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Thursday, May 21, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
MICHIGAN IN COLOR

Asian Pacific Americans who shaped 
America

In 
honor 
of 
Asian 
Pacific 

American Heritage Month and 
the 
recent 
racially 
charged 

discrimination towards the Asian-
American community due to the 
COVID-19 pandemic, below are 
several crucial, historical AAPI 
figures who have shaped America 
today. Many have used their 
outlets of entertainment, sports, 
activism and personal experiences 
to shape the world for many Asian 
Americans today and paved the 
way for racial and ethnic equality. 

CHERYN HONG

MiC Managing Editor

GRAPHIC BY CARA JHANG 

An inclusive guide to voting in 2020

SHARON (SHAY) SZABO

MiC Staff Writer

Past years have proven that 

there is no blueprint to winning the 
presidential election. The election 
season never fails to surprise us. 
Even though it is understandably 
early in the presidential campaign 
calendar, 
there 
are 
notable 

measures we should take before 
walking into the voting booths in 
November. 

Read more at michigandaily.com

ANNA MAY WONG

Anna May Wong, whose given 

name is Wong Liu Tsong, is widely 
considered as the first Chinese 
American film star. Growing up 
outside of Los Angeles’ Chinatown, 
she and her older sister persistently 
suffered racial bullying. Wong 
taught herself how to act by 
studying films at local movie 
theaters. First as an extra in “The 
Red Lantern,” and soon landing a 
role in “The Toll of the Sea,” she 
developed a fan base over time. 
She pioneered the American film 

industry when many states had 
anti-miscegenation 
laws, 
racial 

conventions 
which 
prevented 

on-screen 
biracial 
displays 
of 

affection or embracement, and yet 
American filmmakers continued 
to refuse to give her a romantic 
leading role. And for Chinese roles, 
Hollywood producers would prefer 
Hungarians, Mexicans and Native 
Americans, 
which 
ultimately 

caused Wong to leave the States in 
1928 and find success. 

VINCENT CHIN 

Chinese American Vincent Chin 

was beaten to death in the summer 
of 1982 by two white men. His 
death inspired a push for Asian 
American rights. Chin was born 
in Guangdong province in China, 
grew up in Detroit and worked 
in his hometown in computer 
graphics. He was working in Detroit 
when automotive manufacturing 
was in decline and many American 
auto workers blamed Japanese car 
manufacturers. Thus, when he and 
his friends went to a strip club to 
celebrate his engagement, Chrysler 
Foreman Ronald Ebens and his son, 
Michael Nitz who had recently lost 
his job at Chrysler beat Chin to 
death, mistaking him for Japanese. 

All the men received a $3,000 fine 
and no prison time.

While Chin’s murder didn’t 

make national news, Ebens and 
Nitz’s lack of sentences sparked 
protests across the country; before 
there were some instances of pan-
Asian American activism, but his 
murder marked a turning point for 
all Asian American communties 
who previously didn’t identify with 
“Asian American” interests. 
DUKE KAHANAMOKU

Olympic gold medal-winning 

Hawaiian surfer and swimmer 
Duke Kahanamoku, or in full 
known as, Duke Paoa Kahinu 
Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, 
was known as the greatest freestyle 
swimmer in the world for several 
years. He was famously known 
for developing the flutter kick, 
which replaced the scissor kick. 
Kahanamoku is considered the 
father of modern day surfing, 
as he is solely credited with the 
popularization of surfing across 
the globe in the 1920s. 

He has set three swimming 

world records in the 100-yard 
freestyle (from 1913 to 1917) which 
have been universally glorified. 
He became a Hawaiian icon, as he 

founded the first surf club, was 
voted Sheriff of Honolulu over 10 
times and his funeral in 1968 was 
the biggest Hawai’i had ever seen. 
DR. HO FENG-SHAN

Ho Fen-Shan was the Chinese 

Consul-General in Vienna who 
issued Chinese visas to Jews in 
Vienna, despite clear order from 
his superiors. There was an intense 
pressure for 185,000 Jews to 
leave the country after Austria’s 
annexation to Nazi Germany, and 
Nazis required Jews have entry 
visas or boat tickets in order to 
leave. Unfortunately, many of the 
world’s nations refused to change 
their 
restrictive 
immigration 

policies. Because of his work, 
Ho is considered the “Chinese 
Schindler” as many people believe 
he saved more than 5,000 lives, and 
was probably the first diplomat to 
truly take action to save the Jewish 
community.

The visas Ho gave out were 

unique, as they were solely for 
Shanghai, an open port city without 
immigration controls and was 
occupied by the Japanese army, 
thus anyone could enter without 
a visa. His visas didn’t require 
everyone to travel to Shanghai, 

as they were able to use them to 
escape to other countries such as 
the United States, Palestine and 
Philippines. 

DALIP SINGH SAUND

Dalip 
Singh 
Saund 
was 
a 

American politician who served 
the 29th District of California for 6 
years, and was the first Sikh, Asian 
and Indian American elected as a 
voting member of the United States 
Congress. Saund was first a lettuce 
farmer and a distributor of chemical 
fertilizer in the Imperial Valley of 
California. When he achieved his 
American citizenship in 1949 and 
was elected judge of Justice Court 
in 
the 
Westmoreland 
Judicial 

District 
in 
Imperial 
County, 

California, he was denied his seat 
for not having his citizenship for 
one year. He was elected as judge 
once again in 1952 and also served 
as a California delegate to the 
Democratic National Conventions. 

Throughout 
these 
elections 

Saund’s ethnicity, race and religious 
beliefs were a constant issue and 
interfered with his candidacy. 

1. VOTING IN THE
MIDST OF COVID-19

As of May 20, 2020, Michigan’s 

COVID-19 
cases 
have 
spiked 

to a high of 53,009 with the 
death toll reaching up to 5,060. 
Although 
every 
population 
is 

vulnerable to COVID-19, there is 
an indisputable, unequal impact 
on communities of color. There has 
been a disproportionate amount 
of 
COVID-19 
recorded 
deaths 

in communities of color due to 

underlying health conditions that 
are created by the system. The 
impact of this virus is not limited to 
just the health of our communities, 
but 
it 
engenders 
financial 

catastrophes and even changes the 
way we will vote in forthcoming 
elections. 

Many 
states 
have 
already 

postponed 
primary 
elections 

to avoid large gatherings at the 
polls for safety measures. The 
predicament 
expands 
to 
the 

upcoming presidential election in 
November as many fear a second 
wave of COVID-19 will befall right 
when it is time to go to the polls. A 
very easy resolution to this crisis 
would be voting by mail; however, 
the GOP claims that voter fraud is 
the only reason they are refusing to 
expand this approach. Nonetheless, 
there is absolutely no evidence 
regarding voter fraud being caused 
by absentee ballots. This is just yet 
another way to suppress voting due 
to the historic patterns that reveal 
high voter turnout benefits the 
Democratic Party. Especially in the 

midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, 
we have to exercise our right to 
vote.

In some states, absentee ballots 

can be requested which allow you to 
vote by mail. This is a sufficient way 

to avoid the virus, yet also execute 
your responsibility as a citizen. 
Absentee ballots can be requested 
through:https://www.vote.org/
absentee-ballot/. Eligible voters 
can also request an emergency 

ballot which can be submitted after 
the deadline for absentee ballots; 
this must be submitted before 4 
p.m. on Election Day. 

Read more at michigandaily.com

