An editorial originally published in the January/February, 1997 issue ofThe Asian American Voice , official publication of The Asian American Political Coalition (AAPC)
It may not have occurred to you, but political power is not unlike vegetable: To have Bok Choy for dinner you can either buy it at the market or grow it in your backyard.
Political power works the same way: Either you get it from holders of such power as a result of your contribution to them in some form (if you come across any freebies, let me know), or you grow it by organizing your community’s voting power. But the similarity stops there.
Buying food from the market is straightforward, convenient and legitimate. You pick up the stuff, pay the cashier and you are on your way. You just have to watch the quality and be prepared for any price increase that may throw your family budget out the window. Growing your own veggies is good for your health and probably even your soul, and it is environmentally correct, but is feasible only if you have the inclination and the time to tend the garden.
With political power, it’s a little more complicated. Theoretically the stuff is supposed to be sacred: it can be earned but never bought. (Don’t laugh, I am serious.) What’s more, it comes in various strengths and flavors and is often provided wrapped in brown paper with no contents listed. But since it is such a precious commodity, over the years a number of processes have been developed through which the stuff can be transacted almost, not quite, like veggies at the supermarket. To be a good shopper requires knowledge, experience, shrewdness, and a bit of chutzpah.
When you pay $1,000 for a plate of rubber chicken and get your picture taken with the man (or sometimes the lady), you have bought the brown paper bag. No veggies. When you get appointed to the Committee to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Rancocas State Park, you’ve got a single, wilted bok choy leaf in the bag. If that’s all you need for dinner, great. In my wok, only fresh, succulent, whole bok choy is used.
Growing political power from the ground up may not be the best thing to do for your health in some other countries; but in this country (nowadays)it is totally legitimate, safe and the right thing to do. It’s the American Way. We must all remember that. It isn’t easy, but unless we can all get this idea etched on our mind, we will have trouble going places.
Asian Americans have tried supply-side politics (work on those who "possess" the power) for some time. We contribute to political candidates and office holders, sometimes to curry specific favors, sometimes to gain some non-paid, honorary and powerless offices or titles, sometimes just for a chance to rub shoulders with big wigs.
Whatever we are looking for, the results are usually fleeting and will never trickle down to the community. Unless you continue to write checks for more rubber chicken, you cannot hold on to whatever goodies you get in return. Even your political horses may lose out despite your contributions, leaving you stranded on the sideline. In the worst case, your supportees may even turn around and denounce you and treat you like pariah.
To be sure, supply-side politics is a legitimate game in this country, but unless you play it from a position of strength, you are likely to be taken for a ride. In a democracy, political strength comes from voting power and knowledge of the system and its working mechanism. While we need not completely abandon the tactics of cozening up to power holders, it’s time for us to put emphasis on demand-side politics, that is building up political power for our community by helping people discover and use the power they own but did not realize it.
The United States may not have "people" as a middle name, people and their voting power counts more than in most countries in the world. The beauty of this approach is once you build up a political power block and get everybody used to the idea, your community owns that power. Your children can build on it year after year. Sharp politicians will respect you for it.
Instead of donating our money to politicians who really don’t always understand or care much about our community’s long term interest, why not use some of that money to fund organizations and programs that contribute to our unity and the training of our future political leaders? In the short term, you may not gain more favor from your friendly politicians but you will gain their respect. In the long term, you will contribute to the growing political strength of the entire community and you will help bring up a new generation of our own political leaders.
I must be honest with you: This is the hard way to build political power. We will have to convince people it’s safe to get involved; we will have to convince them it is at least as important as giving their children a good education; we will have to pull together people who have little in common; we will have to encourage people to sacrifice their own interest to help the community; and we will make plenty of mistakes on the way. But the Irish have done that; the Italians have done that; the Jewish people have done that; and Blacks have done that. Wouldn’t you believe the Asians can do that too?
As Asian influence in the world is rising, Asian Americans have the potential to help this country navigate the turbulent waters of Asia. But we would be of no benefits unless we are in the leadership position and are trusted for responsible jobs and are treated as equals. We Asian Americans have a responsibility to skillfully and forcefully persuade the current power holders of that. -- Al Chu