Asian American political history happening left and right this week... On Tuesday night, the Cupertino City Council swore in its newly elected member, Barry Chang, making it the third city in the country and the only one in Northern California with an Asian American council majority: Cupertino makes history with Asian-American majority City Council.
Chang joined Gilbert Wong and Kris Wang on the five-member body, pushing the Cupertino City Council to an Asian American majority. The council selected Wang, mayor, and Wong, vice mayor. All three are Chinese American.
Cupertino is the second city in the South Bay where a majority of residents are Asian -- a rare cultural phenomenon even in one of the most diverse counties in the country. Asians also are a majority in Milpitas. Cupertino's Asian population now makes up 57 percent of its 55,623 residents, according to the most recent census data.
Only a handful of other cities in the continental U.S., excluding Hawaii, to have a majority Asian American City Council. In Southern California, Westminster and Monterey Park each have majority Asian American city councils. And, while not a majority, three Chinese Americans currently serve on the board of supervisors in San Francisco.
South Bay, represent! I guess this majority shift in the city council's makeup shouldn't be any kind of surprise. With such a huge and rapidly growing Asian population -- particularly over the last two decades -- I'm actually surprised the city council didn't look like this much sooner.
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