An Asian American in D.C.: adjustment and assimilation

It has been about a year since I left Seattle for a Northern Virginia exurb in a fit of political angst, and the time allows for a bit of measured reflection about the change.

When I lived in Seattle, one of the city's facets to which I quickly grew accustomed was the integration of Asian Americans into the city's mainstream life. This was not surprising, of course. While Seattle does not boast a large number of Asians in absolute terms, they form the largest nonwhite population at over 13 percent of the total — a rarity outside Hawaii.

This was, after all, the city of Bruce Lee. Not only has Seattle had a long history of Asian immigration, the tech boom also attracted a large number of Asian professionals to the area, reinforcing the existing trend.

I have lived in many different parts of the country since I came to the United States 20 years ago, from mega-urban New York to rural Iowa, and the metro Seattle area was the only place where I saw real-estate ads featuring AM/WF couples (that's Asian male/white female, in classifieds lingo) — something indicative, if anecdotally, of assimilation at a visceral level.

Some of the same dynamics are at work in the fast-growing exurbs of Northern Virginia where I now live. The area has had explosive growth in the past several years, fueled by a strong economy, especially in the tech sector and the defense industry, as well as a business-friendly regulatory environment. What was once a sleepy rural area (perhaps akin to the outer Eastside of the Seattle area) now boasts affluent, ethnically diverse communities.

Closer-in suburbs of the District of Columbia and D.C. itself, however, are a different story. There is a large Asian population in the immediate suburbs of D.C., but it tends to congregate (or self-segregate) by national origin, following the classic early immigration pattern. In D.C. itself, the Asian population is less than 3 percent, and plays a seemingly small role in the cultural and political life of the city.

Indeed, when I attend functions and meetings in D.C., I am often struck by the almost total absence of Asian faces. Certainly there are notable exceptions — Elaine Chao, the Labor Department secretary, Norman Mineta, the former transportation secretary, and the enduring Sen. Daniel Inouye from Hawaii, as well as up-and-coming Congressman Bobby Jindal from Louisiana, are recognizable faces around the city, as is the ex-"neocon" Francis Fukuyama — but the general trend at the working level is in stark contrast to that of Seattle.

One acquaintance attributed this to institutional racism against nonwhites in the city. That explanation might be tempting, given the persistent feel of a small Southern city beneath the surface of the political hub that is D.C. But the real answer, I suspect, is more complex.

The city's life is overwhelmingly dominated by the industry of politics, which, unlike information technology, is an old business. It requires, by nature, discretion and even secrecy. Where trust and loyalty are at such a high premium, nepotism and clannishness are often rational responses, given that family and friends are generally more trustworthy than outsiders, however capable or intelligent.

Thus, it is not that there is significant racism against Asians. It is, rather, that the system erects a high barrier against late entrants, and Asian Americans tend to be late arrivals, particularly in political terms (a friend familiar with the entertainment industry observed something similar, and perhaps not coincidentally, politics is said to be show business for ugly people).

Two factors, however, increasingly mitigate this situation. One is, simply, time. As younger Asian Americans make their way into politics, slowly but surely, they are accompanied by their own social networks while integrating into the overall system.

The other is technology. Politics may be an ancient business, but it is not immune to technological changes. The advent of the Internet, the blog-osphere and indeed the fabled "net-roots" are diffusing political power. Running a leading blog about Korea, as I did, for example, can sometimes open doors that might otherwise require years of work at think tanks or on the Hill.

Washington, D.C., might not ever look like Seattle, and the basic human drive for political power will not change, but the forces of assimilation are ever present for Asian Americans — even at the epicenter of national political power.

James J. Na runs NoVaPolitics (http://novapolitics.com), focused on Northern Virginia politics, and works at an educational foundation near Washington, D.C.