Sampan Interview: California Assemblyman Leland Yee Visits Chinatown

By Adam Smith

Leland Yee, who is the second most powerful member of the California State Assembly (similar to a state House of Representatives), stopped into Chinatown last week for a dinner celebration with Yee Fung Toy Association of New England at China Pearl Restaurant. The family association invited Yee and awarded him with a plaque of appreciation on July 26.

Yee is the first Asian American elected to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore of the assembly. He represents the California's 12th Assembly District, which includes San Francisco, Broadmoor, Colma, and Daly City.

Prior to winning a seat on the assembly in 2002, Yee spent eight years on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education. He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1996.

Yee came to the United States at the age of three from Hong Kong and was born in China. The Sampan caught up with Yee before the dinner:

Sampan: Why are you here in Boston?

Yee: I'm one of the super delegates to the [Democratic National] Convention. As the Speaker Pro Tempore of the California assembly, I was a Kerry/Edwards delegate and I am here to be supportive of the Kerry/Edwards ticket, so that's the reason I'm here in Boston.

Sampan: You're the first Asian American to hold your position in the California State Assembly. How does that feel?

Yee: I'm the second ranking member in the California State Assembly, so we've never had someone as high as me who [is Asian American] who was in that position. On the one hand, it's an honor and on the other hand it does cause you to have a great sense of responsibility to do the right thing, not only for the state but also for the community.

Sampan: You advocated for non-English speakers. Would you talk about that a bit?

Yee: When I was on the board of education and the board of supervisors, one of the big issues was bilingual education. It's extremely important that we provide an instructional strategy for our children that they understand. I remember, when I was a little boy, not knowing a word of English and the teacher would speak to us in English. [I] just didn't understand exactly what she was saying. And as a child psychologist by training, I also know that if the care that we provide for our children is not in the language that they understand, then it makes it very difficult. If we are working with parents who don't understand English and we're speaking in English, then it doesn't help with the care that we provide for the children. It's extremely important that we provide bilingual services. In the legislature, we have a bill that basically says that we should not force children to serve as translators. It's extremely important that we the state provide that service for those individuals that are getting services from the state. [Recently] we've gotten a measure that [would] allow non-citizens to vote in school elections. In San Francisco, nearly 50% of our school children are Asian. So our children are in our public schools and yet our parents have no voice whatsoever because they are in fact immigrants and they have not gotten their citizenship so they are not eligible [to vote in school elections].

Sampan: A few years ago, California dismantled its bilingual education system, and Massachusetts did the same shortly after. How has California been affected? / Yee: We are continuing to be committed to bilingual education. While we don't have a quote-un-quote bilingual law, we do have protections for children that allow them to be taught in a strategy that works for them. So, we do have some semblance of bilingual education, it's just that we don't call it a bilingual education. Secondly, our current strategy now is that you have to opt into a bilingual program, and we have done a fairly good job of helping the parents to understand the importance of bilingual education, and parents do in fact opt [their kids] into a bilingual program.

Sampan: Why did you get involved in politics?

Yee: For me it was because our children were [not] getting an adequate education. So, we tried to talk to the principal [and] talk to the school board, and we got no where. Finally, people said, "Well maybe the only way to change it is you've got to run for the board of education."

Sampan: What do you think is the importance of having more Asian Americans involved in politics?

Yee: We have the experience that other candidates may not [have]. It's not that others cannot represent us, but I think that they've been doing it for a long time. And I think that it's important to have people within our own community who also represent us to provide the... politics with our unique background and experience. I think that by representing our own, it serves as a good role model for our younger generation who says, "Gee, I can be Chinese, and I can also be an elected official."

Sampan: What do you think are ways that non-citizens can get more involved in the political system?

Yee: I think that the tenor of public education in this country is all about parent involvement. ˇKThey should feel free to help out [at their children's schools], to sit on the parent advisory committee, and to participate in school governments. You have to share in that governance at the local level. Nobody else is going to care about their kids' education as much as the parents. So they should get involved.

Sampan: Finally, how do you like working with the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Yee: I think that the governor is a very passionate person. Even though he is a Republican, he is married to a Democrat [Maria Shriver]. I think that he probably gets a lot of nudges from his wife to preserve some of the Democratic values. He's been a good governor so far, trying to work with everybody. [But] I think that probably the honeymoon is over and we're going to continually challenge him...