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Home | Opinion Section
July 6 - July 12, 2000
Home | Opinion Section
Emil Amok
POWs Waiting for Apologies
(in National News)
API Advisory Commission Visits S.F.
(in Bay Area News)
Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area
(in Business)
Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation
(in A&E)
Reasons to Celebrate
(in Opinion)
Mineta’s First
By Emil Guillermo
Norm Mineta, almost surely our next Secretary of Commerce, may not be there very long.
If his nomination to replace William Daley is rushed through, Mineta may serve a few months in the post. Then there’s the election. If a Democrat wins in November, it may be a longer stay. But that’s not guaranteed. And if a Republican wins, his tenure will most certainly end.
Since when does a Cabinet secretary’s job security equal that of a medium market disk jockey?
Given that, while I attended the annual convention of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) in Virginia, a friend asked me a question about Mineta, a former boss of mine.
“Why would he want that job?” asked the friend, a community leader who knows Mineta well.
He was amazed that Mineta, currently working for Lockheed Martin in one of their few successful divisions, would even consider leaving for such a short-term job.
“What gives?” the guy asked.
I was surprised by the question, but then I realized maybe it’s not so obvious to others. As a former press secretary to Mineta, I found it softer than a batting practice lob.
“Norm could be going for the job alone,” I said. “But I’d bet he’s going for the history. He’s going to be a first’”
Being first and being ethnic is Jackie Robinson territory. Breaking color barriers in America is nothing to sneeze at. It’s going from invisibility to visibility. From the margins to the spotlight. Norm’s first is really special: First Asian American member of a Presidential cabinet.
For Asian Americans, a cabinet post would be no small milestone. After years of battling for respect in the political process, Asian Americans have had some success. But consider what being 12 million people strong and having no cabinet post says. We aren’t at the table yet.
With this appointment, Mineta has the ability to move beyond mere symbolism. He knows you can’t just be first. You’ve also got to deliver. And he has in the past.
He was the first Japanese American mayor of a major city, then moved quickly from San Jose to the Congress, where he established his leadership skills as a member of the post-Watergate 94th Congress. While on the Hill, Mineta distinguished himself with some fairly monumental legislative accomplishments.
For Asian Americans in particular, his push for the 1988 Japanese American Redress Act achieved a $20,000 payment to each survivor of the World War II internment camps. It was a “first,” all the more special because Mineta himself was interned as a young boy during the war. For Americans in general, Mineta is known in D.C., as the father of the “Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.” It’s the law that allows for federal funds to coordinate local transit efforts such as light rail and buses. If you take public transit to work, you can thank Norm for that “first.”
Oddly enough, it was just before his reign as the powerful chair of the House’s Public Works and Transportation Committee that Mineta could have made the history books a little earlier. In 1992, he had been mentioned as the head of the Department of Transportation, but turned it down in order to stay in Congress. Mineta’s passion was clearly in being chair of the Congressional committee. It was another “first,” somewhat less glamorous, but no less powerful.
Quota critics may take their shots at this Clinton nomination. But it shouldn’t impact the process. As a moderate, Mineta is generally well liked by both sides of the aisle. They won’t see race so much as they’ll see a man who is practical and effective.
The truth is Mineta just may be flat out the best available person for this job. He’s a man who knows both business and government, whose job it will be to protect the nation’s competitive interests abroad. Still, the race factor is an enormous one. As our country moves toward greater diversity, and as more and more Asians are recognized in the mainstream, Mineta the pioneer is going where no Asian American has gone before.
Of course, it would be great to be able to transcend color and say it just doesn’t matter. Maybe some day it won’t. But not today. Norm Mineta’s nomination and speedy approval, however, would be proof that we, as Asian Americans, are much closer to that day than we think.
Emil Guillermo’s book Amok: Essays from an Asian American Persective can be purchased at amazon.com or by calling 1-800-authors.
Emil Amok
POWs Waiting for Apologies
(in National News)
API Advisory Commission Visits S.F.
(in Bay Area News)
Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area
(in Business)
Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation
(in A&E)
Reasons to Celebrate
(in Opinion)
Mineta’s First
| POWs Waiting for Apologies (in National News) API Advisory Commission Visits S.F. Asian Food Markets in the Bay Area Lampo Leong's Forces • Contemplation Reasons to Celebrate |
By Emil Guillermo
Norm Mineta, almost surely our next Secretary of Commerce, may not be there very long.
If his nomination to replace William Daley is rushed through, Mineta may serve a few months in the post. Then there’s the election. If a Democrat wins in November, it may be a longer stay. But that’s not guaranteed. And if a Republican wins, his tenure will most certainly end.
Since when does a Cabinet secretary’s job security equal that of a medium market disk jockey?
Given that, while I attended the annual convention of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) in Virginia, a friend asked me a question about Mineta, a former boss of mine.
“Why would he want that job?” asked the friend, a community leader who knows Mineta well.
He was amazed that Mineta, currently working for Lockheed Martin in one of their few successful divisions, would even consider leaving for such a short-term job.
“What gives?” the guy asked.
I was surprised by the question, but then I realized maybe it’s not so obvious to others. As a former press secretary to Mineta, I found it softer than a batting practice lob.
“Norm could be going for the job alone,” I said. “But I’d bet he’s going for the history. He’s going to be a first’”
Being first and being ethnic is Jackie Robinson territory. Breaking color barriers in America is nothing to sneeze at. It’s going from invisibility to visibility. From the margins to the spotlight. Norm’s first is really special: First Asian American member of a Presidential cabinet.
For Asian Americans, a cabinet post would be no small milestone. After years of battling for respect in the political process, Asian Americans have had some success. But consider what being 12 million people strong and having no cabinet post says. We aren’t at the table yet.
With this appointment, Mineta has the ability to move beyond mere symbolism. He knows you can’t just be first. You’ve also got to deliver. And he has in the past.
He was the first Japanese American mayor of a major city, then moved quickly from San Jose to the Congress, where he established his leadership skills as a member of the post-Watergate 94th Congress. While on the Hill, Mineta distinguished himself with some fairly monumental legislative accomplishments.
For Asian Americans in particular, his push for the 1988 Japanese American Redress Act achieved a $20,000 payment to each survivor of the World War II internment camps. It was a “first,” all the more special because Mineta himself was interned as a young boy during the war. For Americans in general, Mineta is known in D.C., as the father of the “Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.” It’s the law that allows for federal funds to coordinate local transit efforts such as light rail and buses. If you take public transit to work, you can thank Norm for that “first.”
Oddly enough, it was just before his reign as the powerful chair of the House’s Public Works and Transportation Committee that Mineta could have made the history books a little earlier. In 1992, he had been mentioned as the head of the Department of Transportation, but turned it down in order to stay in Congress. Mineta’s passion was clearly in being chair of the Congressional committee. It was another “first,” somewhat less glamorous, but no less powerful.
Quota critics may take their shots at this Clinton nomination. But it shouldn’t impact the process. As a moderate, Mineta is generally well liked by both sides of the aisle. They won’t see race so much as they’ll see a man who is practical and effective.
The truth is Mineta just may be flat out the best available person for this job. He’s a man who knows both business and government, whose job it will be to protect the nation’s competitive interests abroad. Still, the race factor is an enormous one. As our country moves toward greater diversity, and as more and more Asians are recognized in the mainstream, Mineta the pioneer is going where no Asian American has gone before.
Of course, it would be great to be able to transcend color and say it just doesn’t matter. Maybe some day it won’t. But not today. Norm Mineta’s nomination and speedy approval, however, would be proof that we, as Asian Americans, are much closer to that day than we think.
Emil Guillermo’s book Amok: Essays from an Asian American Persective can be purchased at amazon.com or by calling 1-800-authors.
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