Congressman Mike Honda remembers playing war as a kid.
"You be the Japs, we'll be the good guys," he would say to his friends. His father used to get angry at him for that.
As a result, he learned some of life's important lessons.
"I understand racial profiling. I learned not to do that," said Honda (D-Calif.). "It's the little things that affect our attitude."
With the help of recent Penn graduate Clarence Tong -- who founded the Web site "Young Asian Americans for Kerry-Edwards" -- Honda came to Penn yesterday afternoon to speak about his personal experiences and the importance of the Asian-American political voice in the upcoming presidential election.
"Studying ourselves and each other helps us understand that we are part of this country. We're present in today's political process," Honda said of Asian Americans.
Honda's discussion appeared to inspire the roughly 50 audience members, further convincing many to vote for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in November.
"It's so important for young Asian Americans like us to get the voice out there," College sophomore Mana Nakagawa said. "We need to make our own history."
"I wanted to have a strong reason to vote because I'm an Asian American," Nakagawa added. She is registered as an Independent, but said she will now vote for the Democrats.
Penn Philippine Association member and College senior Brian Redondo enjoyed the discussion as well -- perhaps even more, he said, than the Kerry rally held on Hill Field last month, because it was "a lot more intimate."
Honda "really does understand the plight of Asian Americans and the need for all of us to band together and really help change the landscape of America. I identified a whole lot more," Redondo said.
Hiro Nishikawa, friend of Honda and president of Philadelphia's Japanese American Citizens' League, said that Honda is "very much for helping people, very much for education. He's a tremendous inspiration for all Asian Americans."
In 2000, Honda was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently serves on the House Committee on Science and the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure, and is the regional whip for Northern California, Hawaii, American Samoa and Guam. He chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, and is also the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
