Don’t Play the Money Game to Be Heard

After a year of feeling battered, abandoned and discriminated against, Asian American groups and individuals have appealed to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to investigate the cumulative impact of the campaign fund-raising controversy on the treatment of this racial minority group by national media and politicians.

Since the controversy first made headlines, signs of unfairness abound. Some news commentators, reporters and politicians have made racially insensitive remarks, verbal and written, about alleged Asian American involvement in illegal fund-raising. (Two months ago, under the cloud of fund-raising reports, an Asian American member of the Commission on Civil Rights was detained at the White House entrance under suspicion of being a foreign national.)

The prejudice against Asian Americans manifested in this episode has been a bitter blow to the community, but Asian Americans also must learn that taking the money route to gain a voice, however well-intentioned, was ill-advised. Instead, we must return to working the issues.

Before the fund-raising controversy broke, many politically active Asian Americans had high hopes that they could secure a firm voice and influence in a second Clinton administration. Knowing how difficult it is to match the cohesiveness and influence of the African American, Latino and other voting blocs, some politically active Asian Americans calculated some time ago that there is enough wealth in the Asian American community to impress the president and national political parties with monetary contributions.

Administration officials began to look at the Asian American community as a cash cow to assist the Democratic Party agenda, but short of policy substance and unable to deliver a substantial bloc of votes. As the controversy heated up and “soft money” contributions were returned to donors, the administration conspicuously distanced itself from Asian Americans and their concerns.

It was heady for some Asian Americans to be involved with million-dollar fund-raisers and to be invited to the White House for coffee. Photo ops with the president became routine.

It was this eagerness to play the money game with both political parties that some Asian Americans have come to regret. Ironically, as they correctly oppose any legislative prohibition against political donations by legal permanent residents, Asian Americans have come to realize that soft and hard money contributions have not bought any respect for their political involvement, only grief and suspicions that they may be foreign government operatives.

Asian Americans should be assessing critically whether Asian American voices that truly spoke for the poor and disadvantaged ever were heard at these coffees and fund-raisers. Did Asian American donors talk about welfare reform, human rights, bilingual education, student loans, housing and health insurance for the poor with the president? Or, is it even realistic to expect Asian Americans who can afford to donate large sums of money to political parties to act differently from other well-heeled donors who, more often than not, pursue private interests?

In fighting for political access and participation, Asian Americans need to ask: Which policy values and programs do they seek to gain a political voice on? Why are Asian American groups organized as Asian American and not solely by the issues? What specific problems afflict the most disadvantaged and poor among them?

Still a small racial minority group, Asian Americans will be hard pressed in the foreseeable future to generate the amounts of money to match the political contributions by American corporations and foreign-owned subsidiaries based in America. However the fund-raising controversy is resolved, Asian Americans need to reject unequivocally the money route to influence public policy or political appointments. The lesson is not that there are minefields along the money route, but that there is little public sympathy for any group or individual who seeks political legitimacy through money. The hard knocks of partisan politics and money underscore how one political party can exploit and sacrifice a group like Asian Americans to embarrass the other side.

Asian Americans and others must play a vigorous role in campaign finance reform. Take the money out, as much as possible, so that legitimate voices can be heard in the political process. Concentrate on the issues and work at educating people at the grass-roots level to exercise their rights in the democratic process. If politically active Asian Americans pursue this strategy, the findings of the civil rights commission investigation will take on a greater importance and meaning.