Evan Low. Date of birth is 06/05/1983, San Jose, California. Father is Arthur Low. Place of birth: Sacramento, California.
(Interviewer) And then his education and occupation?
UC Berkeley. And his occupation is optometrist. Mother is Stella Dee, and her place of birth is San Francisco, California.
(Interviewer) So Bay Area [Bay Area proud ] born and bread. Their education and occupation?
Occupation is retired now. Previously was working for the County of Santa Clara and education was a liberal arts.
…So I consider myself a fourth generation Californian speaking more Spanish to Chinese, being born and raised here in San Jose and oftentimes seen as a perpetual foreigner, not quite native to our own land. Similarly, though, when I had served previously as mayor of Campbell in the City Council, I was three generations more native to the community here in Santa Clara Valley and yet seen as a recent immigrant, whereas the first-generation Italian American was seen as that of patriotic and American during the time of the challenge with respect to our patriotism. And unfortunately, that's the stark reality that we're dealt with each and every day. But why? I am equally passionate about immigration reform and addressing these issues, about creating policies that are inclusive, especially when the narrative really is predominantly dominated by that of the Latino community. The fact of the matter is that our own Asian Pacific Islander experience is very important to have dialog around.
And why I say that is, as a fourth generation Californian, I am actually part of the family history here is that of a paper son, while my last legal name is Low, the actual real name is Wong. And if we think about the history of the experience of Asian Pacific Islanders, it was that of yes, my grandfather, who came through Angel Island and then eventually immigrated and made home in Sacramento, California, in which he worked two jobs, one at a place called Continental Can, and then part time at the well-known restaurant Frank Fats in Sacramento and downtown. So the experiences that is important for people to know is while I am a fourth generation Californian, if we remember our American history of Paper Sons, it's important to realize that the experiences that we have dealt with for Asian Pacific Islanders is very important. For those who may have recently immigrated to this country from the Asia Pacific Rim to and understanding that experience not necessarily fresh off the boat but fresh off the plane and the experiences of paper should be a reality that individuals should also recognize.
(Interviewer) What do you think is history that we should cover in public schools from K through 18?
With respect to the Asian American identity in the lens? Yes. Everything. So in California, part of the challenge that I know I had growing being born and raised here in San Jose is I did not know about my own identity and experience. In fact, graduating from Los Amigos Bret Hart and Leland High School from San Jose Unified School District, then transferring to De Anza Community College and then graduating from San Jose State. It wasn't until Asian American studies at De Anza College that had a sense of my own identity, and yet I would be able to say confidently now that my own educational experience and school district did me a significant disservice in which Leland High School had consisted of the largest student population consists of Asian Pacific Islanders, and yet we had no recognition of our own identity of American and California history. Pause for a second. If you talked about the experience of the African American experience or that of those of the Latino and Hispanic communities, women's suffrage, we had a general sense of knowledge of that. But when you talk about our own identity, we had no clue. And that leads to the challenge in which so many may be complacent and not knowing about the history that is part of the fabric of our American identity.