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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