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CHAPTER 13 Edward J. w. Park Asian Pacific Americans and Urban Politics As we reflect on the transformative impact of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) on American society, urban politics emerges as one of the most prominent sites of change and struggle. Since the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, the rapid growth of the APA population and communities has become an important source of new urban tension. The growth of the APA middle class has resulted in "white flight" and backlash politics in once quiescent suburban communities (Saito 1998). In an interview with a Los Angeles Times reporter, a white resident articulated a common reaction to APA-Ied neighborhood transition. Protesting the influx of Chinese Americans into Monterey Park, California, she said: "I feel like I'm in another country. I don't feel at home anymore" (as quoted in Fong 1994: 64). Since the 1980s, this sentiment has expressed itself powerfully, as city after city has debated and passed English-only laws that seek to curtail the visible signs of Asianness. Even as middle-class APAs displace whites in suburban and affluent neighborhoods , American cities have seen rising tension and conflict between APAs and other racial minority groups. From New York to Los Angeles, conflict between Korean American liquor-store owners and African American community activists has resulted in highly publicized protests and boycotts (Min 1996; Rosenfeld 1997). In San Francisco and Houston, the influx of Southeast Asians into traditional African American neighborhoods has been met with growing tension and violence as these communities compete for affordable housing, social services, and economic opportunities (Rodriguez 1995). Along with demonstrating the continuing significance of race and the growing multiracial complexity of American cities, APAs are throwing off their image as the silent and apolitical minority and are actively mobiliZing to win their share of politCopyrighted Material ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS AND URBAN POLITICS 203 ical power. Although their small numbers often frustrate efforts to win national and state-level offices, APAs have achieved a measure of success at the urban level, where they can more effectively leverage their demographic concentration in certain metropolitan areas (Fong 1998). From their traditional base in San Francisco to newly settled Houston, APAs have become the fastest-growing segment of urban political leadership in the nation (Nakanishi and Lai 2000). In their mobilization, APAs reveal a great deal about their political ideology and agenda, internal diversity and divisions, and, ultimately, the future of urban politics in America. In this context of profound change and rapid mobilization, this chapter seeks to take a critical look at APAs in urban politics. A number of groundbreaking works have appeared recently on the issue of suburban community transition; this chapter, however , will focus explicitly on the issue of inter-minority politics in the urban setting (see Fong 1994; Li 1999; and Saito 1998). The first part of the chapter examines the academic literature on race and urban politics-in particular, the "liberal-coalition model," which remains the dominant way of thinking about racial minorities and urban politics. Using the experience of Los Angeles, a city closely identified with the model, this part of the chapter questions the relevance and the utility of a model that is steeped in the political realities of the Civil Rights Movement and the mobilization of African Americans in the context of a biracial society. In the second part of chapter, I will examine the experience of Korean Americans in Los Angeles as a case study that brings into focus some of the key issues as APAs mobilize politically in a multiracial, multiethnic setting. In particular, the discussion highlights the complex relationship between Korean Americans and African Americans --dearly the most important and senior partner of the liberal coalition. Finally, I will conclude by highlighting some of the lessons for building a more compelling framework for understanding urban politics and for building a more inclusive and just American city. The Liberal-Coalition Model One of the most enduring assumptions in the urban politics literature has been that the political incorporation of racial minorities is inextricably linked with their participation in liberal coalitions (Browning et a1. 1984; Sonenshein 1993). This liberalcoalition model has been fundamental to, and pervasive in, studies of race and power in contemporary American cities for compelling reasons. For much of American's urban history, conservative coalitions have actively and uniformly sought to exclude all racial minorities from the political process, with devastating consequences not only for their political rights but also for their...

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