Action Alert: An Open Letter

News 05.11.2012 Comments Off

UPDATE (11/03/12) According to NYTimes, the take out box was made by inventor Frederick Weeks Wilcox in Chicago on Nov. 13, 1894.

UPDATE (11/05/12) WKYC covered the story with with responses from Renacci’s people

UPDATE (11/05/12) several websites and blogs already covering this news and petition (sign it not!) has been made. (a google with

UPDATE (11/06/12) Several communities members have now received a new mailer from Renacci’s campaign with new images: a grocery shopping cart. Although he yet to place an apology.

OCA Open Letter

November 1, 2012

Ohio Republican Party
211 South Fifth Street
Columbus, OH 43215

To Whom It May Concern:

OCA, a national organization dedicated to advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs), is deeply concerned and disappointed in the recent distribution of a xenophobic flyer mailed by the Ohio Republican Party to voters prior to the upcoming election. We ask for a pledge to end the use of xenophobic rhetoric as well as an immediate apology for the offensive materials distributed.

The recent circulation of the “Betty Sutton is taking our jobs to go” flyer is inappropriate and demonizes Asians, specifically those of Chinese descent. While it has been common practice to attack China in this electoral cycle, capitalizing on xenophobic rhetoric for political gain has long term implications that negatively affect the APA community.

The cultivation of hostility toward Asians has had a ripple effect in the past as exhibited by the death of Vincent Chin. Chin, a Detroit-born Chinese American, was beat to death by two laid-off auto workers who held strong animosity towards a booming Japanese auto industry. His death resulted as a product of fear mongering for political gain at the expense of racial understanding.

Elections should be issue-focused without resorting to unfair and inaccurate comparisons. Demonizing a specific class of people using fear tactics based on broad political and economic generalizations or predictions should not be tolerated by the community at-large. We call upon political parties to promote an environment that welcomes the inclusion of diverse perspectives and urge political candidates from using racially charged language and imagery related to all forms of discrimination and bias.

It is our hope that in the future the Ohio Republican Party will engage in a productive dialogue rather than the production of xenophobic rhetoric that targets a specific group of individuals.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Johnny Wu
OCA-Cleveland President

Register to Vote

Asian Services In Action needs your help to spread voter information guides in several languages for our communities in Ohio.

Please share this information with your colleagues and members, post it to your website, and distribute it to anyone you know who needs it. The page link is http://www.tinyurl.com/asiagotv

APIA Get Out To Vote with Multilingual Voter’s Guides

News 02.11.2012 Comments Off

Related Statistics

Electoral votes in Ohio were decided by a 4% margin in 2008.

Asian & Pacific Islander Americans make up 2% of Ohio’s population.

In mid-September, nearly one-third of Asian American voters were undecided on the presidential race.

Help Asian Voters in Ohio

Asian Services In Action needs your help. We are a non-profit, non-partisan, cultural and social organization dedicated to the welfare of Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Ohio. We are reaching out in hope that you will help us spread the word about the availability of voter information guides in several languages for our communities in Ohio. I don’t need to remind you what an honor and privilege it is to vote. However, it may be difficult for limited English speaking citizens to simply go out and vote.

We know you don’t have time to waste, so we have placed voter guides in seven Asian languages (Chinese, Japanese, Karen, Korean, Mon, Punjabi and Vietnamese) and other voter information all in one place that explain everything one needs to know in order to vote.

Please share this information with your colleagues and members, post it to your website, and freely distribute it to anyone you know who needs it. The page link is www.tinyurl.com/asiagotv

On behalf of Asian Services in Action, we thank you.