Yang’s candidacy has been intensely polarizing within the Asian American community, in part because he has presented discordant views on race and identity. So on Tuesday, about a dozen Asian American writers, activists and media personalities gathered at a restaurant in West Los Angeles. “The best of my ability will never be perfect or ideal.”Yang sees himself as “consciously Asian American.” He started an Asian American student group at Columbia Law School, and he attended Brown University with Ramakrishnan. I share this because though Yang has alienated many members of the progressive Asian American community with his comments, I think his missteps are inalienably Asian American too. Being Asian American in public in 2019 is complicated, and Yang is part of a long line of Asian American public figures who have upset some part of the Asian American community.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 07, 2019 12:00 UTC