Asian Representation in the Presidential Election

Muslim Matters

  • 20Dec
    2019

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Asian Representation in the Presidential Election

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By TMO Staff

Andrew Yang is the only Asian running for President of the United States out of the two majority parties. He is running as a Democrat that promised the nation that every adult American will receive $1,000 a month, as part of his universal income to help people with low incomes.

Yang has had a popular presence online and at rallies, but for many months he was not pictured with the other democratic candidates and often was given other names, even though his name is easy to remember. He used his social media presence to call out MSNBC, in tweets he stated, “They’ve omitted me from their graphics 12+ times, called me John Yang on air, and given me a fraction of the speaking time over 2 debates despite my polling higher than other candidates on stage. At some point you have to call it,”.

 

One news platform came underfired after the hashtag #BoycottMSNBC started to trend in November. People criticized MSNBC for leaving Yang off of several election graphics and giving him less speaking time than other democratic candidates during public debates. Yang demanded an apology from MSNBC because the other candidates in this election have not had to experience lack of representation like this.

MSNBC issued a correction on-air and on twitter regarding Yang being left off of election graphics on Nov. 17.. However, Yang continues to bring up the issues he has been facing in his campaign. Yang also made an appearance on Netflix’s Patriot Act and sat down for an interview with Hasan Minhaj to discuss the issue of Asian representation in the news media. During the interview with Minhaj, Yang described how it was unfair that his name is constantly forgotten or given the wrong name, despite the fact that his poll numbers are increasing. He stated that it would be unimaginable if someone gave former Vice President Joe Biden or Senator Elizabeth Warren the wrong name on the news.

The problems that Yang has been facing during his campaign for President are reminiscent of the problems Asians have to face during election years. By Asian, we mean anyone of descendent from the continent of Asia, whether it be East, South, South East or Central Asia. American Asians, including all ethnicities in the continent of Asia, are the fastest growing voting constituency in the United States. As more Asian Americans voted in elections, districts and states that have been traditionally held by conservatives/ republicans, are flipped to progressive/democratic candidates. Even though American Asians do have the power to influence elections, just like everyone else, they do not receive the same type of attention from politicians. It has been common for politicians to reach out to several ethnicities and minorities. Political campaigns always talk about getting the “Black vote” or the “Hispanic vote”, which is good because everyone deserves to be heard, but political campaigns overlook other groups when they’re attempting to get one group to vote for them. This might be one of the root causes of why issues pertaining to Asian Americans are not discussed or solved by politicians.

 

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