The following statement is from Asian Pacific Islanders for Bernie Sanders.
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“Our needs are not moderate,” stated the Rev. Jesse Jackson in his powerful endorsement speech for Sen. Bernie Sanders. Jackson will stump with Bernie in Michigan before the March 10 primaries when five other states will also vote.
Jackson was the only presidential candidate to come to Little Tokyo (in 1984), until Sanders visited the Aratani Theatre for a town hall in July 2019.
Rev. Jackson received assurances from Bernie that his concerns will be addressed in his campaign. These include protections against voter suppression. Hundreds of thousands of voters of Latinx, African American and Asian descent with common surnames such as “Gonzales, Wong, and Jackson” have been purged improperly as “duplicates” in many states. This is just one aspect of the erosion of the Voting Rights Act for people of color.
Making sure that Medicare-for-All reaches into rural and communities of color.
MFA is the top issue among APIs whose population has the largest percentage of those 65 and older.
Funding for Silicon Valley to create venture capital and hiring programs with historically black colleges and universities.
Sanders will ask National Co-Chair Rep. Ro Khanna (D-San Jose) to make Silicon Valley more inclusive for the black community.
“To make great gains, courage and risks come with it. Bernie and Jesse are good examples, as are Japanese Americans who showed that winning redress was not “naïve and unrealistic” as moderates once argued.” — David Monkawa
National polls (WAPO 3/4/20) indicate that Asian Americans support Bernie Sanders by a 2-to-1 advantage, 39% to 21%.