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April 14, 2003
Asian-American youth
I spoke over the weekend at the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium's conference of "community partners"—mostly local groups that litigate or organize on behalf of civil rights for Asian and Pacific Americans. There is some concern that this population will be overlooked by those who try to increase (or even merely to study) youth civic engagement. After all, the total numbers are relatively small; there is an absence of data; the "model minority" stereotype implies that Asian youth are doing fine on their own; and the population is very heterogeneous, making research difficult. However, Asian and Pacific American youth are by some measures the least likely to vote. Moreover, research on this population is inherently interesting, since members come from many diverse countries of origin by many routes and for many reasons. Finally, democracy would benefit from the participation of more Asian and Pacific American youth, even if their numbers are comparatively small.
Posted by peterlevine at April 14, 2003 11:49 AM
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