Open Letter to the Republican and Democratic Parties of Orange County on the Harmful Use of Anti-Asian Rhetoric

Chair Ada Briceño
Democratic Party of Orange County
1475 South State College Blvd., Suite 110
Anaheim, CA 92806

Chair Hon. Fred M. Whitaker
Republican Party of Orange County
1422 Edinger Ave., Suite 110
Tustin, CA 92780

October 16, 2024

Open Letter to the Republican and Democratic Parties of
Orange County on the Harmful Use of Anti-Asian Rhetoric

Dear Chair Briceño and Chair Whitaker:

As community based organizations serving or supporting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in and around Orange County, we write to the Democratic and Republican Parties of Orange County to share our concerns and request your support in cautioning both your parties’ candidates against using rhetoric that—deliberately or inadvertently— implies falsely that political candidates of Asian descent or those perceived to be of Asian descent are national security threats. While it is certainly expected that political candidates address geopolitics, and while there are legitimate and serious criticisms of the Chinese Community Party, imprecise and inflammatory rhetoric can create the false narrative that targets Asian Americans as untrustworthy, anti-American or “perpetual foreigners.”

These false narratives can yield significant, adverse, and even violent consequences for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Political rhetoric that identifies people as being aligned to Communism, the Chinese Communist party, or a foreign government – simply because of their Asian descent – has real and deadly consequences. We witnessed it during World War II, when unfounded suspicions of Japanese Americans conducting foreign espionage led to the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans by the U.S. government. We witnessed it in 1982, when anti-Japanese sentiment stemming from economic competition in the U.S. led to the brutal assault and murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin, who was mistaken as a Japanese American. We witnessed it after 9/11, when misplaced blame for terrorist attacks fed directly into rampant Islamophobia and violent attacks against Muslim Americans, as well as Sikh and South Asian Americans who were inaccurately perceived to be Muslim. We witnessed it during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when prominent politicians wrongfully attributed the disease to actual and perceived Chinese individuals in our community, leading to a 339% increase in reported violent anti-Asian attacks across the U.S. And even more recently, we’ve seen a 180% increase in anti-Muslim hate incidents exacerbated by the conflict in Gaza, the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Israel.

There is no excuse for political candidates using racialized scapegoating to attack their opponents. Two years ago, several prominent leaders of the AAPI community in Southern California were falsely accused of having connections to the Chinese Communist Party and saw relentless ads against them. Unfortunately, these types of false and racially biased attacks are again happening in OC today. From false accusations of candidates having communist ties, to racial slurs being graffitied on the yard signs of candidates of color, these types of attacks against Asian American candidates increase hatred and create harm against all Asian Americans.

For these reasons, we call on your Parties to explicitly reject political strategies that baselessly suggest Asian American political opponents have ties to the Chinese Community Party, communist affiliations, or foreign entities that threaten US national security. We urge you to direct your party members to avoid inflammatory language and condemn fear-mongering. We stand against anti-Asian hate and discrimination in all its forms and denounce rhetoric that is harmful to the safety and well-being of our community. Voters see through the scapegoating and are looking for solutions, not for finger-pointing.

Words have consequences, and the consequences can and have been fatal. We urge you to share this communication with all candidates and we are happy to share any additional information that would be helpful.

Sincerely,

Vincent Pan
Chinese for Affirmative Action

Cynthia Choi and Manjusha Kulkarni
Stop AAPI Hate

Shakeel Syed
South Asian Network

Mary Nguyen
CA Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative

Ellen Ahn, Mary Anne Foo, Tricia Nguyen, Yulan Chung
OC Asian American Initiative

Alison Edwards
Groundswell

Dong Suh
Asian Health Services