Asian Americans and the Wisconsin Recall Process
Forum addresses need for Asian American action
Forum addresses need for Asian American action
| Debby Tewes is Asian Wisconzine's Contributing Writer in the Milwaukee area |
By Jonathan Gramling
There are some changes that are happening in the area’s Asian American community. The first is that it has
experienced some exponential growth during the past ten years.
“In Dane County specifically, the population of Asian Americans increased by 8,300,” said Kong Vang, one of the
organizers of Asian Americans & The Recall held December 13 at the Urban League of Greater Madison. “That’s a 56
percent increase. The median age for Asian Americans is 26-years-old compared to the state’s average of 38-years-
old. What that trend shows is that the number of Asian Americans who will be of voting age is also going to increase.
That is going to change the political landscape and the demographics of who is going to be eligible to vote in the
future.”
A second significant change is that the growth is happening in first generation born in the U.S.and later generations of
Asian Americans whose parents were more concerned with survival and adapting to their new home than they were in
civic engagement.
“I think perhaps in Wisconsin history, Asian Americans have been ‘invisible,’” Kong said. “But with the trend of
increasing numbers of voting-age Asian Americans, I do expect that to change. Asian Americans who have lived in this
country for a longer period of time are going to be more conscious of the political climate. Here in Wisconsin, the Asian
American history is still relatively new compared to the West Coast. There haven’t been a lot of Asian American
generations here. I think many Asian Americans here are first generation. They are busy working and providing for their
families and haven’t have the time or privilege to really be proactive in the political arena. However, their children and
grand children will be.”
KaShia Moua, another event organizer, feels that the Asian American community is starting to come into its own.
“I got involved in this effort because I’ve lived in Wisconsin nearly my entire life,” Moua said. “I was born and raised here
in Wisconsin. As Kong mentioned tonight, if you just look around — and I notice this within my own Hmong community
— our population has blossomed. When you look at the age — and there are so many young people in the Asian
American community — if their parents are not active and not voters, which many of our parents are not due to
generational differences and they didn’t grow up in a country where they were citizens and were never able to vote, the
likelihood that you are going to grow up, vote and be engaged in the democratic process is very low. I started to see
that and as I spoke to more Asian American colleagues and peers and friends about the kind of epidemic that I see
and my concern about it, we all agree that we need to start the conversation somewhere. That is why I got involved. I
have actually attended a lot of other community forums, whether it is on the recall or the political situation here in
Wisconsin, I don’t see a lot of people who look like me and that concerns me. And I have to look back at my community
and realize that I don’t think it is necessarily apathy. I really see that there is no connection. If your parents don’t do it,
how would you even know how to get involved in these things? I really do feel that it is up to us in our community to
reach out to the broader community, especially for the younger generation.”
The organizers of the networking event want to promote a greater civic and political level of participation by Asian
American community members. It isn’t just about being good citizens. It is also about survival.
“When we talk about whether it is legislative policies that are being passed that have a big impact on the Asian
American community — or more particularly the Hmong community, which I am most familiar with — and why it is so
important to be informed, just in this past year with the change in administration and the new laws being passed, there
is a huge backlash and negative impact on the Hmong community,” said Yer Vang, an event organizer. “What I am
talking about is legislation such as BadgerCare that is being altered in terms of increasing the premiums and making
it less accessible to the Hmong American as well as the communities of color. We’re talking about access to
education. There was a direct cut to funding whether it is the grant money that Southeast Asian students were eligible
for that was included in the budget bill. So we’re talking about directly reflecting the Hmong American community and
that is one clear example. We could also talk about the cuts in Food Share and Food Stamps to communities. When
we talk about refugee or immigrant communities, those Hmong community makes up a large section of that. Those
folks are being impacted. Those are just a few examples of why it is important for the Asian American and particularly
the Hmong American community being engaged and finally making their voices heard. They aren’t being heard now,
but there are laws and policies being passed that are going to hurt them.”
While the event organizers do have their own particular point of view, they stressed that was most important was for
Asian Americans to become informed and then become active based on their opinions of what needs to be done.
“I really feel that it is up to every individual to decide if this recall is something that they want to take part in or not,” Moua
said. “Is this a petition that I would like my signature on? Our point here tonight is not to encourage or endorse the
recall. Whether it is a recount or a recall or any type of election, people should have information about what that
process is so that they can make a well-informed decision on whether or not they want to take part in. I think even when
you say recall, in a lot of the Asian American and in my experience with the Hmong community, when I say that word,
about 85 percent of my community members have no idea of what that word means. It really is about giving people the
education and knowledge about what this process is so they understand that this is a constitutional right of theirs
and then it is up to them to decide if it is something that they support or not.”
In the future, people running for public office will need to start paying attention to the Asian American vote.
“I wouldn’t say that we are actively or intentionally neglected,” Moua said. “I think it is more the reverse that elected
officials have not realized the voting power that they have within the Asian American community.”
For further information, contact Yer Vang at asianamericansandwirecall@gmail.com.
There are some changes that are happening in the area’s Asian American community. The first is that it has
experienced some exponential growth during the past ten years.
“In Dane County specifically, the population of Asian Americans increased by 8,300,” said Kong Vang, one of the
organizers of Asian Americans & The Recall held December 13 at the Urban League of Greater Madison. “That’s a 56
percent increase. The median age for Asian Americans is 26-years-old compared to the state’s average of 38-years-
old. What that trend shows is that the number of Asian Americans who will be of voting age is also going to increase.
That is going to change the political landscape and the demographics of who is going to be eligible to vote in the
future.”
A second significant change is that the growth is happening in first generation born in the U.S.and later generations of
Asian Americans whose parents were more concerned with survival and adapting to their new home than they were in
civic engagement.
“I think perhaps in Wisconsin history, Asian Americans have been ‘invisible,’” Kong said. “But with the trend of
increasing numbers of voting-age Asian Americans, I do expect that to change. Asian Americans who have lived in this
country for a longer period of time are going to be more conscious of the political climate. Here in Wisconsin, the Asian
American history is still relatively new compared to the West Coast. There haven’t been a lot of Asian American
generations here. I think many Asian Americans here are first generation. They are busy working and providing for their
families and haven’t have the time or privilege to really be proactive in the political arena. However, their children and
grand children will be.”
KaShia Moua, another event organizer, feels that the Asian American community is starting to come into its own.
“I got involved in this effort because I’ve lived in Wisconsin nearly my entire life,” Moua said. “I was born and raised here
in Wisconsin. As Kong mentioned tonight, if you just look around — and I notice this within my own Hmong community
— our population has blossomed. When you look at the age — and there are so many young people in the Asian
American community — if their parents are not active and not voters, which many of our parents are not due to
generational differences and they didn’t grow up in a country where they were citizens and were never able to vote, the
likelihood that you are going to grow up, vote and be engaged in the democratic process is very low. I started to see
that and as I spoke to more Asian American colleagues and peers and friends about the kind of epidemic that I see
and my concern about it, we all agree that we need to start the conversation somewhere. That is why I got involved. I
have actually attended a lot of other community forums, whether it is on the recall or the political situation here in
Wisconsin, I don’t see a lot of people who look like me and that concerns me. And I have to look back at my community
and realize that I don’t think it is necessarily apathy. I really see that there is no connection. If your parents don’t do it,
how would you even know how to get involved in these things? I really do feel that it is up to us in our community to
reach out to the broader community, especially for the younger generation.”
The organizers of the networking event want to promote a greater civic and political level of participation by Asian
American community members. It isn’t just about being good citizens. It is also about survival.
“When we talk about whether it is legislative policies that are being passed that have a big impact on the Asian
American community — or more particularly the Hmong community, which I am most familiar with — and why it is so
important to be informed, just in this past year with the change in administration and the new laws being passed, there
is a huge backlash and negative impact on the Hmong community,” said Yer Vang, an event organizer. “What I am
talking about is legislation such as BadgerCare that is being altered in terms of increasing the premiums and making
it less accessible to the Hmong American as well as the communities of color. We’re talking about access to
education. There was a direct cut to funding whether it is the grant money that Southeast Asian students were eligible
for that was included in the budget bill. So we’re talking about directly reflecting the Hmong American community and
that is one clear example. We could also talk about the cuts in Food Share and Food Stamps to communities. When
we talk about refugee or immigrant communities, those Hmong community makes up a large section of that. Those
folks are being impacted. Those are just a few examples of why it is important for the Asian American and particularly
the Hmong American community being engaged and finally making their voices heard. They aren’t being heard now,
but there are laws and policies being passed that are going to hurt them.”
While the event organizers do have their own particular point of view, they stressed that was most important was for
Asian Americans to become informed and then become active based on their opinions of what needs to be done.
“I really feel that it is up to every individual to decide if this recall is something that they want to take part in or not,” Moua
said. “Is this a petition that I would like my signature on? Our point here tonight is not to encourage or endorse the
recall. Whether it is a recount or a recall or any type of election, people should have information about what that
process is so that they can make a well-informed decision on whether or not they want to take part in. I think even when
you say recall, in a lot of the Asian American and in my experience with the Hmong community, when I say that word,
about 85 percent of my community members have no idea of what that word means. It really is about giving people the
education and knowledge about what this process is so they understand that this is a constitutional right of theirs
and then it is up to them to decide if it is something that they support or not.”
In the future, people running for public office will need to start paying attention to the Asian American vote.
“I wouldn’t say that we are actively or intentionally neglected,” Moua said. “I think it is more the reverse that elected
officials have not realized the voting power that they have within the Asian American community.”
For further information, contact Yer Vang at asianamericansandwirecall@gmail.com.
Above left: Forum organizers Goodson Vue (l-r), Kong Vang, Adric Mueller, Kashia Moua and Yer Vang (Center): United
Wisconsin’s Thomas Lee discusses the ins and outs of the gubernatorial recall effort in Wisconsin. (Right) State
Representative Kelda Helen Roys gives her perspective on the recall movement.
Wisconsin’s Thomas Lee discusses the ins and outs of the gubernatorial recall effort in Wisconsin. (Right) State
Representative Kelda Helen Roys gives her perspective on the recall movement.