"I tended to focus on things that wouldtranscend race," Pan says. "But it is important tobe conscious of race when someone has never seenany Asians and their only images are from Saturdayafternoon Kung Fu movies."
Jay Kim '95, who is a Crimson editor and theoutgoing Treasurer of the Undergraduate Council,could perhaps become one of a new generation ofAsians in politics who could affect change forAsian-Americans. But Kim says that in hisexperience, it is not to his advantage toemphasize his ethnicity in politics.
"Personally, I've found when I've been involvedin politics, it's not to my advantage to emphasizeethnicity issues," Kim says. "For example, in theCouncil, I don't represent just Asians. Irepresent Eliot House."
But he adds that as an Asian-American, he isendowed with a unique perspective that others maynot have.
"I bring to the table a unique experience thatother people don't," Kim says.
Kim notes that of the six Asian-Americans inCongress, none portray themselves as ethnicpoliticians, like some Black politicians havedone.
Charles S. Woo '95, editor-in-chief of theHarvard Political Review, explains that manyAsian-Americans have declined to carve out ethnicpolitical identities because Asian-Americans havenot been able to come together as an effectivepolitical coalition.
"We can't sway a national election likeAfrican-Americans can," Woo says.
But the lack of Asians in politics has notdaunted Kim, a government concentrator, who sayshe has always been interested in politics,although he did score a perfect 800 on the mathportion of the SAT.
"We need more people that are involved inpolitics and business," Kim says. "The only wayyou get rid of stereotypes is by actuallydiversifying."
Sweeping Generalizations
But all of the new leaders caution againstmaking sweeping generalizations about theAsian-American experience.
"Being Asian-American is not some monolithicexperience, although there are certaincommonalities," Song says. "We really need toquestion stereotypes and be very vigilant abouthow much they control our lives."
The danger is the possibility of being limitedby the stereotypes placed on Asians, some say.
"I'm sure there are a lot of Asians who couldsucceed in a lot of different fields but don'tbecause of perceptions of Asians," Cheng says."There could be some great Asian rock star outthere that we don't know about and never will."