Color in U.S. Politics
August 22, 2008
This week the Democrats take center stage with their annual convention. As Keith Kamisugi writes in this issue, the convention will be the most diverse in the Democratic Party’s history, with more than 44 percent of the elected delegates representing communities of color. Over 50 percent are women and more than 31 percent are either seniors or youth. More women, African Americans, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, GLBT delegates and delegates with disabilities will attend the convention than ever before.
Two prominent APAs, Rep. Mike Honda of San Jose and California Controller John Chiang, will address the convention on August 26 — a sign of both their rising visibility and the growing clout of Asian American Democratic voters.
These two elected officials are injecting some much needed color into the face of politics, showing the nation that the upper echelons of power are not filled with just black and white but all races.
This is the message that Senator Barack Obama has been disseminating from the start. He has underscored that message by showing a rainbow of faces of color behind him at his public events and in his advertisements.
John McCain’s background supporters, on the other hand, remain lily-white — as much of the Republican Party continues to be. While there were early whispers of Bobby Jindal as a potential running mate, no other person of color has come to the fore (or even the background) in McCain’s campaign.
Two Asian faces on such a national stage is progress, but we need to keep pushing for more.
Comments
Got something to say?