Quick! Who was the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US?

Victoria Manalo Draves had to change her name in order to secure practice sites.

As the 2024 Paris Olympics begins, it is time once again to remind people of Victoria Manalo Draves, who overcame racial discrimination to become the first Asian American to win an Olympic gold medal for the US.

By the United States Olympic & Pralympic Museum

Born in the South of Market of San Francisco, Victoria Manalo, Vicki Draves adopted her mother’s maiden name, Taylor, for competition in order to escape racial prejudice in the 1940s. Regardless of how it is recorded, Draves will be etched into the books as one of the greatest divers in Olympic history.

Born to an English mother and Filipino father, the Manalo family faced heavy discrimination, as interracial marriage was heavily frowned upon at the time. Draves was forced to train in segregated pools that only allowed people of color to participate once a week. They were drained and cleaned shortly after. 

RELATED: San Francisco Hall of Fame eludes Victoria Draves

With much support from her family and her swimming coach, Lyle Draves – whom she later married – Draves won a national diving championship at the age of 16 and competed two years later at the London 1948 Olympic Games.

Victoria Manalo Draves receives her gold medal at the London Games.

In London, she took home gold medals in the 3-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform, becoming not only the first woman to sweep the diving events, but also becoming the first Asian American to win an Olympic medal. Draves was named one of Team USA’s best athletes by Life Magazine for her accomplishment. 

Following her athletic career, Draves joined Buster Crabbe’s “Aqua Parade,” a popular traveling water extravaganza show that had her performing across the United States and Europe. She later settled down and started a swimming and diving training center with her husband. 

Draves passed away on April 11, 2010 at the age of 85. A park was named after her in her old South of Market neighborhood, which has been disgnated the Filipino Cultural District, or SOMA Pilipinas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Kamala Harris campaign stirs up excitement among AANHPI

Vice President Kamala Harris could become the first US President who is part Asian.

The idea that in one generation, the daughter of immigrants could be running for President of the United States is the latest and best example of the American Dream.

Vice President Kamala Harris emergence as the frontrunner for the Democrat's candidate for the Presidency has sparked new energy in the AANHPI communities.

On Tuesday, in one of her first campaign stops since receiving President Biden''s endorsement, Harris visited a Hmong shopping center and met with Hmong business owners.

Campaign staffers in Minnesota admitted that the stop in the heart of the Hmong community, the largest Asian American group in the state, is a deliberate strategy to shore up support among the AANHPI communities.

Shivanthi Sathanandan, vice chair of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said “Representation matters.” referring to Harris mixed racial heritage. Her mother is from India and her father is from Jamaica. 

“The energy that comes from seeing someone from a shared culture, whether they’re Black or Asian American or South Asian or just a woman, that energy is contagious, and it’s exciting.”

When Harris launched her campaign for President in 2019, the national media emphasized her Black heritage, basically overlooking her Ssouth Asian roots. That gave the initial impression that the Oakland-born Harris was ignoring her Indian American background so it took a while for the Asian American communities to warm up to her.

It took numerous meetings with Asian American communities and leadership for Harris to overcome  the initial impression pushed by mainstream media.

Harris' big hurdle is to let the nation know more about her. As Vice President, Harris was a sounding board and advisor for Biden and as a good soldier, made appearances, nationally and internationally, in support of the administration. However, in that supporting role, she was unable to make an impression as someone of Asian American background.

In a survey asking American respondents to name the best known Asian Americans, her name rarely came up falling behind the late Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, who is not even American.

But during the 2024 on campaign trail, she has emphasized her Asian background. A week before Biden withdrew from the Presidential race, Harris was in Las Vegas to launch the AANHPI for Biden-Harris coalition. A week later, a day before Biden's announcement, she was the keynote speaker at a Presidential Town Hall of AANHPI leaders in Philadelphia.

New excitement among AANHPI voters

Indeed, Harris ascendency to the top of the ticket has stirred up the AANHPI communities, which in a poll showed strong support for the Biden-Harris ticket despite an 8% percent drop from 54% in 2022 to 46% this year. The strong majority still tops Trump which garnered only 31% support among AANHPI voters.

“We have been saying for a while that the 24 million strong Asian-American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community is doing well but wasn’t politically engaged in a big way because no one was talking to them. Then you get Harris running for president in 2020, becoming the vice president and there was a burst of energy in the community. Representation matters,” said Shekar Narasimhan the chairman and founder of the AAPI Victory Fund, one of the first of its kind super Political Action Committees (PACs) that supports Asian American candidates.

Harris helped the AAPI Victory Fund create a network with other caucuses of minority groups such as Blacks and Hispanics. “We are smallest of the three but the fastest growing group and have a lot of resources. Harris is aware of the potential. She will tap into it, and her presence will also galvanise the community,” he told the Hindustan Times.

“I join President Biden in fully endorsing Kamala Harris to be our Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I was with Vice President Harris when she spoke at our Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia last week and for our AANHPI community she made clear that she is one of us, she hears us, and she will empower us. We have seen through her leadership and action that she has always been ready and able to step up to lead this country as its commander-in-chief, and I am one hundred percent behind her,” said Hawaii Rep. Jill Tokuda, vice chair of ASPIRE PAC, which seeks t empower and encourage AANHPI to run for office.

“Representation matters. The first woman. The first South Asian. The first Asian American. The first African American woman. From California. All those things matter to me,” Harini Krishnan told KQED. Krishnan is a long-time Harris supporter from Silicon Valley and the national director for South Asians for Harris, which this week switched its name from South Asians for Biden.

One of the first endorsements for Harris came from the Progressive Caucus in Congress led by Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington.

"We had the quickest endorsement vote for Kamala Harris as our nominee. I think within a couple of hours, it was done, with a supermajority of all of our members being on board, and so I think this is a great moment for the nation," said Jayapal. 

"As a woman of color myself, ... as a South Asian American, to have her at the top of the ticket is going to push new momentum into our voters across the country."

Harris outreach to Democratic delegations was successful. By Tuesday, she had enough delegates' votes committed to vote for her at the Democrats National Convention in August.

Poll: Harris gains ground

Indeed, by Wednesday, three days after Biden withdrew from the campaign for President and endosed Harris, new polls showed that Harris had closed the gap against Trump to virtual tie. Harris improved the Democrats' chances compared to Biden vs. Trump.

A CNN poll conducted in the days after Biden's announcement, Trump had 49% support among registered voters nationwide to Harris’ 46%, well within the margin of error.r. That’s a closer contest than earlier CNN polling this year had found on the matchup between Biden and Trump.

"This very well could be a game changer. If we look at 2020 election and saw Indian-American community energized in a significant way both in terms of voters and donors," said Karthick Ramakrishnan, researcher at UC Berkeley and founder of AAPI Data. 

"We did a survey of Asian Americans in April and May and favorability ratings for Kamala Harris among Indian Americans were about the same as for Biden and it wasn't great for either of them. It was much better than Trump's approval ratings. This really shakes up the race in a huge way." 

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Biden's departure from Presidential race opens the door for Kamala Harris

Vice President Kamala Harris launched the AANHPI for Biden-Harris earlier this month.

UPDATED July 22 to include references and information about the APIAVote poll.

President Biden's stunning decision to drop out of the campaign for a second term sets the stage for history to be made:  An Asian American could occupy the White House. 

Under mounting pressure to leave the race after a disastrous debate performance  raised questions about his mental capacity to serve as President, the most powerful and important job int he world, Biden made his announcement Sunday after weeks of insisting he would continue his campaign.

Moments after Biden released his announcement,  on social media the President endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democrats' Presidential candidate. 

"My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President,"Biden posted. "And it's been the best decision I've made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it's time to come together and beat Trump. Let's do this."

Biden said he will speak to the nation later this week “in more detail about my decision.”

FYI: President Biden's statement

Biden told Harris about his decision sometime over the weekend as he was still recovering from a case of Covid in his Delaware home.

"Over the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election," Harris said in a statement released hours after Biden's decision. "And that is what I will continue to do in the days and weeks ahead. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party—and unite our nation—to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win."

If the Democrats choose Harris as their candidate at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19 through Aug. 22, she would become the first Asian American nominee of a major political party in the US.

If Harris beats Trump in November, she would make history in a number of ways: as the first Asian American President, the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the nation.

Democrats who only hours before were calling for Biden to "pass the torch" began rallying around Harris and donations to her campaignbegan pouring in.

The New York Times reported that the reenergized Democratic campaign topped $50 million in donations by a wide margin making Sunday the single biggest day for online Democratic contributions since the 2020 election.

“This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election,” said ActBlue, a nonprofit fundraising platform.

RELATED: 

• Kamala Harris does a deep dive into her family
• Rightwing ramps up attacks against Harris
• Harris: 'I am the daughter of Shyamala Gopalan'

Rep. Jamila Jayapal, chair of Congress' Progressive Caucus, and one of five Indian American Congressmembers, said in a lengthy statement, “Vice President Kamala Harris just called me and I told her I am 1000 per cent in for her to be our President! She has the smarts, the experience, the accomplishments and the agenda to lead us to victory in November. Let’s go!”

Prior to Biden's Sunday announcement, Rep. Ro Khanna of California predicted to The Hill:  “I believe that the vice president would win that vote. I don’t think you’re going to see many people challenger her. I mean, these are Biden-Harris delegates, it’s not an open primary. 

"I think if it were an open primary, there should be many candidates, but the idea that in two weeks, someone not on the national stage is going to be able to put together a majority of Biden and Harris delegates, I just think is unrealistic,” said the South Asian congressmember representing Silicon Valley.

National polls pitting Harris vs. Trump have them basically tied with Trump ahead by a percentage point or two, well within the margin of error.

The possiblity of having Harris on top of the Democratic ticket could very well energize the Asian American electorate, which already favored the Biden-Harris team against Trump based on a poll by AAPI Data. However, a recent poll from APIAVote showed support falling off from 54% to 46% among AANHPI voters.

Karthick Ramakrishnan, researcher at UC Berkeley and founder of AAPI Data, said: "This very well could be a game changer. If we look at 2020 election and saw Indian-American community energized in a significant way both in terms of voters and donors. We did a survey of Asian Americans in April and May and favorability ratings for Kamala Harris among Indian Americans were about the same as for Biden and it wasn't great for either of them. It was much better than Trump's approval ratings. This really shakes up the race in a huge way." "

"Among the young, black, Asian American voters, we will see a lot more enthusiasm than what we found even a week ago," he further said.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Asian American teen making waves; swims English Channel

Maya Merhige passed a ferry as she swam across the Engless Channel.

Maya Merhige has done it again! The 16-year-old marathon swimmer has just successfully conquered the English Channel (20.5 miles or 33 km), making her one of the youngest swimmers in history to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, which includes the English Channel, Catalina Channel and Manhattan 20 Bridges swims.

The Chinese American teenager from Berkeley, California swam the English Channel in just 11 hours and 39 minutes on July 13, 2024. 

"I'm so grateful and excited to have successfully swum the English Channel and completed the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming," says Maya.

She undertook the iconic English Channel swim and her other marathon swims to make waves to fight cancer and raise funds for the nonprofit Swim Across America, which funds innovative cancer treatments and clinical trials.

 "Swimming the English Channel this year was a big goal of mine for many reasons. This year marks my ninth year participating with Swim Across America. With the generous support of family, friends and others, I have been able to raise an incredible $100,000 to fight cancer, which has gone directly to the Swim Across America San Francisco beneficiary UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. 

FYI: To learn more visit swimacrossamerica.org, Facebook @SwimAcrossAmerica, and Instagram and Twitter @SAASwim.

"This past year, I've also endured some health battles of my own, and my personal experience has made me even more inspired and passionate about supporting cancer research and treatments at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals. 

"I'm also going to be a senior in high school this fall and next year will look very different for me as I will leave home to start college. So this was the year to swim the English Channel!"

Conquering the channel between ngland and France completed the so-called Triple Crown which includes two swimming challenges in the US: the 20-mile Catalina Channel which she did at age 14. Last year, she swam 28.5 miles around Manhattan Island.

"We are beyond proud of Maya and her determination and grit to swim these swims," says Maya's mom Liz Tung. "We never imagined Maya, who was just nine years old when she swam her first Swim Across America - San Francisco open water swim, would find such a passion for open water swimming and take her swimming so far. 

"Earning the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming at just 16 years old is just incredible! We are thrilled for her!"

Courtesy of Swim Across America

After one of her epic swims, Maya Merhige, left, was joined by her mother Liz Tung.

Maya's own medical challenges began in March 2023, when after suffering a ski crash, a benign tumor on her pancreas was discovered. Suffering from chronic pain, surgeries and hospitalizations since, she has a newfound empathy for pediatric cancer patients who endure endless procedures and appointments. Despite these challenges, Maya remains undeterred.

"Due to the pain I was experiencing earlier this year, I didn't get to train as much as I would have liked leading up to the English Channel swim," noted Maya. "These past six weeks, after being in the hospital for 10 nights in May, I really had to kick my training into gear," Maya recalled.

"There were points while I was swimming the Channel where I wanted to give up. I swam through schools of jellyfish and had a lot of stomach pain, but I kept thinking that this doesn't compare to what kids with cancer face. That helped me find the strength to keep going."

Continues Maya, "The English Channel was cold and the current was really strong. Whenever I stopped swimming to feed, I could feel myself getting pulled backwards. I knew I had to keep swimming hard, no matter how exhausted I was, in order to get past the tidal current and land on the French shore at Cap Gris Nez. But I made it!"

She already is preparing for her next challenge -- her senior year in high school. Maya also plans to participate in the Swim Across America – San Francisco open water swim on October 5, 2024, swimming with her team Chasing Channels, made up of other Swim Across America – San Francisco Junior Advisory Board members and Bay Area youth.

One tradition Maya has is to write the names of friends and family members battling cancer on her swim cap. "I am honored to carry the names of friends and family members affected by cancer on my cap," she added. "I'm going to keep swimming to raise awareness and funds for fighting cancer until we have a cure."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Filipino American launches anti-Trump PAC: 'Trump is ... insane'

George Conway continues says Donald Trump is mentally unfit to become President.

He is a thorn in Donald Trump's side. George Conway, the mos prominent Filipino American in the fight to stop the Republican nominee from becoming President, calls Trump clinically "insane."

Conway launched a new political action committee, Anti-Psychopath PAC, in order highlight the existential threat Donald Trump poses to democracy and remind voters of the former president’s mental unfitness for office.

"Anti-Psychopath PAC was started for one reason," says Conway, a conservative Republican attorney, "to remind voters that Donald Trump is f**cking insane.

"A convicted felon, a proven rapist, and an anti-democratic nutjob with dictatorial ambitions should be nowhere near the White House."

Conway is the president and CEO of the new PAC, which made its public debut during the Republican National Convention with 10 billboards across Milwaukee, July 18 through July 21. They were displayed around the Fiserv Forum, where the convention was being held, and along highways into the city.

FYI: For more information or to be connected with spokespeople for comment, please contact Kase Cronin at kase@psychopac.org or 781-999-3155.

There was also a mobile billboard truck that circled the convention site displaying the message: “Thanks for nominating a psycho.”

Billboards around the GOP's Nationa Convention reminded delegates of their nominee.

A lifelong Republican, George has been among the most outspoken voices in the Never Trump movement. He has been called “one of Donald Trump’s leading conservative critics” and “one of the few members of his exclusive insular tribe … who has been publicly critical” of Trump.

Unlike most leading conservatives — who surrendered to Trump’s takeover of the GOP as soon as it became politically expedient for them — George has consistently held the former president and his enablers accountable for undermining democracy and eroding faith in America’s institutions.

George Conway once had a front row seat to Trump's mental unbalance and questionable decision making as the husband of Trump's senior adiser Maryanne Conway.  As Trump was filling positions in his administration, Conway was once under consideration to become the White House's Solicitor General, an invitation he turned down.

He was among the first to recognize  Trump's followers and enablers as a cult instead of a political movement. Through social media, he continued to frequently criticize Trump's action and policies. He and his wife divorced in 2023.

That was then.

Today, Conway is doing everything he can to prevent  another Trump presidency. He is a leading critic of Trump’s lawlessness and contempt for American democracy.

As one of the founders of the Lincoln Project, a group of moderate Republicans with a strong presence on social media posting ads and campaigns against Trump, Conway seeks every opportunity to expost Trump's disregard for the law, the Constitution and the American people by writing opeds for major publications and as a frequent guest analyst on television news programs.

Conway's take on Trump is simple: He’s a psychopath. He launched Anti-Psychopath PAC to highlight the danger of returning a deranged man to the Oval Office.

The PAC plans to continue shining a light on Trump’s vulnerabilities through election day. A frequent target of Trump’s Truth Social posts, Conway has a demonstrated track record of getting inside the former president’s head. As Trump’s mental state continues to deteriorate, the PAC will help keep up the pressure.

“Donald Trump is a dangerous psychopath, a 34-time felon, and a malignant narcissist who is only in it for himself,” said George Conway. “He’s spent decades showing us over and over again that he’s not fit to run any business, let alone the country. He needs professional clinical treatment, although he’s almost certainly beyond help.”

Conway is an attorney and a leading critic of Donald Trump’s lawlessness and contempt for American democracy. He is a frequent contributor to The Atlantic, co-host of The Bulwark’s “George Conway Explains It All” podcast, board president of the Society for the Rule of Law, and former law partner.

A lifelong Republican, Conway has been among the most outspoken voices in the Never Trump movement. He has been called “one of Donald Trump’s leading conservative critics” and “one of the few members of his exclusive insular tribe … who has been publicly critical” of Trump.

Unlike most leading conservatives — who surrendered to Trump’s takeover of the GOP as soon as it became politically expedient for them — Conway has consistently held the former president and his enablers accountable for undermining democracy and eroding faith in America’s institutions.

Conway launched Anti-Psychopath PAC this month to highlight the former president’s manifest unfitness for office, and the danger of restoring a deranged madman to the Oval Office. The PAC will shine a light on Trump’s vulnerabilities through targeted advertising, including on billboards and TV and digital ads nationwide.

"Anti-Psychopath PAC will continuously highlight Donald Trump’s psychological derangement and bring it to the main stage. 'Sociopath' and 'narcissist' aren’t just buzzwords—Trump’s pathological lying, authoritarian tendencies, and his disregard for democratic norms will destroy our country if he gets reelected. He’s that dangerous," warns Conway.

"Trump’s behavior isn’t just unusual, it’s deeply disturbing and harmful. Whether he’s ranting about sharks or cozying up to dictators, Trump’s actions are those of a man who cares only about himself, not about the country or its people. We can’t ignore his mental health issues any longer.

"The media has often shied away from discussing Trump’s state of mind, but that ends now," says Conway. "It’s time to break the silence and confront the truth: Donald Trump is utterly unfit for office, and understanding his psychology is the key to stopping him.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

With 25 Emmy nominations, 'Shogun' breaks record

Hiroyuki Sanada, left and Ann Sawai were nominated for Emmy's for their roles in "Shogun."

For the third year in a row, a production featuring Asians in primary roles, is making waves in Hollywood by garnering 25 Emmy nominations, a new record for television's highest awards.

Shogun with primary Asian and Asian American cast won a slew of technical nominations but also won nods for Best Drama, and major acting nominations for Hiroyuki Sanada as Lord Yoshii Toranaga, Anna Sawai for her role as Toda Mariko, supporting actor nominations for Tadanobu Asano and Takehiro Hira as Ishido Kazunari and Nestor Carbonelle won a best guest actor for his role as Rodrigues.

Shogun's domination of the nominations comes after Hollywood recognized the Korean production Squid Game in 2022 and Steven Yeun and Ali Maki.won best acting awards for their roles in Beef. 

FYI: The 76th Emmys are set to air live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 15 from 5-8 p.m. PT/8-11 p.m. ET on ABC.

Shogun, the most expensive production by FX, owned by Disney, is the second television adaptation of James Clavell's epic  novel that took place in medieval Japan. The 1980 version earned 12 Emmy nomiinations in the 1981 awards show, winning only three for "outstanding limited series, costume design and best title sequence.

The earlier series earned 12 Emmy nominations at the 1981 awards show, winning for outstanding limited series, costume design and best title sequence.

Shogun, which has a second season despite Claell's book ends at the same juncture as the program, along with The Sympathizer proves that subtitles is not a hindrance for viewers, which opens the doors for more shows in foreign languages. Once again, it should prove to Hollywood's decision-makers that interesting haracters and comelling stories override cultural and racial bias.

Other Emmy nominations for shows with an Asian theme or showcasing Asian talent  include:

Outstanding Drama  Series

• 3 Body Problem based on the science fiction novel by Liu Cixian

Outstanding Telvision Movie: 

• Quiz Lady starring Sandra Oh and Awkwafina

Oustanding Actress in a drama series:

• Maya Erskine, for her role in Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Outstanding Director: 

• Hiro Murai - Mr. & Mrs. Smith," (episode: "First Date"),
• Frederick E.O. Toye - "Shōgun," (episode: "Crimson Sky")

Outstanding directing for a drama Series: 

• Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks for Shōgun,"(episode: "Anjin")
• Rachel Kondo & Caitlin Puente for Shōgun, (episode: "Crimson Sky")

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

• Bowen Yang, "Saturday Night Live"

Should have been nominated

Surprisingly, the Emmy's ignored some excellent performances by the actresses Saraya Blue and Ji-young Yoo, in the Lulu Wang-directed Expats and starring Nicole Kidman. The highly praised and hightly touted drama was filmed in Hongkong before the PRC took over. Wang should have been nominated  for Episode 7, which told the story of the Filipino "helpers," who are expats themselves and that make life so bareable for the rich expat families..

One of the most talented actreses of our time, Sandra Oh, should have been nominated for her role in Quiz Lady proving this womant could play any type of character. 

One of the best dramas of the year, The Sympathizer, based on the Pulitzer-winning novel by Viet Thanh Nguyen was overlooked by voters despite being one of the best series of the year. It brought nto American living rooms, the perspective of Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans and their position in US society. It made them human beings. The only nomination it received as for Robert Downey, who played most of the white characters in the drama. Istill don't know why the producers chose to do this took away from the limited series. If it was done simply to showcase the white producer, well, it apparently worked.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

VP Kamala Harris reinforces link to AANHPI communities and their concerns

Congressmember Judy Chu, D-CA, and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the 
AANHPI Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia.

With the presidential contest between Donald Trump and President Biden basically tied, the Democrats are making concerted efforts to shore up the support from those communities likely to vote for them.

Days after launching the AANHPI for Biden-Harris campaign coalition in Las Vegas, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Philladelphia to deliver the keynote speech at the Presidential Town Hall hosted by APIAVote. 

“President Biden and I know this is a community that is a force and must always be recognized, and must always be recognized for the leadership that has provided for so much progress throughout the history of our country,” Harris said Saturday.

Harris, whose  late mother was from India and father from Jamaica making her the first Vice President of Asian and Black descent, emphasized the administration’s commitment to strengthening and protecting the Affordable Care Act and abortion rights among other accomplishments:

• Harris recited the policies instituted by the Biden-Harris admininstration on behlaf of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities, which included:
• Disaggregation of federal data so that the concerns and needs of the diverse communities under the AANHPI umprella, representing over two dozen ethnicities and nationalities and a score of languages.
• Anti-Hate policies and by all federal agencies including the Department of Justice and Health and Human Services and the US Census and improved outreach to include material and assistance in more Asian and Pacific Islander languages.

“Our campaign knows the power of AANHPI voters and the pivotal role they will play in protecting this progress,” Biden-Harris 2024 AANHPI spokesperson Andrew Peng said in a statement to the Capital-Star, “and our historic investments to reach AANHPI voters across various languages and mediums, the launch of our AANHPIs for Biden-Harris organizing and engagement program in battleground states, and the Vice President’s participation at the APIAVote Presidential Town Hall in Philadelphia make clear that we won’t take any vote for granted this November.”

The 1200 audience members representing more than 50 AANHPI organizations cited a litany of fears as politicians ramp up anti-China rhetoric, pass laws blocking Chinese nationals from buying property and spread anti-immigrant verbiage.

“Certainly, it was not helped when the former president gave a permission structure for people to attack the AANHPI community,: said Ted Liiu, D-CA, blaming Trump for the rise in anti-Asian hate incidents. "We had a sitting president create the permission structure for this hate. Trump used phrases like 'Kung Flu,' blamed the pandemic on people like you and continues to mock Asian people."

The Trump campaiign was invited to the two-day leadership forum but failed to send a representative.

A recent survey showed that support for Biden among AANHPI voters had fallend from 54% t o46% but still showed a strong preference over Trump who garneed 32%. 

Although there was an 8% dromp by AANHPI voters, those voters did not mean they changed their vote for Trum. Part of the decline may be the result of Biden's poor performance during the June debate raising concerns about his age and health.

“The past few days have been a reminder that running for president of the United States is never easy, nor should it be,” said Harris. “But one thing we know about our President Joe Biden, he is a fighter. And he is the first to say, when you get knocked down, you get right back up.”

With 19 electoral votes, Pennsylvania, is the largest battleground state where more than 330,000 voters are of Asian descent.

“AANHPI’s are the fastest growing racial group in the US, and as a result, the fastest growing voting bloc,” said Rep. Judy Chu, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. “Not only have we claimed our seat at the table, but AANHPI’s have truly gone from being marginalized to being the margin of victory.”

“There’s been many groups that have been left behind," said Wisconsin resident Mina Yang, a Hmong American working to get out the vote in her community. "And I think that they’ve been vocal, but it’s just that no one’s really been listening,” she said. “And I think that it really does take the community to come together to do the work.”

“A lot of us Asian Americans, young people, we are wanting to get involved. And I think that we see how the anti-Asian hate has been affecting us,” she said.

“Fundamentally, this election will come down to this,” Harris continued “President Biden and I fight for the American people. Donald Trump does not.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Democrats launch effort to reach out to AANHPI electorate

Vice President Kamala Harris launches AANHPI for Biden-Harris in Las Vegas.

With the issues surrounding President Biden's age sputtering his bid for re-election, the Democratic Party is reaching out to Asian American, Native American and Pacific Island voters to solidify their votes.

The Democrats launched the AANHPI for Biden-Harris coalition in Las Vegas on Tuesday where will-known celebrity and former "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi introduced Vice President Kamala Harris, the first South Asian and first female vice president of the United States.

“We need to make sure that AA and NHPI voices are heard at the ballot boxes around our country, just as we need to make sure that those voices are represented in all levels of government,” Harris said in a video released by the campaign Tuesday. “Asian Americans must be in the rooms where the decisions are being made.”

Harris, whose parents were immigrant scholars, spoke to an audience, she knows well describing Trump's immigration policies: “Someone who vilifies immigrants, who promotes xenophobia, someone who stokes hate should never again have the chance to stand behind a microphone and the seal of the president of the United States.”

The AANHPI voters' coalition will be led by Nadia Belkin, the Biden-Harris campaign’s national AANHPI engagement director, and the campaign is bringing on Andrew Peng as its national AANHPI spokesperson.

TThe Democrats had earlier launched similar outreach efforts to the Black and Latino voters, all which tilted towards Biden in 2020. 

In the aftermath of Biden's lless-than-stellar debate performance last month raising questions about his mental capabilities, Biden's campaign has been all-hands-on-deck for damage control. How Biden performs in the following days, which includes a live press conference later today becomes more critical.

In that context Harris' keynote address at a political town hall hosted by APIAVote in Philadelphia this Saturday is generating more attention. Previously planned as a follow-up to the Las Vegas launch of the AANHPI for Biden-Harris, media focus has grown because her address may indicate the future of the campaign.

Nevada's fastest growing demographic is the AANHPI population growing to almost  10% of the total population. As a result, according to APIA Vote, AANHPI voters now make up a hard-to-ignore 12% of the state's electorate. Filipino Americans make up about half of that community.

Launching the AANHPI for Biden-Harris in Nevada is no accident. It is a crucial swing state and as such, is an important part of the political strategies of both major parties..

Nevada has been a presidential bellwether state, consistently backing the eventual White House winner – until 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the state but went on to lose the presidency to Trump. 

Nevada is used to being a political battleground and the story is no different in 2024. The Silver State swung left in the 2018 midterms, electing its first Democratic governor in 20 years and tossing out a Republican US senator. Biden won Nevada in 2020.

Today, Democrats control three of Nevada’s four seats in the US House of Representatives and both US Senate seats.

Republicans are pouring resources into the state in an effort to win the Senate seat held by Democrat Jacky Rosen who upsent the incumbent GOP senator in 2018. She is being challenged by Republican Sam Brown in the tight race.

Some of the attendees of Tuesday's rally wore traditional Central and Southeast Asian dresses, others had leis common to Hawaiian culture, while some sported traditional Pacific Islander jewelry. Harris made a point of not just praising a crowd as filled with ''longtime friends'' but also calling Las Vegas ''Hawaii's ninth island."

Andrea Rodriguez Campos, a teacher in Las Vegas, was moved to tears as Harris described her multi-racial upbringing and the importance of immigrant communities since Harris' late mother was from India and father from Jamaica.

'I find that everything they're supporting is so important,'' Rodriguez Campos said of the Biden administration. ''Being an immigrant myself, I mean, that's why we're here. Being able to see somebody like her reminds me that because she can, we all can.''

Carlo Miciano, 26, was happy to see the rally, full of faces that he said resembled his own. To Moreno, Harris is a great representative of the  AANHPI community, which he believes lacks political representation at all levels of government.

“She puts a face to what the community looks like,” he said. “Many people when they think of Asians, they think of East Asians, not Southeast Asians. She helps represent the totality of what the Asian community is.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

Survey: AANHPI voters move slightly to the center

Vice President Kamala Harris, front, right) launches the AANHPI for Biden-Harris.

A new poll released July 10 indicates support for th Biden-Harris ticket is slipping among Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander voters, communities that were strongly supportive of the Democrats in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

According tot he poll conducted by  Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote support for the Democrats dropped from 54% to 46%, a big drop, respondents backing Trump only grew by 1%, from 30% to 31%. 

The finding suggests that more AANHPI voters are not happy with the limited likely candidatesfor President and  are waiting to see if other candidates might emerge out of the Republican and Democratic conventions later this summer.

Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), AAPI Data, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC, and AARP released Wednesday (July 10) the findings from their bi-annual Asian American Voter Survey (AAVS), the longest-running survey of Asian American voters. 

“What these results show is that despite Asian American voters’ growing influence and decisive role in recent elections, they are largely still being ignored by campaigns and political parties,” said Christine Chen, Co-Founder and Executive Director of APIAVote. “And while there’s little evidence of a broad political realignment of Asian American voters, recent elections have shown that their political identities are more tenuous than their voting habits imply, and that when candidates make concerted efforts to engage them, Asian American voters are persuadable.”

• FYI: Full results from the survey, which were presented during a virtual press briefing today, are available her

 However, upon a closer look, if the election were held today with Trump and Biden as the choices of their respective parties, the likeability and trust factors favored the President and the Democrats

• Over half of Asian American voters (51%) view Joe Biden “very” or “somewhat” favorably while just only about one-third (34%) say the same for Donald Trump.
• 43% say they have a “very” unfavorable impression of Trump compared to under one-fourth (23%) who view Biden the same.
• Nnearly half of Asian American voters (46%) say they would be inclined to vote for Joe Biden, versus 31% who are inclined to vote for Donald Trump.
• Regarding upcoming elections for the US Senate and House of Representatives, half of Asian American voters would vote for a Democratic candidate (50% and 51%, respectively) if the election were being held today — and 30% would vote for a Republican candidate.

Some of the other highlights of the survey include:

•  46% say they’ll likely vote for Biden (down from 54% in 2020), 31% say they’ll likely vote for Trump (compared to 30% in 2020), and 5% say they’ll likely vote for someone else (up from 1% in 2020). The remainder are undecided or refuse to answer how they will vote.
• 42% identify as Democrats (compared to 44% in 2020), 22% identify as Republicans (compared to 23% in 2020), and 31% identify as Independent (compared to 25% in 2020).
• 90% of Asian American voters say they plan to vote for President, Congress and other offices this November. A further 68% say that they are absolutely certain they will vote.
• 42% of Asian American voters say they have not been contacted by either the Democratic or Republican parties or candidates, including 50% who say they have not been contacted by the Democratic Party and 57% who say they have not been contacted by the Republican Party.
• Among the most important issues for Asian American voters include jobs and the economy (86% say “extremely” or “very” important), inflation (85%), healthcare (85%), crime (80%), education (80%), Social Security and Medicare (79%), cost of housing (78%), national security (77%), gun control (73%), and immigration (71%).
• Over a two-thirds majority (68%) of Asian American voters reported worrying about hate crimes, harassment, and discrimination “sometimes” (38%), “somewhat often” (17%), or “very often” (13%).

Asian Americans have been a rapidly growing group of eligible voters in the US over the past two decades, growing by 15% in the last four years alone and turning out in record numbers in every federal election since 2016. In 2020, a surge in Asian American voters – especially those voting for the very first time – in battleground states was crucial to Biden’s victory.

The release of the AAVS comes just before APIAVote’s Presidential Town Hall, being held in Philadelphia on July 13. The crucial national forum invites presidential candidates to engage directly with the AAPI community. Since 2008, APIAVote provides a dedicated space for candidates to engage AAPI community members, leaders, and organizers face-to-face. The town hall offers one of the rare opportunities for this impactful growing electorate to hear directly from those vying for the nation’s highest office.

“Asian Americans are rapidly diversifying the American electorate, and it is critical for us to update our understanding of what motivates them and informs their voting choices,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, Executive Director of AAPI Data. “We see ongoing evidence of dynamism within the Asian American electorate, including on matters pertaining to presidential vote choice and party preferences on key issues ranging from inflation to health care and immigration.”

“Americans ages 50 and older, including Asian American and Pacific Islanders, are the nation’s most powerful voters,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President, Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Asian American & Pacific Audience Strategy. “As the group that will be the deciders of this election, candidates must address the issues that matter to older adults and their families, including protecting Social Security and Medicare and supporting family caregivers.”

The survey of 2,479 Asian American voters was conducted using mixed modes, self-administered responses via an online panel and telephone interviews of respondents selected from a list of Asian American voters for the six largest ethnic groups (Chinese, Indian, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese). 

For the phone portion, 22 interviews were completed by landline, while 1,235 were completed via cell phone for a total of 1,257 surveys completed by phone. Another 1,222 surveys were completed using an online panel which was drawn from 6 panel partners targeting Asian American registered voters..

The data were weighted using a post-stratification raking method based on: 1) state of residence by Asian ethnicity, 2) key demographic factors (age, education, gender, and nativity) by Asian ethnicity, and 3) the party distribution of registered voters by Asian ethnicity. The margins of error of our weighted estimates incorporating both the design effect of the study and the post-stratification weights are 2.7% for the overall sample.

“Every iteration of the AAVS has provided a critical glimpse into the growing influence of the Asian American electorate, and this year is no different,” said John C. Yang, President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – AAJC.

 “Politicians too often overlook us in the civic engagement process, where in many cases, our right to vote is suppressed, compromised, or questioned. What this survey tells us is that politicians need to reach out to the Asian American community, and accurately understand and address our issues if they want to win our votes.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.