Born to immigrant parents, State Senator Vin Gopal always had an “interest in government and politics.” Whether it was attending political rallies or interning under elected officials in college, Senator Gopal has had his toes dipped in the politics pool from the very start.
Senator Gopal is the first Indian-American to be elected as a senator in New Jersey. He previously served as Chair of the Senate Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee and currently chairs the Senate Education Committee in addition to being Senate Majority Conference Leader.
Senator Gopal is the main sponsor of bill S4021, which was passed on January 18, 2022, and requires high school classes to “teach AAPI history the same way they teach other aspects of American history.” He believes education is the way to tackle discrimination–especially with the recent rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans since 2020.
“When I was growing up, I never saw a lot of Asian American history in my textbooks,” recalled the 37-year-old in a Zoom interview, which was squeezed into his busy schedule and taken from his car. “The AAPI community, as a whole, is nearly 10% of New Jerseyans. It’s the fastest-growing minority population here [NJ]…They’re just really skyrocketing, so I think it’s important….that kids growing up know about the first folks of AAPI descent–how they came here, but also the early accomplishments of some of our trailblazer AAPI politicians, scientists, academics, and others…. Studies have shown that kids naturally have a fear of the unknown, and the more you can familiarise yourself with any minority group, it helps in eliminating discrimination as a whole.”
Senator Gopal draws a parallel to the recent experience of Asian Americans to the discrimination faced by other ethnic groups in the 19th century. “It’s no different than what the Irish and the Italian communities went through in the early 1900s…It’s more just about educating people, so they know and understand that everybody in every culture and religion has every opportunity to show what they’re about.”
Using his platform, Senator Vin Gopal advises new AAPI legislators to fight for issues that not only affect Asian American constituents but all constituents. “I have a lot of pride as an Asian American elected official, but I have to also recognize that percent of my district [which is] not AAPI, so [I need] to make sure that the needs of those communities are also being addressed,” said Senator Gopal.
Further, he emphasizes the importance of professional relationships to AAPI youth looking to make tangible changes. He recalls his first election, where he lost by a huge margin, but learned a lot through the experience. Just as the well-known quote states, “Failure isn’t fatal,” and it certainly wasn’t for Senator Gopal, who won New Jersey’s 11th district’s Senate seat in 2017 and was reelected in 2021.
“Life kind of has ups and downs”, said Senator Gopal. “Go through the experiences. Build relationships, and be willing to compromise.”
To find out more about Senator Vin Gopal and his work in the Senate, go to https://www.senatorgopal.com/.