Top AAPI Stories to Watch in 2008
This is the Year of the Rat, said to be a time of hard work, activity and renewal. Many believe that this is a good year for new beginnings.
Because of changing demographics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. are poised to enter new thresholds never before seen or experienced in these communities. Elsewhere, countries in Asia and the Pacific are consistently making their mark as vital players in the arena of globalization and emerging as new centers of activity in the world stage of culture, politics and the economy, and yes, conflict.
AAJA interviewed and surveyed community leaders and members to get a sense of AAPI issues or events to watch in 2008. Here are the top picks:
SUMMER OLYMPICS IN BEIJING, CHINA
All eyes are on Beijing this summer as the world’s most populous nation hosts the games of the XXIX Olympiad, August 8-24, 2008. While there is little doubt about China’s ability to host a world-class event, the spotlight is also being focused on issues such as the country’s human rights record, press freedom, its conflict with Taiwan and its trade relations with other nations. The safety of food and toy imports from China remains a sore point in both the political and business circles, especially in the U.S.
Click here for the official website of the 2008 Olympics.
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND ASIAN AMERICAN VOTERS
The Asian American population is one of the two fastest-growing minority populations and figures to be an important electoral presence in the 2008 elections. Although less numerous than Latinos, Asian Americans can be numerous enough in certain areas to potentially swing a vote to one candidate or another. For example, the Asian American Justice Center’s (AAJC) demographic publication, A Community of Contrasts, highlights Nevada as a fast-growing state for Asian Americans. As of fall 2006, Nevada was home to 14,000 Chinese American registered voters, 6,000 Vietnamese, 7,600 Koreans and nearly 7,000 Japanese – definitely significant numbers in any close election. Additionally, Asian American voters will be even more engaged in this election due in part to last year’s hotly contested immigration debates, which saw Congressional leaders proposing to eliminate many of the family-based immigration categories that are consequential to Asian immigrants.
With the increase of Asian American participation in the voting process come greater concerns for voting rights protections. In past elections, there have been complaints of voting barriers in Asian communities, including lack of language assistance at the polls, in violation of the language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act Section 203, and hostile remarks to Asian American voters by poll workers.
Links:
A Community of Contrasts
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
APIAVote
HEALTH CARE ACCESS
Ensuring that Asian Americans have access to health care will be a key priority in 2008, as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are much more likely to lack medical insurance than non-Hispanic whites. Research shows that uninsured Americans are less likely to get screened for cancer, more likely to be diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease, and less likely to survive that diagnosis than their privately insured counterparts.
Furthermore, studies have shown low screening rates among several of the Asian ethnic groups, most notably among groups with more recent immigration histories and limited English proficiency.
Similarly, there are human costs and financial consequences of not providing health care coverage to AAPI children. Without health insurance and access to a regular medical home, children and their families rely on a patch-work system for necessary medical care. The process to access public health services is difficult and complex. This challenge is even more daunting for children whose parents experience additional barriers related to limited English proficiency, workforce participation, immigration status, cultural stigma of accessing public benefits, and limited availability of culturally appropriate health care services.
Links:
American Cancer Society
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Of the 13.9 million Asian Americans in the U.S., over 70 percent are citizens and many more are waiting to be naturalized. In 2007, Asian Americans joined other immigrants to file naturalization applications in record numbers. Unfortunately, the surge in applications created a large backlog at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Many Asian Americans will be denied the opportunity to fully participate in American democracy this November, because they will not be naturalized in time.
Asian Americans are not unfamiliar with backlogs within the current immigration system. The failure to pass fair and humane immigration reform in 2007, leaves an estimated 1.5 million family members of Asian American U.S. citizens waiting in line to join their loved ones.
Links:
Asian American Justice Center
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF)
AAPI YOUTH
South Asian students targeted as "terrorists" and newly immigrated AAPI students under attack for not being “American” are examples of harassment occurring daily in the AAPI community. Harassment not only affects the performance, ambitions and physical and emotional well-being of targeted youth, but it also affects the entire AAPI community. Incidents like these are numerous yet often overlooked by school administrators and law enforcement. The safety of youth in schools and young people in college campuses free of racism is essential to educational systems in a multicultural society.
Link:
The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families.
AGING AAPI
Caring for the aging will be a topic on the minds of many baby boomers, who are now turning 60 themselves. They are entrusted with the well-being and care of their parents and have difficult choices to make-- putting them into nursing homes, having their parents move in with them, or finding a way to keep them living in their own homes and communities. Geriatricians increasingly believe that seniors who stay in their own homes do better emotionally and physically than those who live in nursing homes or other senior living facilities.
Link:
On Lok
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION IN ASIA
As territorial conflicts escalate among countries, and as Western nations step up the fight against terrorism, more focus will be placed on countries in Asia and the Middle East that have known or suspected nuclear programs. There may be more diplomatic activity as well as tough sanctions to decrease nuclear weapons in Iran, India, Pakistan, North Korea and China.
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