A point is made during the fascinating documentary First Vote that by the year 2055, the majority of legal immigrants to the U.S. will be Asian-American. That simple projection might almost suggest commonalities among Asian-Americans in terms of perspective and politics, but of course, that’s not true. As we see in First Vote, Asian-Americans are as hopelessly divided along political lines as any other group in the country, with few points of connection.
Filmmaker Yi Chen introduces us to four individuals in election battleground states Ohio and North Carolina, and we soon see a microcosm in one demographic community of the chasm in political perception that has imperiled the nation.
Lance Chen is a Chinese immigrant and professor at the University of Dayton who became a citizen in 2016. He is a passionate Republican in Ohio, at one point caught on camera shaking the hand of then-Vice President Mike Pence and committing himself to help out with the “ground game” for the next election. Sue Googe, also an immigrant from China, is a real estate business mogul and proud owner of an AK-47. The latter appears with her in a campaign poster for her unsuccessful Tea Party bid for a congressional seat in North Carolina.
Elsewhere in that state, Kaiser Kuo is a writer, musician, and avid Democratic activist with a podcast about issues pertaining to Asian Americans. Finally, Jennifer Ho is a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She brings compelling insights about racism to her teaching, lamenting that in the U.S. “we can’t find common ground” any longer.
Yi spends an equal amount of time with each of them, prompting us to wonder what it would take to get the foursome together for a real dialogue. Such an event would never happen, but at least it becomes clear why that’s so. Yi knows that the inevitable conclusion is reached early in the film, thus leaving a lot of time to fill with dynamic footage. Much of that comes from one of Ho’s classes at Chapel Hill, where the subject of “whiteness” is dissected by students.
Later on that campus, a Black Lives Matter rally later results in the toppling of a statue of a Confederate general, a scene, unfortunately, more distressing than heroic for the rabid mob mentality captured on camera. The sight of Googe fiddling with her AK is positively surreal, and we fitness her awkward campaign appearance at a lightly attended right-wing rally.
Chen’s drive and earnestness to be an engaged American makes him a sympathetic figure, no matter what one thinks of his MAGA brand. And Kuo is a powerful presence, his long hair and professional manner on his podcast episodes making him someone you wish you knew better. Strongly recommended. Aud: I, J, H, C, P.