The names of 23 people who were tasked with advancing equity and opportunity for Asian Americans were released by the White House on Monday.
As part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, a group of academics, nonprofit leaders and activists will use their new roles to fight anti-Asian hate that has come to the fore during the epidemic. The group will work to add more language options in federal programs, disaggregating Asian American and Pacific Islander data, and rehabilitating small businesses.
One of the advisory members is the actor Daniel Dae Kim. The White House cited in its press release Kim's advocacy in the wake of anti-Asian hate attacks, particularly the former Lost Star's membership on the Asian American Foundation.
One of the best things about people speaking up and speaking out is that there has been a groundswell movement unlike anything I've experienced in my lifetime, the 52-year-old actor told the TODAY show in April. More Asian Americans have spoken up, more marches have happened around the country than I ve ever seen. The commission was established to advise President Joe Biden on the needs of the country's growing AAPI population, and its leaders promise to address the concerns of those who exist at cross sections. Members of the LGBTQ community, women and those with disabilities will be given priority, according to the press release.
Biden brought in Mia Ives-Rublee, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Ives-Rublee has worked in civil rights for the disabled, aiding in job access, health care and community support.
Many of the 23 advisory members represent the private sector in an effort to rehabilitate Asian-owned businesses that suffered disproportionately during the pandemic in some states. Ajay Bhutoria is an executive in Silicon Valley and advocate for South Asian-owned businesses. The initiative has a priority to disaggregating data collected under the Asian umbrella term. Activists and scholars have always advocated for clearer data when it comes to individual communities so issues can be identified and addressed. Experts say this is especially important when it comes to the pandemic, as the wide wealth gap between groups labeled Asian might paint over the severity of its impacts.
I call this the gaslighting of the Asian American population and it has been going on for decades, for every health condition I can think of, Tung Nguyen, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told NBC Asian America in October 2020. It is an example of anti-Asian structural racism. According to a press release, a priority will be adding more language options for federal documents. Paul Ong, a professor and researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in September that this might be a crucial factor when accessing aid programs during Covid.
He said that you need to know that the program exists before you can apply.