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'Indians must get politically active'

Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

United States Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, who was felicitated by the Indian American community in the capital last week, has exhorted the community to continue its quest for political empowerment through sustained political involvement.

But he also warned against the lurking racism that unfortunately exists in the country despite the best efforts to get rid of the malaise.

Mineta, a Japanese-American, was the first Asian Pacific American to serve in a Cabinet when he was named commerce secretary by former president Bill Clinton. He is also the co-author of the bill that made Asian Pacific American Heritage Month an annual event.

He cites his own internment during Second World War following the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbour as a constant reminder even as the Asian-American community grows in influence.

Mineta, who was the guest of honour and keynote speaker at the fourth annual National Federation of Indian American Associations' Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration, said, "My remarks this evening centre on the obligations of leadership.

"I want to take as my point of departure a couple of recent news articles. One article reported on a public opinion survey released just a few weeks ago.

"The survey showed that fully one-fourth of the public still holds very negative views of Asian Americans, and another 43 per cent have somewhat negative attitudes. This survey shows clearly that we still have much work to do in building a secure place for our community in American society."

The other article that caught Mineta's attention was headlined 'Students disconnected from politics'. This reported on the results of a study that found that 'young people today find disconnected from government'.

"Younger Americans vote less often than their elders, show lower levels of social trust, and have less knowledge of politics. Most of them think of the government as 'the' government' rather than 'our' government," he said.

However, "to their credit, younger Americans' distrust of politics does not translate into a lack of civic concern. Although only six per cent reported volunteering on a political campaign in the last election, nearly 70 per cent said they volunteered in their community or in a charitable activity."

"While most young Americans want to make a positive difference in their communities, they just don't see politics as a way of doing so," said Mineta, who was presented with the 'Friend of the Indian American Community Award'.

He said a bumper sticker popular around college campuses last year seemed to capture their attitude: It said, 'Don't Vote, You'll Only Encourage Them.'

"These two studies taken together," Mineta said, "outline the daunting task ahead of all of us here. And they underscore the vital importance of the vision and mission of the NFIA."

Mineta went on to recall how he first became involved in politics, and recounted how "my family and I were among the 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of us citizens of the United States, imprisoned by our own government during the Second World War".

"No charges were filed against us," he said. "No trials were ever held. No one stood to speak out on our behalf. They said the internment was for our own protection -- but they could never explain to me, as a 10-year-old kid, why the machine guns on the guard towers pointed inward at us."

When they returned home after the war, "our community leaders got together, and one of them, I K Ishimatsu, argued that when our fellow Americans stepped forward to say they could not trust us simply because of our race, we had no political voice to respond."

Ishimatsu's strategy to change that was to go around to the families in the area, "picking up a dollar here, and two dollars there, in order to buy a few tickets to the Republican and Democratic political dinners. He gave the tickets to young people to represent our community at those dinners. That is how I first got involved."

"As time passed," continued Mineta, "the good people of San Jose gave me the privilege of serving them in public office for nearly three decades, first on the city council, then as mayor, and ultimately, for more than 20 years, as their representative in the Congress of the United States."

He said that "one of my proudest moments in Congress came when President Reagan signed into law HR 442, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, extending America's official apology and redress for the injustices of the evacuation and internment."

"The effort to enact that legislation was a long one. And it succeeded only because we built coalitions, reaching out to our fellow Americans from all walks of life... organizations representing every religion, race, and ethnicity... organizations representing a wide diversity of political viewpoints. Time and time again, we found that they understand.

"I know all of you appreciate the critical importance of building coalitions. But, we must continue to reach out, both within the Asian Pacific American community and beyond it."

"We have another opportunity in the months just ahead. The 2000 census shows that nationwide, more than 11 million claim Asian Pacific ancestry -- a 72 per cent increase in 10 years."

"In the months ahead," he predicted, "congressional boundaries will be redrawn to reflect these new census numbers. Each of us has an obligation to closely follow the redistricting process to ensure Asian Pacific Americans have the strongest possible voice in future elections."

Lauding Mineta, Indian Ambassador Lalit Mansingh said: "You, in fact, symbolize what we are celebrating today and your presence here is a cause for celebration also."

"Let me speak on behalf of the Indian American community," he continued. "For us, we are celebrating this year the 160th year of the first arrival of Indians in this great country [and] 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the United States.

"We are celebrating the coming of age of the Indian American community, and also, if I may add, we are celebrating a new chapter in the relations between India and the US.

"Many of whom who are here represent the cream of the universities of India. And I would say that this country provided opportunities which were not easily available either in our country at that time or in any other part of the world."

"Two of the members of this community came here and worked to earn the Nobel Prize in the field of science... today, every Indian American in the US walks tall, feels tall and looks forward to a great future for this country and for India."

Describing the Indian American community as "the greatest assets that we have", he said: "You are the bridge of friendship between India and the US."

Shamina Singh, former executive director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, who was also honoured along with Mineta and Mansingh, implored those present to "please encourage your children to take up public service".

"There is no higher calling that you can ask for somebody in a democracy frankly," she said, "than to serve their country, and it is lonely being an Indian American in public service right now."

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