Asian Americans Called the New 'Sleeping Giant' in California Politics
In the 1980s and 1990s,
Hispanics were considered the "sleeping giant" in California politics because of their growing numbers. Now Asian
Americans are at a point where Hispanics were about two decades ago, according
to an analysis conducted by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the UC Asian American and Pacific Islander Policy
Initiative.
The
analysis uses data from the 2005 American Community Survey recently released by
the U.S. Census Bureau, along with previously released data.
Asian
Americans have significantly increased their potential power at the polls in California, according to the analysis. The number of Asian
Americans in California eligible to register to vote - that is, citizens who
are 18 and older - climbed by over half a million between 2000 and 2005, from 2
million to 2.5 million. That boosted their share from 10 percent to 12 percent
of the state's population of eligible voters.
"This
growth has contributed to the increasing number of Asian American state and
elected officials in California," said Don Nakanishi, director of UCLA's Asian
American Studies Center. "The Asian American political infrastructure of
voters, donors, politicians and community groups also has undergone remarkable
growth and maturation, and will likely have an increasingly significant impact
on state and national politics."
Two
factors behind the emergence of the new "sleeping giant" are the
overall increase in the total Asian American population and the higher rate of
citizenship, researchers said. Between 2000 and 2005, the number of Asian
Americans residing in California's households increased from 3.8 million to 4.7
million, accounting for 38 percent of the net gain of 2.2 million persons in California's population.
Along
with population growth, Asian Americans experienced an increase in their
citizenship rate: 71 percent of Asian Americans adults are U.S. citizens by birth or naturalization, representing an
increase from 67 percent in 2000, researchers said. These figures show that
Asian Americans have become fully integrated into American society through
citizenship.
The
growth in the potential Asian American electorate over the last five years is a
continuation of a pattern that began in the 1990s. In 1990, there were slightly
more than 1 million Asian American adult citizens, comprising about 6 percent
of all adult citizens in the state. If recent trends continue, there will be
over 3 million Asian American adults by the end of the current decade, making
up about 14 percent of all Californians eligible to register to vote.
The
growth in the absolute number of Asian Americans and those eligible to become
voters can have political ramifications.
"The
incredible growth of Asian Americans in California and in the United States brings as much opportunity as it does
challenges," said Assemblywoman Judy Chu, D-Monterey Park. "Asian Americans continue to contribute to the
cultural diversity and economic success of this nation, but the growing
population also means that public services and elected representatives will
need to grow to accommodate the unique needs of our community."
Community
leaders pointed to the potential impact on a number of public policy issues.
Vivian
Huang, legislative advocate for Asian Americans for Civil Rights &
Equality, said that with increasing population growth, Asian Americans
"are poised to dramatically escalate their political representation and
power in politics and highlight key issues important to the community, such as
civil rights, immigrant rights and access to language assistance."
This
opinion is widely shared by other community leaders, including Lisa Hasegawa,
executive director of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American
Community Development; JD Hokoyama, president and
chief executive officer of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics,
Inc., and Elena Ong, former member of the California
Women's Commission.
However,
there are still barriers to fully translating the population numbers into
voting power. Previous research and data show that Asian Americans are less
likely to register and vote than non-Hispanic whites and African Americans.
"The
challenge is to convert the growing numbers of Asian American citizens into
voters," said Paul Ong, a professor with UCLA's School of Public
Affairs.
For
the upcoming November elections, community activists have focused on voter
registration and voter-turnout drives.
"Our
bilingual voter registration efforts are yielding record numbers of Asian
American voters in the immigrant community," said David Lee, executive
director of the Chinese American Voters Education Committee. Many Asian
American registered voters, as a result of work schedules or other obligations,
don't go to the polls on election days. But increasingly, they are registering
to vote by absentee ballot.
"Thanks
to absentee ballots, Asian American voter turnout has been growing
rapidly," Lee said.
Leading
Asian American scholars believe that Asian Americans can become an effective
voting bloc by formulating a common political agenda both among Asian Americans
and across racial lines. The Asian American population is culturally,
linguistically and economically diverse. For instance, Asian Americans speak at
least half-dozen major languages and practice various religions, and there are
wide income gaps among subgroups.
Yen
Le Espiritu, a professor of ethnic studies at UC San
Diego, noted that despite these divisions, "History has shown that Asian
Americans can overcome differences to build viable pan-Asian political
coalitions to promote and protect both their individual and their united
interests."
Moreover,
according to Michael Omi, associate professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley,
Asian Americans also can achieve greater clout by building alliances with other
groups.
"Different
racial and ethnic groups will increasingly see the necessity of defining areas
of common political concern and mobilizing significant voter bloc to wield
political power," Omi said.
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