RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.: Asian Americans have earned a place at the table — and on the Supreme Court
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are plagued by an odd paradox. They’re invisible but also omnipresent.
It seems that America’s fastest-growing ethnic group is everywhere — except, that is, on the Supreme Court. That needs to change. On the federal bench, there are currently several highly qualified Asian Americans with top-drawer credentials.
More on that in a minute.
First, let’s take a peek at the Asian American experience.
Last year, during an appearance on my podcast, former San Diego journalist Lee Ann Kim — who is Korean American — offered a theory as to why U.S. politicians don’t take Asian Americans seriously.
“There’s been this long-held model minority myth of our community, that we come here, we work really hard, we do OK, our kids go to decent colleges,” Kim said. “But that’s not the whole story. Because of this model minority myth, we’ve become really invisible. And when that happens, people don’t care about addressing your community.”
Neglect and indifference can have ugly consequences.
This week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors — which operates in a city whose population is 36 percent Asian American — apologized to Chinese Americans for a history of racist and discriminatory acts and policies. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, residents of Chinese descent were attacked and harassed, denied jobs and public education as well as beaten and killed. Their businesses — including restaurants and laundries — were targeted by local officials and often burned by anti-Chinese mobs.
I know this history. It was a privilege for me to grow up around several vibrant Asian communities in Central California — Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hmong.
Everything I’ve seen over the years convinces me that this country owes Asian Americans more acknowledgment and more respect than it gives them. Of course, in America, power yields nothing without demand. Sometimes, you’ve got to promote yourself.
A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, Seattle-based writer Eric Liu is one of the country’s most important Asian American intellectuals. In a 2014 interview about his memoir, “A Chinaman’s Chance: One Family’s Journey and the Chinese American Dream,” my friend told me that his culture frowns on bragging about one’s accomplishments.
I can relate. The more this Latino learns about various Asian cultures, the more I see my reflection. Latinos and Asians both have fresh immigrant roots, and both struggle with language and assimilation. Both are quiet, humble, deferential, fatalistic and hardworking. Neither group plays the victim, feels entitled or makes demands of the government.
That’s a problem. In America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. And unfortunately, like Latinos, Asian Americans don’t squeak.
And so, at this point, it’s impossible to imagine that Asian Americans would demand from President Joe Biden a chance to help make history.
With the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, Biden is poised to nominate the first African American woman to sit on the high court. At this point, the only question seems to be whether the nominee will be a graduate of a state university or the Ivy League.
The liberal media are all-in with Biden’s plans. No surprise there. Many of my colleagues are stuck in a Black-and-white paradigm from the 1950s. I know that the news industry is always the last to hear the news.
But, in 2022, America is technicolor.
In the past two decades, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have really made their presence felt. According to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau population estimates by the Pew Research Center, the group recorded between 2000 and 2019 the fastest population growth rate among all racial and ethnic groups in the United States — 81 percent, from roughly 10.5 million to a record 18.9 million. That pencils out to about 6 perfcent of the U.S. population.
By 2060, the number of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States is projected to rise to 35.8 million, more than triple their 2000 population.
How long are Americans going to — as they say in Latin America — try to block the sun with a finger? It’s time to accept reality.
I realize that Biden has boxed himself in. At this point, it’s nearly impossible to imagine him not nominating a Black woman.
Still, I’m less concerned with politics than with fairness. There have been two African American justices on the Supreme Court — one nominated by each political party. The number of Asian Americans? Zero.
It’s their turn, America. It’s the right thing. And it’s long overdue
Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.
