Report from the Spokane House Party hosted by Ping Ping and Liping Zhu:
It is our pleasure to participate the national AAPI teleconference. In Spokane, eight persons attended the conference. Although it was a small one, everyone was in high spirit. After the national call, we spent two hours to discuss various issues. We all felt that the discussion empowered us some way.
Our group thinks that the top issues the Asian American community is facing are the following.
(1) The invisibility: Many Asian Americans, especially the first generation, are more reserved and afraid of confrontation. People are busy in pursuing economic betterment and pay little attention to public issues and civic responsibility.
(2) Political empathy: Most of Asian Americans lack a sense of collective identity of Asian American community. For example, some people in Spokane did not even care about Vincent Chin's story.
(3) Under-representation: except in higher education, Asian Americans are still under-represented in many areas in the society.
(4) Racial discrimination: Asian Americans often encounter some kinds of discrimination more than others. The most prevalent ones are language discrimination, racial profiling, and glass ceiling.
(5) Anti-immigration policy: such as the $750 naturalization application fees.
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