Asian-American Population Surges, But Voter Turnout Still Lacks

[yuiyoshida]

Beth Vang is a student at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University majoring in communications. She said in the Hmong culture there is a difference between young and old voters. Sometimes young people are more likely to move away from certain traditions. Phillip Jackson / News21

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Beth Vang grew up with a conflicted view of civic life. Vang, a 21-year-old college student, lives near St. Paul, Minnesota, in one of the largest Hmong communities in the U.S.

In traditional Hmong culture, Vang said only the elite discuss politics and government. Young people conform to their parent's ideologies. And personal politics take a backseat to community harmony.

But Vang is American. Her parents immigrated to the U.S. the year before she was born.

In school, she learned the importance of political education, the value of individualism, and the significance of issues affecting the public sphere.

She considers herself caught between the old world and the new.

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http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/asian-american-population-surges-voter-turnout-still-lacks-n633146?cid=sm_tw