Lookout, Beijing, there’s a new American sheriff ambassador in town. Democrat Gary Locke (骆家辉), a third-generation Chinese-American with ancestral roots in Taishan (台山), Guangdong, has just been confirmed as the newest American ambassador to China, replacing current Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. Locke (no relation to the Father of Liberalism) was a former two-term governor of the great state of Washington, and is to this day still the only American politician of Asian descent to ever serve as governor.
Locke is leaving his position as Secretary of Commerce, having been a member of Obama’s cabinet from the beginning of the President’s term. The Seattle native has served as one of two prominent Chinese Secretaries in the current administration, the other being Nobel Prize-winning Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.
Politically, Locke has made a habit of being a pioneer, often becoming the first Chinese or Asian-American in a variety of positions. His tenure as Governor of Washington from 1996-2005 saw the state through an incredible boom period, when Microsoft and Boeing were world-renown brands, Starbucks was just beginning to rear its yuppie-gratifying head around the globe, and Frasier made everyone think that Kelsey Grammer was actually an appealing individual.
We have to applaud the silver-tongued one’s Obama’s decision to anoint Locke as ambassador, as Locke is already quite the popular figure in certain Chinese circles. We’re assuming the Chinese leadership is collectively thinking, ‘Oh, I see what you did there,’ in regards to an ethnic Chinese being anointed as the official representative for truth, justice, and the American basket of trade agreements (however, Locke is monolingual in English only).
We’ll also be looking forward to seeing whether Locke fulfills his promise he made in front of the senate, to “clearly and firmly advocate for upholding universal rights in China.”
Regardless, we expect Locke to at least have the presence of mind to not walk into Wangfujing (while wearing a jacket sporting the American flag) during web-organized protest gatherings calling for democracy. Duh.
Oh really? Only Asian-American governor? India: No longer part of Asia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B…
I think in the US, Asians are normally meant to denote Orientals, just as in the UK, Asians meant people of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi origin.
Sloppy journalism again! Please check your facts before you post an article. John Ariyoshi was the first Asian-American to become a Governor of a state, in Hawaii.
As an American, I can assure you that is not true. When you want to differentiate, you break out East Asian (China, Japan, Korea), Central Asian (-stan countries), South Asian (India, Bangladesh, etc.), Southeast Asian (Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, etc.) and Pacific Islander (Malaysia, Philippines, etc.). To say that Jindal is not Asian-American would be pretty absurd. To say that his politics are appealing would be equally erroneous.
Look at the US census reporting. When you say Asian in the US, it normally refers to East Asians and SE Asians. As with the bracket Asian and Pacific Islander. When you talk about Asians with Americans, the Asian in their mind is the East Asian and SE Asians, like Chinese, Japanese, Phillipino, Thai and Vietnamese.
Just as in the UK, when they mention Asians in the press and their statistical reports, it normally refers to South Asians, Chinese have their own category.
As for Jindal, he is an American with Indian Heritage. It would be interesting if you can link me to a webpage which calls Jindal an Asian American.
Look at the wikipedia page on him, he is called Indian-American, and no where in that article was Asian American mentioned, including the links at the bottom of the page.
I am an ex-American, so I know. Please be assured.