The Chicago area’s Asian population is growing

And so is the political clout of Chinese Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans and others with family or personal roots in Asia.

That was the message Wednesday afternoon during the Democratic Convention at an event in Chicago’s growing Chinatown, sponsored by Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita, the first Asian American woman on that governing body

Morita, whose district includes Evanston, is the founder of the Asian American Caucus for Illinois state and county elected officials.

That group, Morita said, has gone from “low to grow.” Zero members eight years ago, now there are 17.

Another 100-plus hold local offices (school board, city council) not covered by the caucus.

The session was definitely a shout-out to people who are “firsts.”

First Asian American elected to the Illinois State Legislature, Rep. Theresa Mah (Chicago).

First Indian American elected to the State Senate, Ram Villivalam (parts of Chicago and Cook County including Skokie).

First Muslim American woman elected to the Legislature, Rep. Nabella Syed (Palatine, Schaumburg, and other nearby suburbs).

And, Tammy Duckworth, the first Asian American to represent Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives, and now the U.S. Senate.

The panelists, all Democrats, agreed that running for office is not easy, but running for office when most people in the district “don’t look like us,” as Morita put it, adds special challenges.

Illinois, the speakers noted, is only seven per cent Asian, and in many places, it’s even less.

Syed said she was motivated to run because of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant rhetoric spouted by then-President Donald Trump, which upset her when she was in high school.

Syed’s previously Republican district, she noted, had only a five percent Asian makeup, but she also said that “I’ll never find a majority Muslim district” anyway, so she decided to run in the suburban area “where I was born and raised.”

She won, in 2022.

And if this was a day of firsts, it was also a day of a “second” who brought about a “first.”

Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, (D-Glenview), whose district incorporates part of Evanston, was the lead sponsor of the TEAACH Act (Teaching Equitable Asian American History), which required instruction in Asian-American history in Illinois schools.

That passed as well (2021).

Gong-Gershowitz was the second Asian-American elected to the State House, and the TEAACH Act made Illinois the first state in the nation to mandate Asian American history in the curriculum.

“One of the things we have always faced,” Gong-Gershowitz told Evanston Now, is “people’s perception of us as being foreign.”

“Asian-American history is American history, but it’s so often been ignored.”

Not any more.

Or, as Duckworth put it, “this is America. We are just as American as Irish Americans and Polish Americans.”

Another message at the session (held at a Chinatown restaurant) was that Asian American candidates have to be ready to face stereotyping and negative campaigning.

Example #1, all agreed, was Donald Trump’s saying he wasn’t sure whether Kamala Harris was presenting herself as Black, or as Indian.

The fact is, of course, that Harris’ father was Black, her mother was from India, and so she’s both.

“I don’t know how many times Donald Trump can ignore normal behavior,” Gong-Gershowitz said, “but it’s obvious he is unqualified to be president.”

Duckworth put it more bluntly.

Speaking to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, Duckworth called Trump “a five-time draft dodging coward.”

She even gave Trump, who often comes up with insulting nicknames for his opponents, a nickname of his own: “Cadet Bone Spurs,” for not serving in the military.

Duckworth not only served, but lost both legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the 2004 Iraq War.

But besides taking on the Republican presidential contender, Duckworth also showed she was not afraid to take on her own President, Joe Biden.

After Biden was elected, Duckworth said, he at first failed to name anyone of Asian descent to his cabinet.

Duckworth added that she “had to boycott my president,” telling the White House “no more white guys” get her backing “until you name somebody” of Asian heritage to the cabinet.

Julie Su has since been named (she’s currently the Acting Secretary of Labor). Su addressed the Illinois convention delegates earlier this week.

Duckworth’s comments were briefly interrupted by a couple of whistle-blowing protesters who shouted “genocide,” before being ushered out without further incident.

One lesson from the panel discussion may be that while Chinatown is a physical place, where Chinese immigrants have come for decades, the Asian American population is growing, and is more than just Chinatown.

Gong-Gershowitiz said “the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is very broad, and we have come together to unify and recognize our diversity.”

And Morita, whose husband is Black, said that on Thursday night, she’s “bringing her four-year old Asian American/African American daughter to the floor” of the Democratic National Convention, to witness another Asian American/African American, Kamala Harris, give her acceptance speech.

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