CommentsAs a California community organizer in touch with the issues on the ground, my focus has been to educate the community on practical solutions on the issues that affect Californians:
declining quality of education (to the point they are talking about removing Honors and AP Math), homelessness, struggling businesses due to COVID shutdowns, crippling regulations like AB5 that have limited the average person who is a caregiver for an elderly or children to have part time work. A pleasant shock to me this year was when after worsening problems, the recall for Gavin Newsom qualified with 2.2 million signatures, way past the 1.5 million threshold, and now, we have a set date for the election: September 14, 2021.
Up till this point, I have steered away from focusing on any one candidate, simply because anyone would be better than Gavin Newsom. From the authoritarian moves he made to shut down commerce, to shady deals with China on masks to the complete disregard of his own rules to throw private parties at his winery down to the pettiness of going after political enemies and naming any good-faith disagreements with constituents as automatically “right wing” efforts, all candidates would have passed and “Yes on Recall” was my focus.
So far we have great candidates who have announced including Olympian and former reality tv star, Caitlyn Jenner, the only Republican mayor of a major city, San Diego, and principled fighter in the Assembly, Kevin Kiley.
But neither one of these candidates has the full package. First of all, we are a majority-minority state now. Every governor we have had in the past has been a white male, including the current occupant, Gavin Newsom. While I despise identity politics, I also understand that California is a state of silos, since we are so dependent on cars. There are so many micro-communities, but we need someone who understands the hood, the middle class and the elite. Someone who is comfortable with all kinds of people.
I have been working on several workshops to get to black, Latino and Asian inner-city communities, infested with crime and helping with self-defense lessons to help save lives. With police defunded and the Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascon not prosecuting hate crimes and removing gang enhancements, I have been ringing the alarm on RecallGasconNow.com. However, we are urgently in need of a spokesperson who can speak to the actual issues from a minority perspective. The governor and this statewide recall election can accomplish this. We need a governor who can bring an everyday man perspective to help fix or at least work towards solving these problems that have gone on way too long, for decades, unchecked, unaudited and unattended to.
Who better than the Sage of South Central? A man who is as articulate as he is empathetic. That is no other than Larry Elder. He is a tried-and-true personality. We have listened to him on the radio, for about 27 years, as he accompanied us with his wisdom on our rush hour drives.
Larry is an example of the American dream. His father worked as a janitor for Nabisco before starting his own cafe in the PIco-Union area. Larry put himself through school and graduated from the prestigious Ivy League, Brown University and got his JD from University of Michigan. This is something missing in today’s society when so many are focused on being victims. Larry worked hard and kept moving on up.
While Larry is currently an underdog if he gets into the race, I believe his understanding of the media is what we need to get our message across throughout the state in a short period of time. He needs little ramp up as he has already laid down the groundwork for the past 4 decades for a time like today.
Californians are ready for a sea change, as evidenced in the last election where every ballot proposition to increase taxes and government got shut down. We also put identity politics on the backburner by shooting down Prop 16, affirmative action or race based preferences. California is on the forefront of the future, and we didn’t want to be race baited on division anymore. We want to unite amongst our diversity, not fight. That road forward calls for someone that understands the issues of the day from a minority perspective. He understands the media and has practical experience working with radio, TV, print, etc. His values are in line with most average Californians and the man can back up his points on policy.
Because of this, even if Larry has not announced for governor, he is my choice. The moment has met its time and I foresee if he runs and wins, there will be great changes ahead. I have hope there will be a true sea change, starting on September 14th. Larry, please throw your hat in the ring.
(Marc Ang ([email protected]) is the President of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance in Orange County, a community organizer in Southern California and the founder of AsianIndustryB2B who specializes in race relations and the minority conservative experience. His book “Minority Retort” will be released in late 2021.)
