For Andrew Yang, Getting Noticed Means Getting Over the Humility in His Cultural DNA

Op Ed By Haney Hong

Let’s see if this column contains more words than Andrew Yang will speak in the next Democratic Presidential debate.  If it does have more words, this doesn’t mean I’m somehow more presidential and ready for the highest office of the land than he is.  If it doesn’t though, good -- that means we’ve heard more from this tech entrepreneur.

Parts of the political punditry have confused the number of words spoken by Mr. Yang in the June debates as some lower measure of his strength as a presidential candidate vis-à-vis the others on stage.  Rolling Stone gave him a “C-“ simply because he didn’t say more. A journalist actually got paid to put a bar graph together with the total number of words spoken by each candidate — as if that matters.  

Like many Asian Americans, I could picture myself in his shoes.  I can imagine myself having the same kind of performance and then hearing similar criticism from the public.  In fact, I’m reminded of a time I had to debate a local measure San Diegans were considering, and I was one of three public speakers.  And lucky me. I was seated between two really loud and frankly obnoxious individuals.  

I hadn’t gotten a lot of words into the discussion.  I also got frequently interrupted, and I distinctly remember saying, “Senator, I’ve repeatedly given you the courtesy of allowing you to finish your thoughts.  Please allow me to do the same.”

I realized then what I feel was true for Mr. Yang in the June debates.  There are some value differences that drive how I communicate with others, and these differences come from my Asian heritage.  We have some core tenets in Asian households.  

One is humility.  Looking back to my childhood, I have no idea how many times I must have heard this phrase: be humble.  Don’t brag; don’t show off. Any time my family encountered a neighbor who was a bit flashy or a family who was a little sporty, I could see the distaste in my parents’ faces.  To be clear, my parents weren’t envious; they could have easily been as flashy or sporty. The distaste came from a clear value conflict between what they themselves learned growing up and what was on display by others.

Another core tenet: respect your elders.  That’s a line I still hear in my family to this day, and I’m almost forty.  It doesn’t matter if I have better credentials or if I’ve done more stuff in the world.  I was taught to presume that someone older is wiser and that I should aim to learn from said elder.  I should be deferential.    

These two core tenets were ingrained deeply in me.  They’re a part of my DNA. And if I were a betting man, I’d guess that these core tenets are part of Mr. Yang’s DNA, too.  They’re why I struggled in one debate a couple years ago, and they’re why Mr. Yang struggled in his performance last month.  We don’t want to be the showman, the performer — that’s not being humble. We also have a hard time interrupting others, especially when they’re our elders.  Yang is only 44.

In my role as the president and CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, I’ve had to learn how to suppress my DNA to be effective in fighting for the taxpayer.  I now appreciate this Millennial concept my youngest staff have taught me: do the “humble brag” so folks know what I’m doing. I have also accepted that I’ve confronted some elders who are just plain wrong.  

And it does seem that Mr. Yang is now managing this conflict his Asian heritage has caused.  In spite of what many have characterized as a lackluster performance, Mr. Yang has already qualified for the next two debates.  And he’s qualified faster than some of the other household names with familiar titles like governor and senator — ironically, I learned that from a brag on his website.  And he’s getting some press attention by disagreeing with the media elites who run the debates and decide who gets to talk. I think he has learned a lot.

Adaptation is good.  Even if I don’t agree 100% with where he stands on policy, I can at least appreciate the nimbleness he is demonstrating.  That’s a sign that he’s not of the same dogmatic type who we often elect to our own peril.

Here’s the good thing about Andrew Yang: he’s listening, and he’s learning.  Those traits are much more important leadership qualities than filling air time with a bunch of meaningless words.