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Some of he cast members of 'Crazy Rich Asians,' celebrated their participation in the movie. |
YEARS FROM NOW, students in Asian American history classes might very well study the impact that 2018 had on Asian Americans and label it as a turning point.
Last year is only a day ago but it's not too early for reflecting on the year we have just experienced.
It has been a year of increasing visibility for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. For a long time, AAPI communities have sat on the margins of American society -- basically ignored except when called upon to be a "model minority" or as the latest scapegoat in the country's up-and-down economy; indistinguishable between goings-on in their ancestors' countries of origins and their real struggle to fit in; unseen, invisible and incomprehensible to most Americans.
The past year, AAPI folk have made headlines (some good and some bad), been woo'd by politicians and sought as one of the most valuable markets for high-end goods and movie tickets by their impact on the three pillars of pop culture: sports, media and politics.
CRAZY RICH REPRESENTION
The seminal event of the year was the debut of the motion picture Crazy Rich Asians which brought forth Asian and Asian American figures that the rest of the country have not seen (in 25 years.) However, with the power of the Internet and social media, CRA's cultural impact dwarfs 1993's Joy Luck Club, the last time a movie featured an almost all-Asian and Asian American cast.
In the same month that Crazy Rich Asians took Hollywood by storm, Netflix's own romantic comedy, To All The Boys I Ever Love, featuring a racially mixed family starring Lana Condor, was capturing teenager hearts and John Cho starrer Searching was stirring praise for its unique brand of storytelling. It is no wonder the month was dubbed Asian August by the AAPI community. Together, the three projects thrust Asian Americans into the cultural forefront by depicting Asians and Asian Americans in ways most Americans have never seen them before -- as human beings, with shared wants and flaws, but relatable across racial lines.
The unquestionable artistic and box office success of CRA shattered any doubts or questions about cross-over appeal of a movie with Asian leads and opened the floodgates (for now) of a seeming plethora of artistic projects with Asian themes and opportunities for Asian artists. For years to come, we will see the offspring of CRA in the books we read, on our television sets and the silver screen.
Television was quick to recognize the potential in telling Asian-themed stories with Asian Americans casted in prominent roles.
While Fresh Off the Boat enters its fifth season and Into the Badlands enters its third season, AAPI actors are so numerous that Views From the Edge has discontinued its roundup of all the Asian Americans in TV series.
Because it takes so long for a Hollywood product, from conception to the screen to develop, some of the projects may have been launched before CRA's success was a proven commodity, but even these projects got a shot in the arm by CRA giving American TV a different shade of brown.
This time, Hollywood's penchant for copying success has launched a plethora of projects that will hit our big and small screens (and we include our computer screens as well) in the coming months.
It appears that the old excuse that American audiences won't watch a TV series or pay to see movie about Asian Americans is no longer a valid excuse not to do those stories. For now, at least, we have to wait and see if the ripples from CRA's big splash will continue beyond the next year or two.
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| Gold medal snowboarder Chloe Kim just being Chloe Kim was a media favorite. |
SPORTS
The year began with the Winter Olympics in February. Perhaps no sports star emerged larger and brighter from Olympics than California teenager Chloe Kim. Her snow board tricks on the half-pipe were breathtaking and performed well enough to earn her a gold medal in the event.
But that isn't what made the spotlight linger on the 5'3" "California girl" as she describes herself. Her off-the-cuff social media postings about her food cravings, and her bubbly personality, her charisma, her charm and her honesty made her a media favorite and breakout star of the Olympics and more. She was named the ESPY's Sportswoman of the Year and Sports Illustrated called her Olympic performance one of best feats of the year.
All together, there were 11 Asian Americans on the Olympic team. Most of them competed in ice-skating as individuals or pairs. Americans love ice skating and NBC gave the competitors prime time attention. Even if their performances didn't match their expectations, the Asian American athletes were welcomed in America's living rooms and all Americans found themselves cheering for their American athletes of Asian descent.
Whether it was golf where 11 of the top 20 women golfers are Asian or Asian American; Kevin Na and Tiger Woods in the winning tournaments on the men's golf circuit; tennis introduced us to exciting Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori, both of whom represented Japan but train and live in the U.S.; or baseball where Asian American and players from Korea and Japan are too many to cite here; Asian Americans were out there on magazine covers, on television and bringing in paying fans into he arenas, courses and ballfields.
POLITICS
Asian Americans showed up at the ballot box. It's hard to avoid the cliche but Asian American votes votes in Nevada and California really made a difference, flipping congressional seats from Republican to Democrats.
The definite shift towards the Democrats was in reaction to Donald Trump. His racist and anti-immigrant rants elicited a strong negative response from a community that is largely made up of first-generation immigrants. Their children are now young adults and have taken on the values of other young Americans.
Another sign of the political shift in the AAPI communities is the number who ran for office in the 2018 midterm elections.
Three new AAPI members joined the Congressional Asian Pafcific American Caucus (CAPAC). Andy Kim will join the House of Representatives for New Jersey and Michael San Nicolas will be a non-voting House member for Guam.
A month after voting day, TJ Cox eked out a victory over another GOP incumbent in his California district. In his upset win, Cox became the second member of Congress of Filipino descent.
The three freshmen representatives will give CAPAC a total of 20 AAPI members, the largest number in history.
“Since its founding in 1994, CAPAC has always strived to ensure that diverse voices are represented in the halls of Congress, and we are thrilled that the American people voted overwhelmingly to elect candidates who better reflect the diversity of our nation,” Democrat Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, the caucus chair, said in a statement. “With these victories, CAPAC will have its highest AAPI membership in history and an important seat at the table within House Leadership.”
From Hawaii, California and Washington where political activism is expected because of the large number of AAPI, to the victories in areas where AAPI are not as numerous: Hmong candidates in Minnesota and the historic wins achieved in New York's state legislature, the AAPI communities surprised the traditional political movers and shakers.
Even in their losses in traditional GOP strongholds of Arizona andTexas, the races were competitive and raised the eyebrows of older political hands who up to now, tended to limit their financial and political support to white men.
The strong showing of AAPI candidates in 2018 at the state and local elections gives the AAPI communities, especially the Democrats, a strong base for things to come as these first-time citizen/politicians hone their skills for campaigns for higher office.
One thing to remember is that the AAPI communities have a large pool of nonvoters because many of the new immigrants have not yet become citizens. As they become citizens and register to vote, they will become a stronger voice on the political scene.
STANDING UP, SPEAKING OUT
Not satisfied with being bystanders, last year saw Asian Americans make the news, much of it driven by Trump policies or tweets.
The debate over affirmative action and the possible discrimination practiced by Harvard had Asian Americans in the center of the controversy. AAPI students testified in favor of diversity in a 10-day trial late last year based oncharges by Students for Fair Admissions, representing its Asian American clients, who chose not to testify in public.
While there appears to be some special treatment for legacy students or children of large donors (mostly white), the evidence presented during the trial that some admission decisions were based on alleged traits of Asian Americans.
A ruling will be delivered early 2019, but that most likely will be appealed, no matter what. Both sides vow they will appeal all the way to the conservative U.S. Supreme Court.
A large portion of the Asian American community are first generation immigrants so Trump's policies limiting immigrants, from asylum seekers to H-1B visa holders, to students, visitors and family members was a hot-button issue for AAPI families.
Whether it was the Muslim bans, family reunification or the stepped up deportation of Southeast Asians, AAPI shed their stereotypical inhigitions and did not hesitate to bring attention to their plight by demonstrating in the streets, meeting with their congressional reps, writing letters or filing court actions slowing implementation of Trump's harsh measures.
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What American media is starting to discover is that Asian Americans are interwoven into the fabric of America. -- from lawyers who fought Trump's immigration policies in court to the judges who ruled against those unjust policies; from the military men and women who fought for the U.S. in hopes that it would facilitate their applications for U.S. citizenship, to the Sikhs who opened up their temples to assist those ade homeless by natural disasters, to the founders of some of Silicon Valley's most promising startups, to the Filipinos brought to this country to teach in some of America's neediest school districts, to the police officers who put their lives at risk to keep their communities safe, to the nurses seeking safer conditions for their patients, the writers and other artists who give an Asian perspective to our human foibles
If there is one big ah-ha to be taken from 2018, it is this: America has millions of stories to be told by the newcomers landing on our shores every day to the light-skin, blond Filipino American descendants of those villages in Louisiana's bayous. Movies, television and the arts are political because they help define who we are as a people and as a nation and what we will become. Media moguls and our government, business and social institutions are hopefully coming around to realize that America's story can no longer be seen simply in black and white.
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