Symposium to discuss issues facing Asian Americans

By Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Staff

Ming Chin was born and raised on a potato farm near Klamath
Falls, Ore., and grew up to become the only Chinese American
justice on the California Supreme Court.

Friday, Chin will tell his story, along with 200 other scholars,
politicians, and representatives of the Asian American community at
a UCLA School of Law symposium, “Asian Pacific Americans and
Our Political Involvement, Access and the Future.”

“My parents immigrated from China in 1913, and they
didn’t have the opportunity to have an education,” Chin
said. “They insisted all eight of their children have an
education.”

“I’ll fill in the rest at the symposium,” he
continued.

The symposium will feature three panels, one with professors
from across the country, another with politicians and a third with
community organizers.

“This will be the first event of its kind dealing with
Asian Americans, who make up the biggest minority group at the law
school,” said third-year law student Deborah Yim, who is also
the editor-in-chief of the Asian Pacific American Law Journal.

The journal is one of only two in the country concentrating on
law and Asian American issues.

Issues to be discussed at the forum range from campaign finance
to the self-determination movement in Hawaii.

Yim said the conference is timely as more and more Asians today
are participating in the political arena.

“There is a good degree of success in California, but
California can not do all the work for the Asian American
community,” said state senator of Minnesota, Satveer
Chaudhary, who is the first Indian American senator in the
country.

Chaudhary will participate in one of the panels to speak about
how Asian Americans can gain a stronger and more prominent position
at the political table.

The Asian American community faces challenges common to Asians,
to minorities and to all Americans, he said.

These obstacles include immigration discrimination, which is
prevalent in the Asian American community. In 1998, Asian
immigrants made up 33.3 percent of the total number of immigrants
coming to the United States, compared to 37.2 percent in 1995,
according to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

In addition, Chaudhary said, the community is subject to hate
crimes, discrimination at the workplace and lack of equal education
and opportunity ““ issues that all minorities face.

Challenges also come from pressures to the Asian American to
fulfill a “model minority” image.

“For years, many Asian American parents encouraged their
sons and daughters to be doctors, engineers and scientists,”
Chin said. “We were rather insular in the way we were
raised.”

But Chin said times are changing, and compared to the past, the
Asian American community has been making strides in raising
consciousness.

“Symposiums like this encourage involvement in the
community ““ there’s more to being a lawyer than making
money,” Chin said.

Talks about holding a conference of this kind began a year ago,
and organizers said they have since seen a great deal of enthusiasm
to discuss these issues.

“People are expressing a lot of interest,” Yim said.
We hardly see these kinds of events any more focusing on
minorities.”

Organizers of the event said a special volume on the symposium,
featuring, articles and speeches by the speakers will be available
for a fee.

The symposium will take place at the law school from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. It is free for UCLA students and faculty. Registration for
others costs $15 and includes lunch.