Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth is marking what may seem like a victory in her quest to get more Asian Americans hired in key positions in the White House, but it isn’t coming without controversy. Politico reports:
Duckworth vowed to reject any nominee who is white and straight. Then, late Tuesday night, the White House announced that a senior-level AAPI official would be named and promised more appointments and “policy proposals that are relevant and important to the community.” Duckworth issued a statement and backed off.
Senator Mazie Hirono supported Duckworth’s effort.
The backlash grew overnight against Duckworth with people questioning why it appears she doesn’t count South Asians as part of the AAPI community. ABC News writes:
When asked about threats from Duckworth and Hirono to block nominees until there are more AAPI appointments, Biden said Tuesday night, “We have the most diverse Cabinet in history. We have a lot of Asian Americans that are in the Cabinet and in sub-Cabinet levels.”
One of those people that the White House reportedly cited on a call with Duckworth was Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of both Black and South Asian descent. This was Duckworth’s response:
“To be told that you have Kamala Harris, we are very proud of her, you don’t need anybody else, is insulting… “That’s not something you would say to the Black caucus — that you have Kamala — we’re not going to be putting any African Americans in the Cabinet — why would you say that to AAPIs?”
This statement drew a strong reaction.
But others applaud Duckworth for taking a stand. On The View, host Whoopi Goldberg said, “Tammy Duckworth did what we tell people to do. If you don’t see yourself or you feel you need to see yourself more, tell folks. ask. Then if they’re not listening, elect. elect, elect, elect.”
On CBS This Morning, Vice President Harris weighed in with her own thoughts:
When you look at the composition of the United States Congress, less than 4% of those serving in Congress are Asian American, AAPI, Asian American, and Pacific Islander. You look at the CEOs of our major companies and corporations in America, less than 3% are Asian American and AAPI. So we need to talk about this. Representation matters. And we’ve got to address it. We are very proud that among our cabinet we have majority people of color. …It’s historic in that way. We are proud that we have an equal number of women and men. But there’s still more work to be done. There’s no question about that.
