With Asian-Americans making up less than one half of 1 percent of
With Asian-Americans making up less than one half of 1 percent of the state Legislature, the members of that constituency see a need for reform.
A new coalition of several Asian-American organizations is throwing its support behind Citizens Union’s ReShapeNY campaign, which advocates for an independent redistricting commission to draw new legislative district lines for the 2012 elections.
The new coalition, the MinKwon Center for Community Action, argues that an “open, transparent process by an independent commission” should be established in order to fairly take into account the Asian–American community’s growing population.
The 2010 census found New York City’s Asian-American population grew by about a third — more than four times the amount of growth any other major racial group experienced — and is now the majority in seven city neighborhoods.
According to Citizens Union, Assemblywoman Grace Meng of Queens is the only Asian-American serving in the state Legislature even though census date shows they make up 7.33 percent of the population.
ReShapeNY Co-Chair Grace Lyu-Volkhausen said, “We believe a more independent and fairer process will allow for representation to better reflect demographic changes in population.”
“In the current system, legislators have drawn their own district lines to protect themselves politically — not sufficiently recognizing the needs and interests of our community, even as our numbers have grown significantly,” said MinKwon Executive Director Steve Choi. “We believe ReShapeNY’s redistricting reform ideas would draw sensible district lines and bring much more fairness to the Asian-American community.”
The new coalition includes Asian-Americans for Equality, Chinese American Voters Association, Korean-American League for Civic Action and several other Asian-American organizations.
Alex Camarda, Citizens Union’s director of public policy and advocacy, said, “We need a more independent process that creates fair, objective criteria and provides robust opportunities for public input so all voices are heard as maps are being drawn.”