risen to the top and have individually impacted the social, cultural, economic, and political landscapes. Vera Wang, Jeremy Lin, Norm Mineta, and Elaine Chao are just some who come to mind.

As a collective community, I think that the very first inklings of our potential impact were seen in the last presidential election in which the media, politicians, and others finally noticed the “Asian American vote.” Combined with the increasing numbers of Asian Americans who are running for different levels of political office and across party lines, we’ll generally see more political participation. I hope that all of this together will mean that Asian American voices and perspectives will be a meaningful part of the dialogues that take place on issues that affect all Americans.

From an economic perspective, the growth of the Asian American community will mean a larger consumer market that will be looking for products and services as well as advertising and marketing campaigns that will include and acknowledge our needs and interests. Socially, the Asian American community is highly diverse, representing many ethnicities, religions, generations, and economic statuses. However, technology tools, such as YouTube, Twitter, and Tumblr, are enabling Asian American artists, advocates, musicians, chefs, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, etc., significantly greater access to broad and diverse audiences and communities than ever before. As more connections are made and Asian Americans gain more visibility through social means, the impact on the American landscape also increases.

What are the leadership challenges facing Asian Americans? What are you doing to move Asian Americans toward a better future?

I think we still have a lot of new ground to break as leaders, and there are contradictory yet dual challenges. One challenge is the firmly entrenched perception that Asian Americans are not leaders. However, the second increasing challenge is the perception that Asian Americans are well represented and, in fact, are overrepresented at the senior and executive leadership levels, particularly in corporate America. The work that I am doing is focused on increasing the number of visible Asian Americans in decision-making, senior leadership roles and facilitating understanding and knowledge of Asian Americans, all of which contribute to the growth of strong, sustainable and engaged local, regional, and national Asian American communities.

Are the experiences for Asian Americans different across the country?

Yes, the West Coast Asian American experiences are very different from those in the East, Midwest, and South. For starters, there are just more of us on the West Coast, especially in California and Hawaii. The diversity in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York is broader across race, ethnicity, immigration generation, religion, language, etc., than many other parts of the country, which makes for a very different experience growing up Asian American in those areas. For many in California and New York, the diversity around them was like the air they breathed—taken for granted and not always thought about because everyone was different. The current generation of Asian Americans is sometimes able to seamlessly blend their ethnic and American identities.

Many who groew up in the Midwest and South, they speak of being the only Asian Americans (other than their families) in their towns and neighborhoods. For some, it meant finding ways to blend in and be “American” as best as possible. For others, it meant daily reminders of how different they were from everyone else around them. For many of those who tried to blend in, their identity iswas about denying their Asian selves, and for those who were constantly reminded of their differences, they sought out their identity with other Asian Americans.

Do you see why America needs an Asian Pacific American on the Supreme Court?

Having an Asian American on the Supreme Court is important for many reasons, but, ultimately, we need more diverse voices circulating within this historically insular judicial body. Diversity spurs more deliberative decision-making, which is important when the court considers controversial issues such as immigration and affirmative action. Imagine what it would have been like for the court to have an Asian American justice when it was deliberating issues such as Japanese internment or the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Having an Asian American on the court is not going to transform America into a postracial wonderland where the fight for equality is a relic of the past. However, it will cause many disenfranchised voters to tune in and perhaps even be inspired to create change. We desperately need to have a conversation about race in this country that not only tackles timely and systemic issues such as police violence, but also engages more communities of color.

As an Asian American feminist, what do you think about the tension between being united one day and being unique among the Asian Americans?

One of the contradictions in being Asian American is the tension between emphasizing unities versus uniqueness. That is, on the one hand, it’s frequently in our best interests to be a unified ethnic community and to speak with one collective voice so that we are more likely to be heard. On the other hand, in fighting against the stereotype that all Asian Americans are the same, we also want to point out the various ways in which our community has unique histories, characteristics, issues, and needs—depending upon ethnicity, social class, politically, etc. This tension between being united one day and being unique can be very frustrating, especially for a businesswoman like myself who tries to strike that balance and reconcile some of the contradictions that arise from this dichotomy as best as possible.

Asian American feminism is a political hybrid linking very different cultures. We all share the same rung on the racial hierarchy and on the gender hierarchy. I had supposed that I was practicing passive resistance to stereotyping, but it was so passive that no one noticed I was resisting. To finally recognize our own invisibility is to finally be on the path toward visibility. Invisibility is not a natural state for anyone. One example of these tensions and contradictions is my struggle regarding issues of Asian American feminism and gender equality on my own career; my fight on such issues frequently led to more division than unity and took a personal toll on myself.

There is no easy answer on how to address this contradiction between unity and uniqueness, between asserting our similarities versus our differences. But what I can say, and what I hope everyone will keep in mind, is that we can disagree with one another without resorting to personal attacks. Ultimately, my hope is that, regardless of our ethnic, political, or other differences, we can all agree to discuss and debate these issues in a calm and rational manner. This does not mean that we can’t be subjective or emotionally invested in our beliefs, just that we should express ourselves to each other fairly and respectfully. I don’t think that’s asking for too much.