Andy Toy来稿：亚裔为什么应该投票给哈里斯和沃尔兹

As one of the Philadelphia AAPI leaders, Andy Toy now serves as Policy Director of Philadelphia Association of Community Development Corporations (PACDC). He also serves on the boards of several organizations, including the School District of Philadelphia's Nominating Panel and the Philadelphia Union Benevolent Association, etc.

When a friend asks me who they should vote for President this November I say without a doubt, Kamala Harris. This is not because she is half Asian American and has recent immigrant roots as many of us do. I am a third generation American whose grandparents were fortunate to immigrate here from Taishan in Guangdong Province, China. While her personal struggles and understanding of what it’s like to be an Asian American person of color in America give her an important perspective that connects us, it is the sharp contrast in policies and approach to communities like ours that makes her really the only choice in this binary election.

Let’s start with how Chinese and Asian Americans have been seen as “others” in America since we arrived. For those unfamiliar with our history in America, there was the Chinese Exclusion Act that was intended to just allow Chinese to work building the transcontinental railroad, but not raise families and communities here because Chinese were seen as perpetual foreigners and not like other Americans. Angel Island in San Francisco stands as a testament to the detainment of Chinese trying to come here for a better life, while Ellis Island was the East Coast example of an “open border” that welcomed Europeans with open arms. The Exclusion Act lasted for 61 years, only to be repealed when the US needed China as an ally in WWII against Japan.

Sadly, the US then set up Internment or Concentration Camps imprisoning the Japanese and Japanese American population of the United States, but did little about the German American Nazi Party. My father, along with many other brave Chinese and Asian Americans, served our country bravely, landing at Normandy just after the initial invasion on D-Day. We were proud that he finally received a medal for his service in November of 2021, 75 years after his honorable discharge from the Army.

Even growing up as a third generation American I still have people ask me where I’m from because people that look like me aren’t supposed to be from here. It is with this in mind that I cringe when I hear Donald Trump talking about “migrant” murderers and rapists as he “others” the current influx of Latinos, Chinese and others coming across the Southern border.  Even though the Latinos are largely Christian he still dislikes them. We cannot help but see that race and the idea of White supremacy is a big part of the reason (he hasn’t complained about Ukrainian refugees while he denigrates Haitian refugees).  

And creating the false narrative that they are largely criminals is the exact opposite of what most immigrants know. The fact is that immigrants know that deportation is a threat and most are here to just try to make a better life for their families. These false statements are not just hurtful, they are dangerous. The 2019 mass shooting of 23 Latinos in El Paso is directly linked to White Supremacy and fear of others coming here to replace the white majority. The fear and anger that Trump stokes ties directly to these kinds of acts, just as they did to the Insurrection on January 6th.  

This is nothing new for Trump. Before he ran for President he questioned Obama’s citizenship claiming that he, Trump, had proof that Obama was born overseas. Of course that was false and he never acknowledged his big lie, just as he’s never acknowledged that he lost the 2020 election, and in fact lost the popular vote in the 2016 election as well by almost 2.9 Million votes.

Now he is now questioning Kamala Harris’ racial identity – he cannot seem to grasp that you can be more than one thing, since he doesn’t have any people of color in his family. And he purposely mispronounces her name because it’s “foreign” to him. Obama or Kamala could be one of us.  And when Covid hit he thought it was funny to call it the China Virus or Kung Flu, blaming it on the Chinese. We were all impacted by these statements as Chinese and Asians were attacked all around the country, including here in Philadelphia. We know words matter especially when they come from the highest sources.

The other great concern we should all have about Trump is his talk about dismantling key parts of the Federal government (Project 2025). This includes the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education that help promote a cleaner environment and support strong and equitable education access in the US. I love that Governor Walz and his wife are beloved school teachers like my Mom. In fact, Governor Walz taught a year in China. For those who aren’t familiar with Hitler’s rise to power, Germany, was a democracy like ours. We are seeing someone who wants ever more power in the same way and is “othering” people as the enemy and creating fear and violence as a way to build support. We cannot fall for this, especially those of us who are likely to be “othered” again.

Meanwhile, interestingly, when Democrats are in office, history shows the economy does better. Our stock market has hit all-time highs recently (somehow Trump wants to take credit for that, but every time it goes down it’s Biden’s fault) and the unemployment rate is extremely low right now. The fact that it’s hard to find workers right now should tell us that we could use more documented immigrants and we need to fix the system and not blame those who desperately want to come here to work hard for a better life.  

As America ages, we really do need new immigrants, who tend to be younger, to have a strong workforce. Finally, let’s not forget how many people were not working when Trump left office before Biden and Harris took office. If unemployment was very high right now it would be the #1 issue in America, but we are in a good position and can use even more workers (immigrants often take jobs American born workers won’t take).

Inflation has also calmed down recently (currently the lowest rate in 3 years), but we should keep in mind that due to the Pandemic there were serious supply chain issues worldwide that have been easing, and gas prices (a major factor behind inflation) are stable and may be falling in real dollars. In fact, our move to more renewable energy (something Trump often opposes) will continue to help ease inflation by decreasing the demand for oil, while addressing global warming (the world just recorded its hottest day in history and the larger hurricanes and storms are a sure sign of man-made climate change), which Trump calls a hoax! The Biden Harris team’s push for renewable energy (and the jobs created) also makes total sense to those concerned about the future of our planet for our grandchildren. Interestingly, if you have a fixed rate mortgage, with inflation, as we see wages increase, your mortgage payments stay the same, leaving you with more expendable income for other things.

On foreign policy, Trump was weak and really didn’t care about relationships across the world as long as he got what he needed (he is seen as transactional – as in how to make the next deal, but not strategic for the long term). Not helping Ukraine fight off Putin (even pushing Congress to delay aid) not only cost real lives, it cost us some of our leadership positions in the broader world.

It should not always be about the bottom line dollar, but that seems to be his only focus. Biden and Harris have worked hard to shore up our alliances and not drop us out of treaties as Trump has. And data shows that tariffs he put into place to hurt other countries have been largely passed on to consumers here, so we end up paying more (that’s called inflation).  Harris won’t pretend she’s smarter than her economic advisors or her generals and will heed their advice when making hard decisions. 

Finally, a personal issue for me has been the lack of any common sense gun laws in our country because of the radical gun lobby. Some years ago my 11 year old nephew was shot and paralyzed from the neck down because his friend had easy access to an unlocked gun. Today, store owners and our communities live in fear of young people who should not have such easy access to guns, including assault rifles that were once banned until a Republican congress allowed the ban to expire. 

Trump says he’s the NRA’s man and we know that means no new common sense laws like background checks, red flag laws (gun removal from domestic abusers and others who threaten), banning high capacity magazines, mandatory gun locks, and re-allowing manufacturers to be liable for damages, just like any other industry, for the harm that is inflicted. Vice Presidential candidate Walz, an avid hunter, marksman and veteran gun owner agrees with these measures, so maybe there is a way to make progress, but not if we go back to Trump.

Again, it’s great that Kamala Harris is an Asian American and African American woman, but the real reason to support her is her common sense policies. Policies that are focused on building a stronger middle class, which will make our country stronger. And the moral clarity on issues that matter to us – abortion rights for women, common sense gun laws, support for public education, support for small businesses, no tax breaks for the richest who already don’t pay their fair share, improving the environment, finding more ways to help working people thrive, and stopping hate and fear speech, not promoting it.

Statement: Metro Chinese Weekly welcomes submissions from both Harris/Walz and Trump/Vance supporters. Our editorial team will review and select articles that are logically sound, respectful, and reader-friendly for publication.