Host: First, could you introduce us to those similarities and differences in detail?
National Committee of Asian American Republicans(NCAAR)Li: 20 years ago, more Asian Americans voted for Republican George H. W. Bush in the George H. W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton Presidential election. More recently, 73% of Asian Americans voted for the Democratic Party in the last election. 76% of Asian Americans are not born in the United States. They immigrated here. When they first come, they think that their interests can be represented well by the Democratic Party.
In fact, Asian Americans have values that align very well with those of the Republican Party – traditional families, hard work, self-reliance, and the importance of education. Sometimes, we have different values from other minorities. For example, only around 10% of Asian American children are illegitimate, 30% for Whites, 50% for Latinos, and 70% for African Americans. Here, I am not talking about that which minority is better. I am saying that different minorities have different challenges. For us, the challenge is the income glassceiling.
Generally, Asian Americans have a higher income level than other minorities and many Asian Americans are in the middle or upper middle class. Among the top 20%-30% income level, there are many Asian Americans, while in the top 1%, the percentage of Asian Americans is much lower than 6%, which is the Asian American’s percentage of the total population.
This is our challenge and different minorities should help each other. However, one single party cannot represent the interests of all minorities. The objective of NCAAR is to engender the ideas of the Republican Party, different from those of the Democratic Party,to represent Asian Americans and lead Asian Americans to serve our country better.
Host: So, you are building the links between the values of the Republican Party and those of Asian Americans. Why are you Republican?
Li: When I first came here, I was “Self Party,” like many other immigrants. At the time, we just wanted to gain a foothold and only worried about our own lives. Through the efforts of the first generation of immigrants, we improved our lives and, gradually, gained civic consciousness. For example, we wanted to know whether the tax paid by us was spent efficiently in a democratic way.
After gaining the awareness of politics, I intended to support the Democratic Party, because they are closer to the people and more diverse. For example, in Bill Clinton’s period, he advocated, “Do not ask, Do not tell,” to be lenient with the homosexuals in the army. In addition, the Democratic Party is more moderate and it aims to improve the general welfare of the people. As time went by and experience accumulated, I began to realize that this issue was not that simple. About 10 years ago, I realized that the value of the Republican Party is more beneficial to the long-term stability and development of our county. Now, I am a firm Republican and I am a Jack Kemp Republican.
National Committee of Asian American Republicans(NCAAR)Li: 20 years ago, more Asian Americans voted for Republican George H. W. Bush in the George H. W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton Presidential election. More recently, 73% of Asian Americans voted for the Democratic Party in the last election. 76% of Asian Americans are not born in the United States. They immigrated here. When they first come, they think that their interests can be represented well by the Democratic Party.
In fact, Asian Americans have values that align very well with those of the Republican Party – traditional families, hard work, self-reliance, and the importance of education. Sometimes, we have different values from other minorities. For example, only around 10% of Asian American children are illegitimate, 30% for Whites, 50% for Latinos, and 70% for African Americans. Here, I am not talking about that which minority is better. I am saying that different minorities have different challenges. For us, the challenge is the income glassceiling.
Generally, Asian Americans have a higher income level than other minorities and many Asian Americans are in the middle or upper middle class. Among the top 20%-30% income level, there are many Asian Americans, while in the top 1%, the percentage of Asian Americans is much lower than 6%, which is the Asian American’s percentage of the total population.
This is our challenge and different minorities should help each other. However, one single party cannot represent the interests of all minorities. The objective of NCAAR is to engender the ideas of the Republican Party, different from those of the Democratic Party,to represent Asian Americans and lead Asian Americans to serve our country better.
Host: So, you are building the links between the values of the Republican Party and those of Asian Americans. Why are you Republican?
Li: When I first came here, I was “Self Party,” like many other immigrants. At the time, we just wanted to gain a foothold and only worried about our own lives. Through the efforts of the first generation of immigrants, we improved our lives and, gradually, gained civic consciousness. For example, we wanted to know whether the tax paid by us was spent efficiently in a democratic way.
After gaining the awareness of politics, I intended to support the Democratic Party, because they are closer to the people and more diverse. For example, in Bill Clinton’s period, he advocated, “Do not ask, Do not tell,” to be lenient with the homosexuals in the army. In addition, the Democratic Party is more moderate and it aims to improve the general welfare of the people. As time went by and experience accumulated, I began to realize that this issue was not that simple. About 10 years ago, I realized that the value of the Republican Party is more beneficial to the long-term stability and development of our county. Now, I am a firm Republican and I am a Jack Kemp Republican.
