Born from immigrant parents, Norman Yoshio Mineta found himself growing up in the Heart Mountain Japanese internment camp in Wyoming. As a teenager, Mr. Mineta left the internment camp and returned home to San Jose to finish his education. He graduated in 1953 from UC Berkley with a degree in Business and quickly found himself serving as an intelligence officer for the U.S Army later that year.
From 1967 to 1971 Mr. Mineta served as a council member for the City of San Jose and progressed to be San Jose’s first Asian American Mayor in 1971. During his term as mayor, Mr. Mineta focused on public transportation issues throughout the city hoping to put the power of making decisions over transportation back into the local government.
After serving the City of San Jose, Mr. Mineta represented Silicon Valley on a greater scale in the House of Representatives between 1975-1995. Mineta had a broad legislative agenda that included major projects in the areas of economic development, science and technology policy, trade, transportation, the environment, intelligence, the budget and civil rights. It was at this time when he co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and served as its first chair. The creation of the caucus was Mr. Mineta’s method of ensuring that the voices of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities were heard and taken into consideration. More importantly, the caucus was to enhance the civic abilities of the API community, regardless of their race or citizenship.
While serving in Congress, Mr. Mineta was the power behind the H.R. 442. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 officially apologized for the social and political injustices that occurred to the Japanese community. This served as an important moment for the Japanese community because it forced the government to recognize its unlawful acts towards people of color, and held them accountable.
As Secretary of Transportation, under the George W. Bush Administration, Mr. Mineta was a key factor to ending racial profiling at airports following the 9/11 attack. In September 2001, he sent a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from racial profiling or discrimination against any passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic background or religion. In November 2001, San Jose International Airport was renamed after Norman Yoshio Mineta because of his great efforts.
Sources: Retrieved April 1, 2010 from
www.asianamerican.net/bios/Mineta-Norman.html
www.dot.gov/affairs/mineta.htm
www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/min0bio-1
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