Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jennie L. Ilustre
Photos courtesy of AOF
Born and raised in San Jose, Ca., Mineta and his family were among the Japanese Americans interned in camps during World War II. Since then, President Bill Clinton has appointed him the first Asian Pacific American (APA) Secretary of Commerce, President George W. Bush has named him Secretary of Commerce, and he has made history as Mayor, Congressman and Cabinet Member. Indeed, the San Jose International Airport in California now bears his name.
In May, Mineta will receive the Asian Hall of Fame Award, hosted by the Robert Chinn Foundation during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
From Boy to War
Growing up in San Jose, Mineta wasn’t aware of discrimination. In their neighborhood in San Jose (commonly referred to as Japantown), “there were the Aversentis, the Moritas, the Goscillas, the Minetas, the Murphys. When other towns were experiencing arson and night time attacks on homes and farms, we did not see that in San Jose,” Mineta said.
This changed rapidly however, after December 7, 1941. “We couldn’t buy things at certain stores because they wouldn’t sell to people of Japanese ancestry,” Mineta said. He remembers asking his father how people knew they were of Japanese descent.
This inequality made a big impression on him, and after the war, Mineta would begin his life as a public servant.
A Star Rises
Mineta’s political career started in 1967 when he was appointed to the San Jose City Council. In 1971, Mineta was elected 59th mayor of San Jose, defeating 14 other candidates and winning every precinct in the election. He was the first Asian American mayor of a major US city.
He represented the district as a member of the US Congress for two decades (1975 through 1995). During those years he worked with other lawmakers to pass major legislation, including The Civil Liberties Act of 1988. The law officially apologized for the injustices endured by Japanese Americans during World War II. He was also the principal author in 1991 of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), the first major re-write of any highway bill since President Eisenhower signed the National Defense Highway Act of 1956. ISTEA was considered landmark legislation and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) conferred on Mineta an Honorary Fellow of the ASCE. It was only the fifth one it had conferred since its founding in the 1890s.
No to Retirement
In November 2002, doctors discovered that Mineta had a staph infection that was eating away at his spine.
“After a major back operation that lasted some fifteen hours, my back is fine,” he said. “Even though I have 14 titanium screws, two rods and two plates in my back, I have no mobility problems and my health is fine. My only problems are the aches and pains of getting older. What was the title of that book? ‘Growing Old is Not for Sissies.'”
After his recovery, Mineta threw himself back into work. He became vice chairman at Hill and Knowlton Strategies in July 2006 after serving as Secretary of Transportation. After putting a 70-hour week for years, he heeded his wife Deni’s suggestion that the time was right for an alternative.
“I started to think about leaving Hill and Knowlton,” he said. “I didn’t want to quit working, so I set up Mineta and Associates, LLC and now have five clients that keep me busy and current in political and business issues. I’ve had too many friends who retired totally and then six months later, they’re dead. I didn’t want to be in the same boat.”
Paying it Forward
Although Mineta has achieved a lot during his lifetime, he is careful not to forget the help he has received along the way and devotes much of his energy to helping the next generation of Asian Americans. He is a co-founder of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), the Asian Pacific American Institute for American Congressional Studies (APAICS), and the American Opportunity Fund (with former congressman and Ambassador Gary Locke).
Currently, CAPAC has 13 Asian Pacific Americans in the House. But Mineta remembers that during his time, “There were so few of us that we could meet in a phone booth.”
Asian Hall of Fame
Mineta hopes that his story and his face in the Asian Hall of Fame will be an inspiration for other Asian Americans who carry on in his footsteps. “The award says to the community–because of the other honorees for the evening–that today, just about everything is possible,” he stressed.
Mineta will be honored alongside the likes of film and TV actress Grace Park; champion swimmer Nathan Adrian, holder of three Olympic gold medals from Beijing 2008 and London 2012, and NFL player (Seattle Seahawks) Manu Tuiasosopo.
Said Mineta, “If you dream big, think big, study hard, work hard, you can achieve your goals. Ten years ago, that wouldn’t have been the case. But today, the opportunities are really unlimited. If you work hard and do not give up, your dreams will come true.”
Other Honorees
This year the Robert Chinn Foundation is also honoring the following:
Grace Park – actress
Gary Locke – former secretary of commerce; US ambassador to China
Nathan Adrian – Olympic swimmer
MANU TUIASOSOPO – NFL football player
Teddy Zee – producer
Dr. Connie Mariano – doctor
George Tsutakawa – artist and architect
Yuji Okimoto – actor
Z. Z. Wei – actor
Rick Noji – high jumper
Apolo Ohno – Olympic speed skater
Richard Cho – engineer, director of Super Sonics
Loida Nicolas Lewis – lawyer, businesswoman, philanthropist, author
In His Own Words
Norman Y. Mineta graciously replied to questions on some of today’s major issues and also about his family.
What’s in store for the comprehensive immigration bill?
It’s too bad that the US Congress will not be able to get to some comprehensive reform bill. At the beginning of the First Session of this Congress, with all the time and effort that went into a bipartisan group that hammered out a compromise, it’s a shame that all of that effort has gone down the drain.
Is America ready for a woman President?
America is ready for a woman President. America means opportunities to attain whatever and wherever your dreams may want to take you within the bounds of our Constitution and laws.
I don’t subscribe to the melting pot theory of the United States in which all the ingredients are thrown into the pot and stirred and everything loses their identity. I see the United States of America as tapestry with yarns of different colors–each representing the art, the culture, the language, the religion, the whatever of the land of our fore bears–each yarn having its own strength and beauty and yet when woven together, it makes for a strong whole.
Please tell us about your family.
Deni and I have four sons and 9 grandchildren ranging in age from 14 months to 14 years old, living in Tennessee, California, Maryland and Virginia. They are all healthy and we are so fortunate to have really great sons and grandchildren, and we are so proud of each and every one of them! We try to see all of them regularly. But distance and time limit our chance to see them as much as we want.
David works in the White House as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the President’s Office for National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). In Redwood City, California, Stuart is a Captain on a CRJ for Sky West Airlines. Bob Brantner is a pilot for Delta Airlines. Mark Brantner owns his own business.
