Category Archives: diversity

blog, diversity, news, politics, race

San Francisco Mayor’s race: David Chiu’s candidacy no surprise; he’s readymade for Rank Choice Voting

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I’m not surprised that David Chiu, despite the short resume, has announced his run  for mayor of San Francisco.

I’ve called David Obamaesque in the past. He may not be a rock star yet. But I know he’s Ivy smart and ambitious and likes to work both sides of the street.  That said, his opportunity is really defined by the new rules of the game.

Democracy has become more horse race than ever with Rank Choice voting.

Now it’s like picking a trifecta at Golden Gate Fields,  creating  totally new strategies  for winning. 

Throw mud? Not anymore. Now it’s  time to cozy up and go tandem.  By trading 2nd and 3rd votes, in a non-majority race, an underdog can rise to the top and even win.

It seems like you’d want to be No.1 with your base. But if you can also be No.2 or No.3 with others in alliance, you end up campaigning at others’ events for the subvotes.  It happened to Oakland’s Jean Quan, the first Asian American woman mayor last year.

Running against the big Democratic political operative Don Perata, Quan actually lost the first round of voting by 11 percentage points.

But with no majority, the second ballots were counted. Quan who campaigned with the third place candidate Rebecca Kaplan, surged ahead of Perata simply by being named on more votes as No.2.

The new rules rule. Perata the pernniel Big Dog machine politician was out. Quan, the city councilwoman was in.

The Quan blueprint will be the Chiu strategy across the Bay in San Francisco. And I thought it was the waxed eyebrows.

For Asian Americans in San Francisco, the list now includes David Chiu and two other Asian American candidates: State Senator Leland Yee and City Assessor Phil Ting.  (Interim Mayor Ed Lee may still announce a run as the incumbent, but he  may be odd man out).

It used to be that one Asian American would split the vote. But with rank choice, you want lots of candidates to create a for sure non-majority. And then you want it to go to the 2nd and 3rd ballot. A free-for-all? Could be. Unless strategists are thinking about the new rules.

So the question will be who teams up with whom?

 Will there be an all-Asian 1-2-3? (Unlikely).

Or will there be an effort to leave any Asian Ameican off the top 3?

Hey, politics is interesting again. The big money can’t control it any longer. But that doesn’t mean someone won’t be out there trying to manipulate things with the new election math.

With new rules come new deal making.  Expect to see it in November.

blog, diversity, news, race

Asian American bloggers meet at CBS in Studio City for Banana 2; But is blogging dead?

In a story  headlined “Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter,”  a New York Times  piece  (that I read on-line) didn’t have to declare that blogs were dead (although they’re not as dead as newspapers). Just saying the young were moving off blogs, thus signifying a lack of coolness, was enough.

The story’s  first quote makes the trend perfectly clear. A kid in high school declares: “I don’t use my blog anymore.”

That’s good, because his parents are using theirs.

A recent Pew survey that says while it may not be cool for the young,  it’s the middle-aged folks who think blogs are just damn groovy.

In the age demo 46-55, the bloggers nearly doubled from six percent to 11 percent. And the senior bloggers (65-73 year olds) rose two percent to 8 percent.

In all, 19 percent of bloggers are over 46. More than a third of the bloggers are 35-plus.

Blogging is quickly becoming old farts’ territory.

No wonder young farts prefer tweeting.

I’m thinking about the demos of all this digital word-smithing as I’m about to take part in Banana 2, the confab of Asian American bloggers being held in Los Angeles.

I know a few of the bloggers who will be there.  But I’m wondering if younger Asian Americans are also abandoning blogs in favor of Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook?

Do the aging demos of the new media make it the old new media?

I hope to  touch on that and other topics at a morning panel on Saturday.  Like whether any bloggers will ever see a $315 million payday like Arianna Huffington’s.  Seems like the new media has no hesitation about exploiting writers.   The entrepreneurial mindset definitely has a kinship with sweatshop management.

At least the new media tends to get diversity issues right, right? The availability of democratizing digital tools are great, and yes, we can create our own media worlds. But is that enough to take Big Media off the hook when it comes to inclusion?  As a veteran journalist I’ve always been concerned about more representation in the mass media. I’m concerned that the new media merely creates digital ghettoes while our voices, faces and concerns remain left off the mainstream.

I’m on the second panel which should begin around 9:30 at the CBS Studio Center at 4024 Radford Avenue in Studio City.  

If you’re around, come on down to Banana 2.   

www.banana-2.com

blog, diversity, news, politics, race

So you missed Fred T. Korematsu Day in California on Sunday? And you had the day off too. Here’s why all Americans should care: Have you been korematsued?

Who’s Fred T.Korematsu? If you know who Rosa Parks is, you should know Fred.

I’m coining a phrase to rival the Greek King Pyrrhus, who when prevailing after the Romans in 279 BC is said to have uttered, “Another such victory and we are surely undone.” Or something like that, my tape recorder wasn’t working that well in 279 BC.

So Pyrrhus had his victory. And so did Fred. I call it being “korematsued.”

As you may know, Fred is the man who stood up to the U.S. government’s internment order of Japanese Americans during WWII. He fought the order and had his conviction was overturned.  A victory? Not 100 percent. 

He was korematsued. And that’s why we all need to care about him and his story to this day.

Find out more by reading my Amok column at  www.aaldef.org/blog

blog, diversity, journalism, news, politics, race

Video: Rush Limbaugh’s ching-chong antics lead to death threats to Calif. State Senator Leland Yee

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Blacks would be outraged if someone resorted so publicly to  a pickaninny-sambo slur in the 21st Century.  Pass the fried chicken and the watermelon while you’re at it.

But for Asian Americans, 18th Century racism still applies.

Rush Limbaugh seems to think that it’s still okay to mock Chinese speech, especially if it’s Chinese President Hu at a press conference with President Obama. But ching-chong jokes are so old school. And besides where’s the satire?  Was Limbaugh mocking policy, like  free trade and open corporate agreements with China?  Or was he just making an ad hominem attack disguised as humor going after not just Hu but all Asian people?

State Senator Leland Yee was not out of line to call for an apology.

But look at the nasty death threats that were faxed and voice-messaged to Yee.

They are a disgusting reminder that when icons like Limbaugh give the greenlight, his followers are ready to swing into action.

After Tucson, I thought we were trying to bury the poisonous rhetoric?  

So what’s Limbaugh doing trying to revive the Cold War? “The Chinese will bury us” ?

Check out the evolution of the story on this link through Media Matters:

Leland Yee on MSNBC\’S \”The Ed Show\”