- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

We're in the middle of it now.

One Detroit's been listening, hearing about being AAPI in southeastern Michigan.

We got together a little round table, without the table, talking about where we are, where we're going in society, with an educator and two activists, and we chat with an elected official.

The issue's well worn, but some newer ideas and new action.

- [Man] I'm extremely proud of the work we put into this budget.

- [Host] In Lansing, let's talk representation.

The State House 110 seats.

- Michigan is known as the auto state, and I think many of us in this room want to keep it that way.

- Ranjeev Puri, in his second term.

He's from Canton Township, Western Wayne County.

- For me, I am the only representative of Asian American descent in the Michigan House.

There's been a fluctuation of a couple here and there in years past, but in this current session right now, I'm the only one.

- Are you surprised that you're the only one?

Or do you think there should be more or could there be more?

- I think, you know, our government should be representative of the communities that make up our state.

Now the acronym AAPI is often misunderstood.

It stands for Asian American and Pacific Islander.

The term is used to describe a diaspora of people with roots in over 40 countries.

The Asian American demographic now is the fastest-growing demographic in the country and one of the fastest in Michigan.

And so, I think it's important that our representation represents the people that make up the state.

- Well, there's been a kind of a shift with, politically speaking, very recently.

What does that mean to the AAPI communities here in Michigan, if anything?

- Yeah.

Well, you know, that's what I like to tell people, is I think the needs of the AAPI community are no different than broader needs of Michigan.

You know, I think the AAPI community wants safe communities, wants good schools, wants a bustling economy.

Now, the AAPI community is a little bit unique where it's seen a rise in hate crimes over the last number of years, especially in the onset of COVID, with some of the rhetoric being used.

And so, but there's a number of communities that have suffered with hate crimes.

And so again, I think the needs of the AAPI community do really fit well with the needs of Michiganders all over the state.

- How about Asian American history in our schools?

There was some legislation introduced last term with Senator Stephanie Chang.

Didn't seem like there was much of a chance for that, but what about now?

- Yeah, you know, there's been a shift.

There's been a shift in kind of the power dynamics in Michigan last November.

Putting Democrats in power for the first time in 40 years of having a trifecta controlling the Senate, the house, and the governor's office.

And so I was a part of the package last year in the house.

I introduced the bill in the house.

This year, we are planning on introducing that same legislation.

Again, the legislation would be part of a multi-bill package, which would make our curriculum just more culturally competent across the board.

So deeper instruction for not only the Asian American communities, but the Hispanic community, the Middle Eastern Chaldean community, African Americans, and the indigenous populations.

- Do you have any timeline on when that would be?

- It's hard.

You know, it's hard.

I'm hopeful that it'll happen this calendar year, and maybe this fall.

- One other thing that's big, has been big recently, is the Chinese operation, the Gotion Battery Plant.

- [Reporter] Last month the state appropriated $175 million for a new factory near Big Rapids.

It's Chinese ownership had some seeing red.

- We don't want the CCP here by way of the Gotion plant as they have no regard for the value and dignity of human life.

- The Senate Committee approved the funding by a narrow margin.

What's your take on that?

- Yeah.

So, you know, that's not the first time I've gotten that question.

It's an important topic.

I'm very passionate about our economy, our automotive industry, and particularly electric vehicles.

Now with the Gotion conversation, I think anytime the state is investing resources or joining a partnership, I think those partnerships should be scrutinized.

I think where we should be careful is oftentimes hateful political rhetoric can be mixed in for political gains.

- [Host] More from representative Puri ahead.

But now let's hear from a few on the front lines trying to activate change amongst the AAPI.

- Couple years ago you had Black Lives Matter with George Floyd, that activated a lot of folks.

You had the Asian hate, the rise of that, 2021.

And it puts us in mind of, you know, the Vincent Chin case here in Detroit, going back to 1982, where it did kind of create solidarity among some groups.

And I just wonder, is that tailing off post COVID?

Where are we on that?

- I think, you know, part of the solidarity movement that we need is to make some institutional change and some systemic change.

And so I don't think we can, you know, it's not sustainable if we go from event to event and wait for the next one before we come out to the streets or come out to the rallies.

I think we need to think kind of bigger picture.

So how, you know, how can we change the institutions?

How can we change the systems so that it's more permanent, more long-lasting?

So I think one of the good things that's happened over the last x number of years that we've had more Asian Americans in the state legislator to give us a voice.

And so that's something that's there and you know, we can use that as a wedge to leverage some greater change.

- The good thing is we have the Asian Americans that we have are, I think, are very competent.

What I like about, for example, Stephanie Chang, she's seen not just as an ally in the Asian American community, but definitely I would say the black community, definitely other immigrant communities.

She's definitely an example of that solidarity.

Because I think we've had Asian American folks that voice concerns about why are we participating in BLM movements?

Because that's not our community.

But I've worked with black organizers that are supporting the Chaldean community, the Asian American community.

That's not their community, but they're, they're fighting for our rights nonetheless, right?

So we can achieve more together.

- Well, I mean it's kind of like the question that someone posed to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, how many women belong on the Supreme Court?

Like what's the proportion?

And she said eight.

So it's just like, yes, it's great that we have these new legislators who are coming up, but right now we're thinking about, even in Warren, we have a historic, you know, race this year where we've got a record number of Asian American candidates who are running for office in a city that has been known to be a part of an extremely segregated part of Metro Detroit.

And so people are beginning to move forward.

They're pushing these boundaries and these barriers and I think that needs to continue.

I'm not gonna put a cap on that.

I think, you know, we always are going to need people who can reflect our communities and also be responsive to our communities.

- Explain a little bit more what's going on in Warren right now.

You have some folks running for city council, right?

Who are those folks and why are they running?

- I think we have Mai Xiong, who's running for city clerk.

She's Hmong.

I believe we have Bengali candidates running.

- Bengali.

Yeah.

- We're trying to keep this as not politically charged as possible, but you know, there's a lot of politicians that have been in their offices for a long time and they get complacent.

And Warren might be one of those cities.

At least that's what people feel like when it comes to say, the mayor or the city clerk.

You know, Warren is a city that I believe is at least 20% black and at least 12 to 15% Asian, which is not what it was when I was growing up in Sterling Heights right across the border.

As the demographics have changed, the question is, are the existing elected officials responsive to those changing demographics?

But I suspect that there are a lot of folks that think that it may be beneficial if there are people that represent our interests a little bit better.

- Well, let's talk about this teaching the history statewide.

There's been legislation introduced in the past session and now maybe something coming up again soon.

What do you think about that?

Is that something that's gonna really happen?

- I think so.

So, I really do.

I think from the legislation being passed, but I think the more crucial aspect is how it's implemented.

So how can we get it out into the hands of teachers?

How does it show up in the classroom?

So again, that's just a normal part of the conversation.

And you know, I think one of the things that's really undertold is the 65 Immigration Act.

So that opened up immigration again, literally changed the face of our country.

And so, you know, if you wanna understand why there are more people of color here, more Asian faces, more Hispanic faces, we can literally go back to that.

And so I think when people say things like, "Go back to where you came from," or you know, "What are you people doing here?"

Things like that.

They're just really ignorant of that history.

I learned this in a workshop.

That we're here only because you were over there.

And I think that's really true when you look at the history of us and the Philippines or US and Hawaii, Vietnam, you know, Southeast Asia, the building the railroads.

There's a part the US government has played during the US businessmen have played in bringing over Asians here to serve as a labor force I think in particular.

- Well, Asian American history's important to Asian Americans to understand their identity.

- But I really think it's important for everybody else.

So in part of history course, we study when the Irish came over here.

and how they experienced discrimination, and then later wave when the Italians and other Southern Europeans, Eastern Europeans came over here.

And we talk about Ellis Island.

So even though my parents didn't come through Ellis Island, the expectation is that we know of it and know of its role in US history.

I think that could be set of Asian parts of history as well.

That it, again, it's part of the narrative.

And then without that, you have really an incomplete story, which then I think leads to some of the anti-Asian hate and such.

- We spend our whole lives learning about other folks.

I don't understand why it should be a problem for somebody to learn about us, right?

We all need to learn about each other.

- How is the media treating AAPI folks, if at all, from what you're seeing these days?

- With all the anti-Asian hate attacks?

I think the media has done a poor job of inflaming racial tensions.

You know, anti-Asian hate is an American problem, right?

And it's not another BIPOC community that's committing these attacks on us.

It's American society.

I mean, that's my interpretation of it.

Like, I mean, to be clear, there's a lot of anti-blackness in Asian communities.

I've dealt with it because I'm Filipino, but because of my skin color, the way I look, I've had Asian folks say a lot of hateful things to me growing up and to the current day.

I had family members say things about why are black people attacking us, when literally, there was a white man in Atlanta that shot like, what was it, eight or nine people?

And they didn't say anything about white folks.

I think the media's done a poor job, I would say.

- [Host] Hate crimes complicate it, but expect some action in the legislature.

- You know, we've actually introduced some bills two weeks ago, which will help broaden the definition of hate crimes and providing prosecutors with some tools.

Because as current laws stand right now, the original drafts that were done in 1988 are still kind of on the books of what constitutes a hate crime.

And those laws were done after the Vincent Chin incident in 1982.

You know, one of the things that makes Canton so great are the various communities.

There's places of worship, different faiths all over the township here.

You know, culturally, I'm part of the Sikh community.

Sikh gurdwaras here have been vandalized a number of times.

And there was actually an incident that happened to my family's former place of worship in 2012 that led me to run for office.

A white supremacist mass shooter came into that, that Sikh gurdwara thinking it was a mosque, opened fire, and killed six people that day.

That was the seminal moment I had when I knew I wanted to run for office and fight for a little bit more.

- And what would this new legislation do?

Increase prison terms?

That sort of thing?

- You know, it's very holistic in nature.

Yes.

You know, the goal is not to send more people to jail.

There's a restorative justice component.

Those laws were just introduced, but we've taken some learnings from other states around this country where you've seen people who do some of this kind of light vandalism, have to volunteer at the place that they desecrated to kind of better understand that community with the hopes of kind of providing some insight and education.

And so that's why I think a lot of these things are connected.

Even kind of going back to those education bills.

If we can start that education at a younger age to hopefully kind of move away from some of these hate crimes.

Another package of bills that was introduced about three weeks ago that will now declare a lot of Asian holidays as state holidays.

Diwali, Eid, Vaisakhi, Lunar New Year, would all be now on the list of state holidays if those bills were to pass and sign into law.

- [Host] What more to do with Asian American and Pacific Islanders spread out across the region, for activists, the challenge remains.

How to join them together, consolidate.

- With the Asian American community coming together, forming a pan-Asian identity, getting stronger and more articulate and raising voices.

I think that's great, but I think also the self-examination that we need to have as a community.

Our lack of communication across ethnic groups, it's very apparent when you're growing up in Michigan, that here are the Novi Asians or the Farms and Hills Asians and here are the Madison Heights Asians.

And so the fact that we cannot build power without each other, these are things that are pulling us behind that we need to be fearless and addressing, at the same time that we are raising our voices and advocating for ourselves in terms of, you know, racism coming from white supremacy.

But I'd be interested in those types of conversations.