Asian Americans Gather to Celebrate Their Arrival in Politics

A veteran U.S. senator looked around this week at a lively Asian American event held in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention and felt assured by what he saw.

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) was moved by the sight of so many Asian Americans, especially young people, interested in community and political affairs.

“When I went to my first convention in Chicago in 1952, there were all of 40 Asians,” said Inouye, who was first elected to Congress in 1962.

“This is exciting,” he said, “because so much is at stake.”

To old Asian American warriors like Inouye, a gathering of 1,200 Asian Americans at the Japanese American National Museum on Monday evening and a luncheon that drew 300 Asian Americans at a downtown hotel Tuesday are the culmination of decades of work that started with people like himself and others.

They indicate that Asian Americans are on the cusp of arriving on the American political scene.

Tuesday’s gathering was hosted by Korean Americans eager for exposure and acceptance by the mainstream. It brought together top federal, state and local officials and a who’s who of Asian American leaders from across the nation.

The event at the Wilshire Grand Hotel celebrated the “arrival” of Korean American Democrats on the political scene.

For the first time this year, the California delegation has two Korean Americans, said Sukhee Kang, president of the Korean American Democratic Committee. Kang is one and the other is attorney Angela Oh, who served on President Clinton’s Initiative on Race Relations Advisory Board.

In an interview, Kang said Korean Americans are ready to join the leaders of the Asian American community.

Traditionally, Japanese and Chinese Americans, whose roots go back five generations, have been most visible in Asian American leadership positions.

“We wanted to introduce our vibrant community to America--and show how we have recovered from the devastation of the [1992] riots,” he said.

The event--the first in the Korean American community’s 100-year history in America--drew Washington Gov. Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce Norman Mineta, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) and California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and others.

Locke, a Chinese American who was an opening day speaker at the convention, electrified Tuesday’s pan-Asian American gathering with his upbeat message of hope and the American dream.

He said Asian Americans have been helping to build the nation since the 19th century.

“Having given our blood, sweat and tears for our country, Asian Americans have every right to be at the table helping pass the laws and setting the policies that affect all of us on a daily basis,” he said.

The audience cheered.

“America is a work in progress,” he said. “Asian Americans have been part of the destiny in the history and prosperity of America.”

Locke praised the progress of the Korean American community and offered this advice: “Keep at it. They ought to be very, very proud of what they’ve accomplished, but keep going.”

Mineta, whose recent appointment as the first Asian American cabinet member bolstered the Asian American community’s morale, urged the gathering to think about public service.

“No matter how each one of us succeeds in life, when we walk up the ladder of success, if we do not turn around and help others up that ladder, then we are not doing our job,” he said.

Though it was billed as a Democratic convention-related event, numerous Korean American Republicans attended the luncheon.

“I came even though I am Republican because I view it more as a Korean community event,” said Hyepin Im, former president of the Korean American Coalition.

Im said she was “inspired” and “encouraged” by what she heard from Locke and others.

More than 400,000 people of Korean ancestry live in the Los Angeles area.

The luncheon, on the 55th anniversary of Korea’s independence from Japan, also drew a delegation of the South Korean National Assembly, led by Jay K. Yoo of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party.

Yoo, chairman of the committee on the national convention, said his group came to “study” the Democratic National Convention.

“We want to bring good things to Korea,” said Yoo, a former Los Angeles lawyer.

On hand to entertain were traditional Korean dancers and 11-year-old Korean American prodigy Andrew Pae of Anaheim Hills, whose recital included Chopin’s “Fantasie Impromptu.”

On Monday, in what observers said was the largest gathering of its kind, Asian Americans packed the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo for the Asian and Pacific Islander Americans 2000 reception.

Commenting on the turnout, Dolores Wong, wife of retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Delbert Wong, said: “It’s not so lonely anymore.”

Locke, who was the center of attraction at Monday’s event, asked the throng in the museum courtyard, “Are we proud to be Asian Pacific Islander Americans?”

“Yes!” the throng thundered.