Standing with the AAPI community
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Hi Friend,
Divisiveness, hatred, and xenophobia have consequences. So do the broken
politics and disinformation that fuels them. For thousands of Asian Americans,
those consequences have been acutely felt.
Over the last year, there’s been an increase in hate crimes
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Asian Americans. Senior citizens — our parents and grandparents — have been
beaten, harassed, and spit on.
On Tuesday, six Asian women were among those murdered at massage parlors
across Atlanta.
Racism and violence have no place in our country. We have work to do to build
a better democracy that is united in working to end both.
Here’s some things to think about:
Watch the first Korean American Representative from Washington speak out.
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On the same day she became the first Korean American woman to preside over the
House of Representatives, Representative Marilyn Stricklandused her platform
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condemn the violence we saw, and continue to see, against Asian people across
the country.
“Words matter. Leadership matters. We must all loudly condemn actions and
language rooted in fear and bigotry that harms all of us.”
What we choose to call things matter. It translates and disseminates into the
actions of the people around us. Right now, Asian Americans are calling on our
leaders to do better — to cease stoking racial divisions by using terms like
“China Virus” that invites this sort of hatred. Their concerns shouldn’t be
ignored.
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How we make sure they can’t ignore their constituents.
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“Once just a noun, "primary" has become the most powerful verb in American
politics,” writesKatherine Gehl for CNN this week
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. The threat of being primaried has become the invisible hand of our political
system, incentivizing elected officials to toe the party line — and creating a
system in which broader, more bipartisan appeals can threaten your political
career.
Gehl argues that the traditional partisan primary system needs to go. Instead,
it can be replaced with Final-Five Voting (a variant of Final-Four Voting that
passed in Alaska). With a nonpartisan primary, and a ranked choice voting
general election, elected officials are pushed to listen to all constituents.
She writes:
“The purpose of FFV is not necessarily to change who wins, but to change what
the winners are incentivized to do. The message to Congress is do your job or
lose your job. Innovate, reach across the aisle whenever it's helpful and come
up with real solutions to our problems.Represent a broader swath of your
district -- not just the thin layer of polarized party-primary voters -- or you
can expect healthy competition in your next general election.”
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A bright spot. <[link removed]>
As New York City prepares for a city-wide use of ranked choice voting in June
(potentially the largest use of the system in the country!) voters and election
administrators have begun to implement the system with a slew of special
elections.
How do voters feel about the new system so far? Overwhelmingly positive
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of Queens voters, 80% of voters found “very simple” to use.
Election reform can often seem massive in scope, when in fact, it’s highly
logical and intuitive. Ranking candidates sounds different, but much like
ranking favorite movies or foods: simple.
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Our thoughts are with the families of the victims in Atlanta, and with the
Asian American community at large.
Brett
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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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