“Our stories are valuable and we gain strength in their retelling.”
Last week, GOP Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush caused an uproar in the Latino community after an interview with conservative radio host, Bill Bennett. In the interview, Bush said, “Pregnant women are coming in to have babies simply because they can do it, then there ought to be greater enforcement… so that you don’t have these, you know, ‘anchor babies’, as they’re described, coming into the country.”
Bush’s use of the term “anchor baby” infuriated of one of the fastest growing segments of the American electorate, so the next day he clarified his comments, saying, “Frankly it's more related to Asian people -- coming into our country, and having children...” With this statement, Bush traded the outrage of one minority group for another. The group he chose to target also happens to be a growing voter block that will have a huge say in the next election. A Los Angeles Times’ poll taken last month showed that 40% of Asian-Americans were nonpartisan voters, 35% were Democrats and 17% Republicans.
Bush’s comments inspired a 15-year-old Redondo Beach, California high school student, Jason Fong, to create #MyAsianAmericanStory on Twitter, giving Asian-Americans a platform to share their inspiring immigrant stories. “I hope that people can look at this tag, and know that Asians and Asian Americans are part of the American narrative,” Fong said. “Our opinions and our stories matter just as much as those who immigrated less recently.”
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(H/T The Los Angeles Times)
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