[KS] Re: voting rights [was: Koreans in Japan]

[Dr. John Caruso Jr.]

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Yes, allowing Green Card holders in the USA to vote in local elections would
be progressive...right after US citizens in the District of Columbia and
Puerto Rico get to vote for Congresspersons and Senators.

John

----- Original Message -----
From: "k u s h i b o" <jdh95 at hitel.net>
To: <korean-studies at iic.edu>
Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2000 5:37 PM
Subject: voting rights [was: Koreans in Japan]


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> Dr. John Caruso Jr. wrote:
> > This report is from March 2000 - does anyone know if the Japanese diet
> > approved letting Koreans vote in local elections?
> >
> > John
> >
> > More political rights for Koreans in Japan
> >
> > Ethnic Koreans who gained permanent residency status in Japan will enjoy
> > more political rights, including the right to vote during local
elections.
> > This is what visiting Japanese foreign minister Yohei Kono told the
Korean
> > foreign minister during his visit to Korea.  The right to vote has been
> > incorporated in a bill which the Japanese parliament will most likely
pass
> > in May.  The visiting Japanese foreign minister also visited an
apartment
> > complex outside Seoul occupied by hundreds of ethnic Koreans who moved
into
> > South Korea from the Russian island of Sakhalin.  The Japanese brought
> > 43,000 of them there to work in coalmines and airstrips during World War
II.
> > The Seoul government began accepting them as citizens in 1992.
>
> I often have CNN-I playing in the background at my home, and while coming
> out of the shower a couple days ago, I thought I heard them mention
> something significant having been done in relation to the bill. But alas,
I
> could find nothing about it on-line.
>
> Given that, according to the *chaeil kyopo* that I know, becoming
> "naturalized" as a Japanese citizen isn't particularly difficult for the
> majority of Japanese-born Korean passport-holders, this situation with the
> Korean citizens in Japan is rather interesting.
>
> I am not for a moment denying that there is systemic discrimination
against
> ethnic Koreans, Taiwanese, and Okinawans, or that obtaining Japanese
> citizenship eliminates all discrimination. But, one must put this into
some
> perspective. Even in the US, the rough equivalent (i.e., green card
holders)
> don't share all the rights and privileges of those with full citizenship.
> For example, while in college I've held several jobs from which a green
card
> holder would likely have been barred (summer jobs in the defense industry
> that required security passes), or so I was told. Granted, though, the
> restrictions on "foreigners" in Japan are far more extensive, and involve
> far wider portions of the economic spectrum.
>
> But consider this voting issue. Could you imagine allowing green card
> holders in the US to vote for mayors, city council members, county
> supervisors, state representatives, or governors? (I'm not sure how far up
> these proposed voting rights would go in Japan). Personally, I don't see
> anything wrong with it. After all, such people (i.e., green card holders
in
> the US and ethnic Koreans in Japan without Japanese citizenship) do
> contribute to the local economy and they pay into the local tax base, so
> they ought to have some say as to what kind of policies are put forth to
> spend their tax dollars and tax yen, and any other policy that affects
their
> lives.
>
> But I don't think it would play in Peoria. I'm from a state where one side
> of the political spectrum frequently uses immigrant phobia to try to whip
> the native-born public up into a frenzy, and I just don't see this kind of
> thing happening there. But I do see the offering of such rights as a way
to
> prevent immigrant-bashing, so it would be a nice step in the evolution of
> suffrage:
>
> Voting rights for rich, White, male citizens.
> Voting rights for White, male citizens.
> Voting rights for male citizens.
> Voting rights for citizens.
> Voting rights for citizens and permanent residents.
>
> Just some early morning thoughts.
>
> K U S H I B O
>
>