The Asian American Vote: Why It Matters

Asian Americans, those peoples that the American Heritage Dictionary describe as A U.S. citizen or resident of Asian descent, have had a tenuous history with American citizenship and voting rights, marked by misinformation, mistrust, and misrepresentation.

Whether first generation or seventh, many Asian American battle everyday against being seen as the Other, the exotic, the “where-are-you-from” American. Even the term Asian reduces many Chinese, Cambodian, Hmong, Japanese, Pakistani, Korean, and Filipino Americans into an artificial Census category that belittles and belies their individual and unique cultural experiences.

The ballot has created the opportunity for concerned Asian Americans to dismantle discriminatory policies and institutionalized “Other-ing”. From Chinese-American railroad workers to Japanese-American World War II vets, Americans of Asian descent have fought and continue to fight for the right to vote and be counted.

References:
Civilrights.org, “Civil Rights: A Chronology,” civilrights.org, http://www.civilrights.org/research_center/permanent_collection/resource... Japanese American National Museum. Teaching the Japanese American Experience: An Educator’s Tool Kit. 2004.
KLCS, “African American World Timeline,” Public Broadcasting System, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline.htm
http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/pwork/0410/041005.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/voting.html
http://www.votingrights.org/timeline/?year=2000
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Asian_American
http://www.asian-nation.org/2004-elections.shtml
photo by bobster1985
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32912172@N00/2780133367/