What
is CAPA?
CAPA
has been serving the Chinese-American community in the San
Francisco, East Bay Area since 1984. We are a nonprofit,
nonpartisan
political association dedicated to political education.
As
we continue to grow, the task of our keeping
members informed
becomes increasingly difficult. Newsletters, meetings, and phone trees
soon become too cumbersome to quickly and easily spread news about
events and issues. Faced with this problem, CAPA has decided join the
Information Age and take grassroots to the Internet.
The
other way CAPA is changing our approach to
grassroots is by acknowledging how the political "game" is played. Racial
unity
as opposed to ethnic unity is the key to a strong
minority voice in government. The difference between ethnicity and race
is this: Ethnicity is defined by a person's cultural
background whereas race is defined by a person's physical
characteristics which are indigenous to certain parts of the
world. Ethnicity is often at the heart of grassroots, but race is where
the power is.
For example, CAPA's membership is ethnically Chinese-American. But in
politics, we identify ourselves as Asian Pacific-Islander American
(often abbreviated as APA or API), which is our current racial
category. In time, APA is likely to become an ethnicity in itself. But
as a racial category today, it carries more political clout than any of
the ethnic groups within this category.
Mission
The
Chinese American Political Association (CAPA) is a non-partisan,
non-profit, educational and political organization of the
Chinese-American community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in
1984, CAPA's mission is to raise the political awareness of
Chinese-Americans and to encourage and promote their active in the
political process of the United States.
Objectives
- To
assure Chinese-Americans the same inherent social privileges and
constitutional rights that are provided all U.S. citizens.
- To provide an effective voice
on issues and events of concern to Chinese-Americans.
- To endorse candidates for local, state and
national offices.
- To support and promote local, state, and
national issues which are in the best interest of Chinese-Americans.
- To oppose prejudice and discrimination against
Chinese-Americans.
