As Biden administration officials celebrate Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Ambassador Katherine Tai, the first woman of color to serve as a U.S. Trade Representative, reflected Wednesday on the struggles she has faced as an Asian-American woman in leadership.
Tai, who spoke exclusively in an interview after delivering remarks at the White House Forum on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI), mentioned some interactions in his career, illustrating some of the seemingly impossible expectations people have of Asians. women.
«Recently, I had an interesting exchange with a congressman during one of my hearings, and he said, ‘I think you might be too nice,'» Tai said, referring to comments by Rep. Greg Murphy, RN.C., at a hearing. of the Ways and Means Committee in March. «Many years ago, there was an article that said it wasn’t actually nice.»
Tai, who is also co-chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, said that when it comes to others’ perceptions of Asian Americans, «It can be very complicated, it can be very double.» I’m nervous, but I guess the way I deal with it is to beat myself up and say, ‘I can’t be anyone but myself.’”
Tai, who was among many prominent Asian-Americans who spoke at the forum, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said she is no stranger to the perception that Asian women are dutiful workers, in place of leaders
“Many times I land at a foreign airport, and when I’m on government business, I have the advantage of being rushed through security,” Tai said. «And a lot of times the security team will come and they’ll know that one of us has to be sped up, but they’ll look at the group and not immediately guess that I’m the trade minister.»
Tai said, however, that women and trailblazers from marginalized communities who have risen to leadership positions have shown her that such roles are possible for those in those communities. And complying with them does not require change.
“The privilege of having these kinds of jobs is showing that you can do them,” Tai said. «You can act on them and still be yourself and still be true to all the parts of your heritage that make you a part of you.»
Several other people spoke about their identities and the importance of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Speaking in conversation with «Never Have I Ever» actor Poorna Jagannathan and Jerry Won, founder and CEO of Just Like Media, Harris addressed a variety of topics, including anti-Asian attacks, gun control and reproductive rights. as well as his inheritance.
Harris, the first woman, first black and first Asian American vice president, stressed in the room of other Asian American leaders the importance of ensuring that positions like hers do not remain exclusive.
«You’ll often find that when you walk into that boardroom or that meeting room, into that conference room, you’ll often find that you’ll be the only one in there who looks like you or has had your life experience,» he said. “You walk into that room with your chin up and your shoulders back, knowing that when you walk into that room you are representing the voice of so many people who are so damn… proud.”
He added: “We have a lot of work to do. And we must always do it with pride and with a sense of knowledge that we come with the people.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Tai’s co-chair on the White House initiative, told NBC News that prioritizing the group’s issues is critical.
“What we are doing by working with the AANHPI community is no different than what we should be doing for any community. The difference, of course, is that the United States has not always done that,” she said. “I think that, in many ways, my family, my community as a Latino, has experienced many of the same things and has many of the same aspirations. And I think the trajectory, the roadmap to get there, cuts through our communities in many different ways.”