DNC: Asian/Americans help shape the Democratic Platform

THE 2016 DEMOCRATIC PARTY Platform may have made history. For perhaps the first time, an Asian/American was specifically mentioned in the Platform of any major American political party.

Filipino/American labor organizer Larry Itliong was included among the other labor  and civil right leaders in the recognition that race "still plays a significant role" in determining equity and opportunity.

UFW co-founder Larry Itliong

The specific paragraph reads:

"And we know that our nation’s long struggle with race is far from over. More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King marched and John Lewis bled, more than half a century after César Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong organized, race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind. We must face that reality and we must fix it." 

“There is no question that this platform is the most inclusive of the AAPI community in history,” said Christopher Kang, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans national director.

Last month, the National Council of NCAPA testified before the Democratic National Convention Platform Drafting Committee, providing recommendations for how the Democratic party platform could address the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.  Yesterday (July 25) the 2016 Democratic Party Platform was ratified, and it adopts many recommendations from NCAPA and its member organizations.

 “It adopts our overarching priorities that would resonate throughout government: a theme of inclusion; an understanding that data should be disaggregated to fully address AAPI needs; and a belief that government services should be culturally and linguistically appropriate.”

“This platform does even more than adopt dozens of our recommendations that would significantly improve the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders,” Kang continued.  

“As the Preamble recognizes Larry Itliong’s contribution to the labor movement and struggle for racial justice, it gives voice to our story and our history. From top to bottom, this platform demonstrates that AAPIs have been and always will be woven into the fabric of our nation.”

Additional recommendations made by NCAPA and its member organizations that were adopted include:

• Ending systemic racism and condemning divisive rhetoric and hate speech;
• Ending discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, language, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability;
• Ending racial profiling that targets individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin;
• Pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and fixing family immigration backlogs;
• Restoring the Voting Rights Act, ensuring that election officials comply with provisions mandating bilingual materials and voter assistance, and supporting early voting and same day voter registration;
• Preserving and enhancing the integrity and accuracy of the Census and the American Community Survey;
• Ensuring that all Americans have access to quality health care—regardless of immigration status, expanding Community Health Centers, and recognizing the importance of treating mental health;
• Securing reproductive justice;
• Supporting self-governance and self-determination of Native Hawaiians, honoring the people of the territories, and addressing unique Pacific Islander health care challenges;
• Supporting a higher minimum wage, pay equity, and workers’ right to organize and join unions;
• Closing the racial wealth gap, including for certain AAPI subgroups;
• Expanding programs to prevent the displacement of existing residents, especially in communities of color, reforming the tax code to be more equitable for all, and supporting small businesses, including improved access to capital;
• Reforming the criminal justice system, including the discriminatory treatment of AAPIs; and
• Supporting stronger gun control

(As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, NCAPA does not support or oppose political candidates or parties. It works with both political parties to educate them about issues of importance to the Asian/American and Pacific Islander community.)

Media: Where are the AAPI pundits on cable news shows?

CNN had Lanhee Chen, former Mitt Romney policy director, on a panel talking about Donald Trump's remarks questioning President Obama's sincerity when talking about the fatal shootings of police officers in Baton Rouge.

FROM THE admittedly biased perspective of "Views From the Edge," diversity -- or the lack of it -- racial justice and racial inequities are some of the underlying issues permeating almost every issue in today's world.

At a time of a growing tension, when Americans usually rally around the President, GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump chose to use the time to divide the country by questioning President Obama's sincerity when he expressed the nation's sorrow at the shooting deaths of three police officers in Baton Rouge. 

On the first day of the Republican National Convention (July 18), it was a pleasant surprise to see some Asian/American faces on the CNN news panels.

Well, OK, it was early morning and not prime time, but let's not quibble ... small steps are better than no steps.

Fareed Zakaria is one of the few Asian/Americans
appearing regularly on CNN.

Not surprisingly, Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Mitt Romney, and CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju, comported themselves well against the more experienced commentators. They were on separate panels at the convention in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.

Their contributions to the nation's conversation brings up the question: Why aren't there more AAPI experts, educators, politicians, commentators on these news panels and interviews? Our opinions matter.

RELATED: A new journalism needed for a new America

A week ago, a coalition of prominent Asian/American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) civic and civil rights organizations united to deliver an open letter to CNN, MSNBC and Fox News -- the three largest providers of cable news in the U.S. -- asking that the networks address the persistent underrepresentation of the AAPI community in their programming.

“Networks need to ensure that Asian American and Pacific Islander voices and perspectives are heard and that issues of importance to our communities are discussed,” said Christopher Kang, national director of National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA). “If we are invisible in the media, racial slurs and inaccurate portrayals of AAPIs will persist, but when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are better represented--in particular, in the news--it allows for a more diverse understanding across all communities. All Americans--including AAPIs--deserve more accurate representation in our media."

RELATED: #JournalismSoWhite 

The letter from NCAPA and Reappropriate, responds to recent incidents that involve news hosts and guests who made disparaging remarks about the AAPI community on air. The letter highlights research by Media Matters that shows that Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders make up less than 3 percent of invited nightly news or Sunday morning political talk show guests, even though more than 6 percent of the American people are AAPI.

Indian/American Manu Raju, senior political reporter for Politico and CNN, (left) joined a CNN news panel on the first day of the GOP National Convention.

"The profound underrepresentation of Asian American and Pacific Islander people on primetime news exacerbates the injury caused when someone like Ann Coulter uses her time as a guest of Hardball with Chris Matthews to mislabel Asian Americans with the racially charged term ‘Mandarins’, as she did last month,” said Jenn Fang of Reappropriate, an online blog on Asian/American issues. 

RELATED: MSNBC questioned on diversity

“Networks may not be wholly responsible for their guest’s commentary, but it is troublesome that they routinely enable the broadcast of offensive comments while they simultaneously deny members of targeted communities the same opportunity to respond and engage with our national political discourse,” she said.

The letter, signed by 23 civil rights and community groups, asks for a meeting with network executives to discuss representation and “recent incidents that involve news hosts and guests who made disparaging remarks about the AAPI community on the air.”

The letter says AAPIs make up less than 3 percent of invited nightly news or Sunday morning political talk show guests, even though more than 6 percent of the American people are AAPI.

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For more news about Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.