Election 2020 – Reappropriate

Sen. Kamala Harris is First Black Woman and First Asian American Vice Presidential Nominee on A Major Party Ticket

Kamala Harris (middle) pictured at a campaign event. (Photo credit: Ebony)

Ending months of speculation, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Joe Biden announced today that he has selected California Senator Kamala Harris as his vice presidential running mate. With that choice, Harris becomes the first Black woman and the first Asian American to run for the vice presidency on a major party ticket.

To paraphrase Biden during the passage of the Affordable Care Act, that’s a “big fucking deal”.

AAPI Run: Ravi Grivois-Shah | Candidate for Tucson Unified School District Governing Board

Dr. Ravi Grivois-Shah (Photo Credit: Dr. Ravi Grivois-Shah for TUSD).

Once again, a record number of Asian Americans and a growing number of Pacific Islanders are running for public office at the local, state, and national level.

Every week, Reappropriate will profile progressive AAPI candidates for higher office. Check back at Reappropriate throughout 2020 to learn more about these candidates and find out how you can get more involved in their campaigns.

Ravi Grivois-Shah is endorsed by Run for Something, a group that recruits and supports talented, passionate young people who advocate for progressive values now and for the next 30 years, with the ultimate goal of building a progressive bench. Since its launch on inauguration day 2017, they’ve recruited 16,000 young people to run for office.

What is your full name?
Ravi Grivois-Shah

What office are you seeking?
Tucson Unified School District Governing Board

When is the election date?
It is a non-partisan election and will be on the General Election ballot this November 3, 2020.

What is your party registration (if any)?
Democrat

Andrew Yang’s Problematic Reinforcement of the Model Minority Myth

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang at the Sept 12 Democratic primary debate in Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas. (Photo Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Tonight, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Yang joined the nine other top Democratic presidential candidates on the debate stage at Texas Southern University. A noteworthy moment for Asian Americans, Yang remains one of the first Asian Americans in history to run a national campaign for the presidency.

That’s why it is all the more problematic that Yang routinely leans upon Model Minority stereotypes of Asian Americans to advance his candidacy. As early as last year, Yang routinely framed himself as qualified to be president because he is a “smart Asian” who is “good at math” — a classic Model Minority trope reminiscent of the infamous Time magazine cover that popularized model minority stereotypes for a generation of Americans. Tonight, Yang invoked a different facet of the Model Minority Myth when he quipped in response to a question on healthcare that “I am Asian, so I know a lot of doctors.“

The Model Minority Myth has stood at the root of a good deal of anti-Asian racism and oppression. Yet, Yang is unconcerned by the many ways that the Model Minority Myth hurts Asian Americans and other people of colour. Instead, Yang sees Model Minority caricatures of Asian Americans as something to lean into and to laugh at, and he even sells math-branded Yang swag in his campaign store.

I can’t but wonder if Andrew Yang sees Model Minority stereotypes as a joke, then who’s really laughing with him?

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