As a professor of Asian American Studies, Urban Planning, and Social Welfare at UCLA, Lewis Center Faculty Fellow, Paul Ong is well-qualified to discuss the increase in political participation among Asian Americans.
Chosun Ilbo, a newspaper based in Seoul, South Korea, conferred with Ong for a news story citing the effect that Indian Americans have had in recent U.S. elections. The story’s author draws the conclusion that American politics may be going through a transformation, a change in the way Americans accept who may politically represent them.
Ong was able to provide historical perspective. He describes how immigrants from Asia had for decades faced what had been insurmountable obstacles in seeking office in the United States. “If you go back far enough, Asian Americans, including Asian Indians, were precluded from participating,” Ong said. “They were precluded from gaining citizenship, certainly, if you go back to after World War Two, an enormous amount of racial prejudice. It was very difficult for Asian Americans, including Asian Indians, to be accepted socially, as well as politically.”
But that, says Ong, has recently changed. “We have seen over the last decade or so an increase in political participation,” he adds. “We have seen it in acquiring citizenship, we’ve seen it in the growing numbers of Asian-Americans running for office. We still have a long ways to go. We’re still, overall, under-represented among elected officials. But, I think, it’s been very remarkable about the progress that’s been made.”
But, why Indian Americans as opposed to immigrants from other areas? “What we saw is a population that was highly-educated,” said Ong. “They probably came from much more affluent background from India and we also noticed that they come from a country with a long history and participation in a democratic process. And so, I think those things translate, as well as the fact that most of the Indian immigrants and their children certainly are much more accustomed to American culture, the language and so forth.”
Professor Ong, who is of Chinese descent, says the recent success of Indian-American politicians could be just the beginning.