Chinese Americans United

On April 14, 2024, in the balmy sunlight and gentle breeze of late Spring, the newly formed Chinese Americans United political action committee held its very first rally at the intersection between SE 82nd Street and Division Street to support Nathan Vasquez, candidate for Multnomah County District Attorney, and Rene Gonzalez, candidate for Mayor of Portland.

While only voters in Multnomah County and the City of Portland can vote for these candidates, the continuous decline of safety in these areas have had a direct impact on the entire Portland Metro region, which is the reason this rally drew considerable attention from a much wider area. Enthusiastic participants traveled from Washington and Clackamas counties to show their support and learn more about these candidates. Attendees first heard from victims or their representatives within the Chinese community. Mr. Guozhi Chen recounted the harrowing experience of surviving five gunshots two years ago, with the suspect still at large, leaving several attendees in tears. Mr. Chen warned that without improvement in community safety over the next four years, anyone could become the next victim. The repeated robberies of a warehouse three times in six months raised doubts about law enforcement's effectiveness. Incidents of break-ins and theft near 82nd Street have caused significant losses for business owners. Personal crimes have also increased, such as an elderly woman being drugged on the street and robbed. All these incidents happened within a few blocks of the intersection. Portland's safety has deteriorated over the past four years, affecting people from all stripes of life within the Chinese community like homeowners, small businesses, and the elderly, bringing a negative shadow to their daily lives. After speeches by victims, community representative Claire Cao spoke from a youth’s perspective, recounting witnessing an overdosed drug user dying in the street in broad daylight in downtown Portland. Reflecting on the sorrow and shock she felt, she urged voters to prioritize the safety of children who couldn’t vote yet.

Following speeches of community members, former Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney BJ Park described internal conflicts within the prosecutor's office. Shortly after Mike Schmidt took office, when Mr. Park submitted biased crime cases to Mike, Mike’s assistant bluntly informed him that the DA was not interested in pursuing biased crimes. Such fundamental differences led to multiple resignations within the DA’s office, further affecting morale and reducing efficiency. Mr. Park then introduced one of today's main guests, Nathan, with whom he had worked for four years.

Nathan started by sincerely thanking the Chinese community for their support, emphasizing that everyone deserves to feel safe in their daily lives, which is the main duty of DA and police. He pledged to prioritize victims and communities, hold criminals accountable according to the law with compassion, and deliver justice to the Asian community. He also vowed to tirelessly work for justice for all communities, regardless of skin color, particularly those vulnerable groups like seniors and children, and providing a safer environment for small business owners. Finally, as the next District Attorney, he promised to rely on his 24 years of case experience to closely collaborate with community members to bring real safety improvement.

The final guest speaker was current Portland City Commissioner of Public Safety, Rene Gonzalez, whose success in the tight race in 2022 owed much to strong support from the Chinese community. Rene is currently running for the Mayor of Portland. He stressed the importance of voting for Nathan in the May primary, pointing out that Portland was once known for its safety and beauty, but not anymore after the steady decline in recent years. Once elected, he plans to increase the number of police officers to one thousand, improve the response time of firefighting and ambulance services, protect small business owners, and swiftly bring criminals to justice. He noted that improving safety is the shared desire of everyone in the region, regardless of neighborhood or ethnicity. He urged everyone to follow his campaign activities in the coming months and offer support in whatever way they can. He concluded his speech with the slogan "Vote for Nathan in May, vote for Rene in November!"

Kevin Wang, one of the organizers, declared at the end of the event that this was just the beginning of the Chinese American United political action committee's mission. This one-month old organization aims to unite organizations and individuals with different political views to address real world issues, educate and encourage the community to engage in politics, and make their voices heard and votes count. The PAC is still in its infancy and will need generous contributions from the entire community.

After the event, many participants contributed on the spot. A few people inquired about how to volunteer or participate in future events. Before leaving, several participants specifically sought out organizers to express their mixed feelings of surprise and delight that someone stood up to organize a voter rally for the Chinese community. Hearing this feedback, the organizers and volunteers, who had invested significant time and effort into the event, felt greatly encouraged. The valuable experience gained from this event will undoubtedly make the next one even more spectacular.

Postscript:

The Chinese believe in "a people united can move a mountain". With only around 60K Chinese speaking people in Oregon, any further fragmentation would further weaken the Chinese community's influence on local politics. We don’t have the silver bullet either. But we believe that by focusing on solutions rather than ideologies, thinking about the entire community - including other ethnic groups - rather than a single organization or party, guiding voters to analyze candidates and measures rationally rather than taking sides blindly, and spending more time on actions rather than slogans, we can increase Chinese Americans’s interest and willingness to participate in politics, hold government accountable, and gather enough votes to impact local elections. In Chinese legend, there was only one person who succeeded in moving a mountain. His name was Yugong (Foolish Old Man). Upon closer reflection, his success stemmed from focusing on practical problems (improving transportation), persistently pursuing reasonable demands (each generation building upon the previous efforts), and continually exerting influence on decision makers (the gods), which just might be the keys to our success as well.