U.S.A.
January 18, 2016
THE ASIAN REPORTER n Page 7
Clinton woos Asian Americans, slams ‘hateful’ GOP rhetoric
By Christine Armario
The Associated Press
S
American and store signs line the streets
in Mandarin and Cantonese.
“Their party identity is not cast in
stone,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, a
professor of public policy and political
science at the University of California,
Riverside. “There’s still potential for
persuasion there.”
In a half-hour speech, Clinton told
constituents she would be the one to fix the
nation’s broken immigration system,
improve access to higher education, and
Talking Story: Remixing Portland, 2016
Continued from page 6
Portland planners, devel- opers, bankers,
educators, law enforcers, local media —
long segregating us. Preventing our
blending and balancing.
Portland Polite and Portland White are
ubiquitous, but not immune to change. The
demographics demand it. We are
changing. Our shared ways of perceiving
and speaking are too. There may be a
market for an upgrade of P-Town White,
but P-Town White is done. Finito.
Portland PC
The power of Portland Polite & White
probably lies in another colloquialism:
Portland PC — an even more problematic
putdown, because “political” correctness
denotes behavior at odds with a very core
American value.
Portland PC is an allegation that a
political expectation, a lame one, is driving
your personal behavior rather than a
nobler national ethic. Namely, the one
about standing up to bullies, from King
George III forward. And standing alone, if
necessary.
In short, sealing your lips about non-
whites and non-straights in your neighbor-
hood, about women or about workers with
physical or mental disabilities in your
office, on threat of official sanction can
cause unbearable internal dissonance. Not
getting to speak out about “politically”
protected people is hard. Not standing up
to bad government is harder still. Portland
PC is a fundamental affront. Rewriting it
is a tougher task than recalibrating Port-
land Polite or White.
The rugged and well-armed indivi-
dualism idealized in our American
imagination — the one manifesting in
sincerely felt shouting matches between
Republicans and Democrats — is not likely
to diminish in the near term. Neither will
Portland PC (even if muttered under
breath). But we won’t always be this way.
Our achy little planet’s perennial human
migrations, those inevitable and beautiful
arrivals of peoples and products and ideas
right here in River City, will shift what we
say, what we see, indeed who we are.
Insh’allaah.
In the context of about 140 centuries of
ambitious families living and loving here,
moving in and moving out of here, right
here at the confluence of our two river
matriarchs and our grand clockwise sweep
of deep blue sea — a note of disapproval, a
bit of ignorance, the bite of sarcasm, don’t
mean so much.
Talking nice, acting right, matter a lot
more. Ask any grandma, mine or yours.
Boxer Manny Pacquiao to return April 9 against Bradley
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Manny Pacquiao
will return to the ring April 9 for the first
time since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr.,
and it will be against a familiar foe.
Promoter Bob Arum says Pacquiao will
fight Timothy Bradley at the MGM Grand
in Las Vegas for a third time in his first
bout since losing a decision to Mayweather
in the richest fight ever. Pacquiao
reinjured a shoulder in that fight and was
ineffective against Mayweather in
dropping the unanimous decision.
Technically, the fight with Bradley will
be the rubber match of their three-fight
series. However, most in boxing believe
Pacquiao won the first fight in 2012 easily
— the judges gave it to Bradley — and was
largely dominant in the rematch, which he
won by decision.
Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels said
the pay-per-view fight has not officially
been signed, but both fighters agreed to
terms and would sign soon. Pacquiao was
given a $2 million advance on his
guaranteed $20 million purse, Samuels
said.
The fight will not be marketed as
Pacquiao’s last fight, though he had talked
previously about just one more fight before
running for senate in his native
Philippines. Pacquiao is currently a
congressman in the Philippines.
Bradley (33-1-1, 13 knockouts) is coming
off an impressive win over Brandon Rios in
Las Vegas. Bradley signed up with noted
trainer Teddy Atlas before that bout,
which was seen as one of his best
performances.
Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 knockouts) had
surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his
right shoulder after the Mayweather fight.
It wasn’t disclosed before the fight, but
Pacquiao hurt the shoulder in training and
then reinjured it during the fight.
increase wages — all issues considered top
priorities for the Asian-American elector-
ate. She vowed to reduce the visa backlog
and help unauthorized immigrants with
deep community ties that “deserve the
chance to stay.”
“Ultimately this is more than an
economic or political issue,” she said. “It’s a
family issue.”
Nearly 4 million Asians voted in the
2012 presidential election, a 547,000
increase over 2008. According to exit polls,
nearly three-quarters of Asian-American
voters favored President Barack Obama in
the 2012 election. They comprised about
three percent of the total electorate.
Mark your calendar!
The Year of the Monkey
begins February 8, 2016.
Display advertising space reservations for
our special Year of the Monkey issue are due
Monday, January 18 at 5:00pm.
The Asian Reporter’s
Lunar New Year special issue will be
published on Monday, February 1, 2016.
2015 Most Honored
Elder Award Recipient
Luz F. Aviles
Luz F. Aviles was born June 10, 1938 in Manabo, Abra, the Philippines, the
second of eight children. As a youth, Luz attended Manabo Elementary School and
St. Joseph Catholic High School, and continued her education in college, pursuing
nursing, law, and secretarial studies. In 1961, Luz
married Mel J. Ancheta of San Fernando, La Union,
and was petitioned by her husband to move to the U.S.
that same year. Five years later, in 1966, she received
her American citizenship. That same year, she was
hired by the U.S. Postal Service, where she worked
until her retirement in 1991. She has two sons and one
daughter: Mel, Richard, and Lorilei. A lifetime member
of the Filipino American Association of Portland and
Vicinity, Luz served as secretary from 1964 to 1970 and
as president in 1971. She assisted in the purchase of the
Filipino American Cultural Center, also known as the Fil-Am Center, in southeast
Portland by co-signing for a loan in 1971. She was also a board member of the
Caballeros de Dimasalang, a fraternal organization, for nine years. Since 2009,
Luz has been the coordinator of El Shaddai Catholic charismatic prayer group at
Immaculate Heart Catholic Church in north Portland.
AR Photo/Jan Landis
AN GABRIEL, Calif. — Democratic
presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton recently courted Asian-
American voters, telling members of the
nation’s fastest growing racial minority
that she disagrees with the “hateful
rhetoric” of her Republican challengers.
“They forget a fundamental lesson about
our great country,” she told several hun-
dred people gathered at a hotel ballroom in
suburban Los Angeles. “Being an open and
tolerant society does not make us
vulnerable. It’s at the core of our strength.”
Clinton’s campaign stop in the San
Gabriel Valley, an enclave home to more
than a half million Asian Americans,
marked the launch of her grassroots
outreach to the growing pool of Asian
Americans and Pacific Islanders. Those
voters have trended Democratic in recent
presidential elections, though they are
still considered up for political grabs. Their
influence is considered critical in some
swing states. But California is not one of
those, having voted for a Democrat for
president every election since 1992.
Republicans suggested Clinton’s visit is
more about raising campaign cash.
Clinton made her appeal to Asian
American and Pacific Islander voters in a
Southern California region where a
number of cities are now majority Asian
ADVOCATING OPENNESS. Democratic presi-
dential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, is welcomed
by representative Judy Chu (D-California), before
addressing Asian American and Pacific Islander sup-
porters in San Gabriel, California. (AP Photo/Damian
Dovarganes)
The Asian-American community has
been the subject of relatively little discus-
sion in the Democratic and Republican
primaries.
Clinton’s message on immigration
resonated with Alma Harrison, 52, a
human-resources director at the Hilton
hotel where Clinton delivered her remarks
— though she said she still hadn’t decided
who she would vote for.
“Right now I’m still listening to what
everybody has to say,” she said.
Several others at the rally said that
while they planned to back Clinton, their
communities were somewhat divided.
“Some of them are strong Republicans
because of religious issues,” said Suzette
Lopez, 60, a financial planner born in the
Philippines who now lives in the San
Gabriel Valley. “They think Democrats are
too liberal.”
James Sobredo, 55, an ethnic studies
professor at Sacramento State University,
travelled to the San Gabriel Valley with a
busload of Filipino voters from the San
Francisco area, about six hours away. He
said Asian-American voters have long
been perceived as outsiders, but that he
believes their political relevance and
critical mass in elections is finally starting
to take hold.
“We’re not as powerful as the Latino
vote,” he said, “but we have resources.”
The Asian Reporter Foundation is accepting nominations
for its 2016 “Most Honored Elder” awards.
The recognition banquet will be held Thursday, April 21, 2016 at northeast
Portland’s TAO Event Center. Nomination forms and guidelines
for eligibility are available for download at <www.ARFoundation.net>.
The nomination deadline is
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 5:00pm.
The Asian Reporter Foundation’s 18th
Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet features:
Most Honored Elder Awards
Cultural entertainment
Exemplary Community Volunteer Awards
Ethnic dinner
College Scholarship Awards
Silent auction