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There’s a memory seared into my brain when I was 5 years old.

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It was the spring of 1942 when soldiers came marching up our driveway,

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stomped up the front porch and banged on the door

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and ordered our family out of our home.

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We were imprisoned behind barbed wired fences

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for four years for the duration of the war.

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Simply because we happened to look like the people that bombed Pearl Harbor.

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We were American Citizens.

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Yet, because of who we were, what we looked like,

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we were in prison without due process.

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It’s been 7 decades now we have made undreamed of advances.

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President Obama has had 3 Asian Americans on the Cabinet:

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Steven Chu, General Eric Shinseki and Gary Locke.

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We now have legislatures in the US Congress.

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But we have as an Asian American Community uh low voter registration.

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We got to be actively involved in the electoral process.

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And if you really appreciate the price that has been paid for that right,

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you should be in there participating, protecting our interests

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and in so doing making our democracy a truer democracy.

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We have a unique opportunity to support a president who is a part of us.

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He grew up in Hawaii, the ‘Aloha’ spirit, his sister’s half-Asian.

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He understands, and loves, the Asian-American community.

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President Obama’s record of helping to advance opportunities for Asian Americans

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has been remarkable.

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We support President Obama for re-election because of that fantastic record.

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I can’t urge you strongly enough to register to vote.

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To raise funds, to volunteer your time and energy,

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talk to your friends, talk to your relatives,

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it’s very important for all of us.

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For more information on how to get involved, go to

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Barackobama.com/aapi

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(subtitles based on the transcript in http://lybio.net/george-takei-weve-got-to-be-actively-involved-in-the-electoral-process/news-politics/)

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