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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Norman Mineta: Living Up to AA Expectations?
is appointment as Transportation Secretary won a 100-0 senate nod following a "lovefest" confirmation hearing. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, as well as the media, fell all over one another to applaud the selection. It was a rare instance in American political life when the applause was entirely sincere -- Norman Mineta was easily the most qualified candidate for the post. Not only had he served on the House Transportation committee for virtually all of his 20 years in Congress, he had chaired it with great skill during his final two terms before leaving to join defense contractor Lockheed-Martin as a top executive.
While some Asian Americans were ambivalent about Elaine Chao's appointment, most were enthusiastic about Norman Mineta's. He had shown himself to be a doughty champion of AA causes. As a congressman he had co-founded the Congressional Asian American Caucus and spearheaded passage of the Japanese-American reparations bill.
Then came September 11.
The Bush Administration's rush to shore up American confidence in domestic security -- especially airline security -- meant that Norman Mineta would be thrust into the limelight. It was a rare opportunity for an AA male to be shown playing a central role in the running of American society. But some Asian Americans were disappointed to see Mineta being overshadowed in media coverage by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General John Ashcroft and even National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
One reason for Mineta's faltering media image may be George Bush's initial decision to oppose federalization of airport security personnel. Mineta, a democrat, was tasked with selling Congress on the more laissez-faire Republican version of the Airport Security bill which didn't sit well with an American public desperate for the strongest possible response to the terrorist threat. Mineta's media image suffered more erosion in December when he issued a statement assuring existing airport security employees that they would be retained regardless of their educational levels. Equally unpopular is his refusal to sanction greater security scrutiny for Arab passengers.
By January the dream AA cabinet officer seemed on the verge of becoming another Judge Lance Ito -- an Asian male public figure derided, fairly or not, for failing to show a requisite degree of firmness and strength in a dicey situation.
Mineta's personal history shows him to be a daring, dedicated and skilled political player who has always managed to end up on top.
Norman Y. Mineta was born November 12, 1931 in San Jose, California to immigrant parents. Following U.S. entry into the World War II, the entire Mineta family was interned for two years, along with 120,000 other Americans of Japanese ancestry. Norman attended UC Berkeley and graduated with a B.S. in business, then served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1956 as an intelligence officer. Back in civilian life he worked ably for his father's insurance agency before becoming the first minority to win a seat on the SJ City Council in 1967. In 1971 he broke another barrier by becoming the first Asian American mayor of a major city. In 1975 Mineta was elected to Congress from a district that was over 80% white. Mineta led the long push for passage of H.R. 442, the J-A Reparations bill signed into law in 1988. Mineta served on the Public Works and Transportation Committee for 20 years, chairing it with a strong hand from 1992 until democrats lost congress in 1994. He decided against seeking another term, and in 1975 joined Lockheed -Martin as a senior vice-president. In 2000 Mineta was tapped to serve as Commerce Secretary during the final six months of the Clinton Administration. He is married to a blonde former United Airlines flight attendant named Danealia. He has four sons, including two stepsons.
Is Norman Mineta blowing his opportunity in the national spotlight or positioning himself for a more sustained climb?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:58:53 PM)
Anyone read the latest from Ann Coulter, whose last great idea was invading Palestine and forcing everyone there to convert to Christianity in order to stop giving Israel problems?
Well, now she tries to incite violence against Norm Mineta. Read all about it!
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ anncoulter/ac20020228.shtml
T.H. Lien
Monday, March 11, 2002 at 22:35:04 (PST)
Don't be too hard on Norm Mineta. I believe he is a great political leader, and a role model for all Asian Americans. He now has a thankless job as Secretary of Transportation, made especially difficult in the aftermath of September 11. The airports and the airlines have always been looking for many ways to cut costs, and he now has the almost impossible task of trying to get them to beef up security. Additionally, he is the only Democrat in a Republican cabinet, so the other members of the cabinet may not be as eager to back him. He is also one of the more visible Bush cabinet members, so this makes him more subject to public scrutiny- some of the other cabinet members have been almost invisible.
Mineta should be commended for his refusal to back greater scrutiny for Arab passengers. He has always opposed racial profiling and has been firm in fighting racial discrimination in all its ugly forms. He knows the pain of discrimination- he was put in a Japanese American internment camp during World War II. He later went on to serve his country honorably in the US Army.
What is going on in the media when they seek to undercut Mineta? It sometimes seems that persons of color are always subject to greater scrutiny when they hold high-level positions. The media did this to Colin Powell as well early on in the Bush Administration. I recall that Powell, the first African American Secretary of State, was also subject to criticism in the early part of 2001 as being almost invisible, and as being out of step in the Bush cabinet with his moderate views. I do not see a similar undercutting of the other Bush cabinet members who are not of a minority. Also, the other persons of color in the cabinet, who include Chao (Labor Secretary), Rice, Martinez (HUD Secretary) and Paige (Education Secretary) may have been able to escape scrutiny so far either because they are conservatives or have not been very visible.
Information Man
Saturday, February 02, 2002 at 15:07:13 (PST)
When he was a congressman Mineta kept being elected with the biggest margins on record, something like 75% of the votes. He is a brilliant political strategist and his skills are being wasted as Transportation Secretary. Bush could use him at Commerce or even as VP. Problem being Mineta is a democrat. The Bush people aren't about to let Mineta shine too brigtly. He will definitely have to wait until the Democrats retake the white house to make his move.
Silicon Voter
Tuesday, January 29, 2002 at 08:02:40 (PST)
As Transportation secretary Mineta can't really be expected to have the same level of visibility as the Attorney General and the Defense Secretary. But I do think here has been an element of backburnering him in terms of visibility, possibly due to Bush's image control efforts.
But Mineta is a savvy power player. He knows how to patiently build alliances before making his move to the next level. I would look for him to jump to a higher profile post before Bush's term is out, then he may consider a run for the Senate, California governorship or even a spot on the Democratic Presidential ticket. He's that good at jockeying, as he showed while in the House. He slapped down many challenges to his authority while chairing the transportation committee, and was probably the third most powerful democrat in the house before retiring after the demos lost the majority.
Hilltop
Monday, January 28, 2002 at 09:21:36 (PST)
Norman Mineta, took a ride on special interests. If he was really interested in reparations. He would have sought a balanced ticket for Italians, Blacks, and Germans.
That is my uneducated point of view. But then that is supposedly "the American way."
Albi
Sunday, January 27, 2002 at 19:26:43 (PST)
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