tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post3075403290317990615..comments2023-10-31T05:07:19.353-04:00Comments on Delenda est Carthago: Swinging for the FenceDr. Φhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-15797860192125171592014-12-23T08:07:24.221-05:002014-12-23T08:07:24.221-05:00"The standard narrative is that Asians went D..."The standard narrative is that Asians went Democrat in the aftermath of the Wen Ho Lee fiasco."<br /><br />I don't agree with that. I went to college in California in the 1980s, and all the Asians (both East and South) I knew, with only one exception, were Democrats - and in some cases, Communists.<br /><br />The Asian Democrats I talk to these days are still staunchly pro-Affirmative Action. Even though it negatively affects them. Don't ask me why.<br /><br />All the Asians I know are of the college-educated, office-worker variety. None of them operate small businesses in the inner city or deal with blacks on a daily basis. Possibly this gives them an unrealistic view of the problem in the same way that it does for white and Jewish liberals.Dexterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07748293799490877339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-8208720077346096572014-12-12T18:02:36.518-05:002014-12-12T18:02:36.518-05:00Incidentally, one of the most interesting conversa...Incidentally, one of the most interesting conversations I ever witnessed on the subjects was almost entirely between Asians and Asian-Americans at that large software company I used to work for.<br /><br />Within earshot, couple guys (a thoroughly assimilated Turkish-American and a white guy) said something back and forth, mocking the anti-AA position. A couple Indian H1-B's asked what "Affirmative action" is and I explained it. The Indians said that it sounded good because of America's race problems.<br /><br />At that point, a couple of East Asian-Americans jumped in, saying that it was all a bunch of BS. One in particular was very adamant. He described it more forcefully than I had, and in a way that reminded them of something else.<br /><br />Anyway, turns out that in India they have a caste-based system that these guys were on the wrong side of it. By the end of the conversation, they were converts (though, of course, they can't vote).<br /><br />(My own view on AA is relatively indifferent. I used to be softly in favor of it, but a certain Asian-American former co-blogger of mine actually got me to switch sides. Still softly, though.)<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-89705898869301026692014-12-12T17:55:12.299-05:002014-12-12T17:55:12.299-05:00Hurm. I don't buy the Win Ho Lee narrative at ...Hurm. I don't buy the Win Ho Lee narrative at all. It also doesn't explain Bush's decent showing, albeit not a majority, among Asian-American voters. It really wasn't until 2008 that the bottom fell out, and that's pretty far removed from WHL.<br /><br />I don't think any one thing explains it, to be sure, but that has less truck with me than any explanation I've heard (from R or D).<br /><br />I do know <i>a large</i> number of Asian-Americans who once identified as Republican who know longer do. Not a representative sample at all, as they disproportionately track to UMC, so this is a subject that interests me.<br /><br />I would love to see some good polling data on Asian-Americans and affirmative action. Right now that which exists doesn't suggest it's an issue that has a whole lot of traction with them. That runs <i>entirely</i> contrary to observational experience, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-74005147549069890952014-12-11T20:37:21.426-05:002014-12-11T20:37:21.426-05:00The standard narrative is that Asians went Democra...The standard narrative is that Asians went Democrat in the aftermath of the Wen Ho Lee fiasco. Notwithstanding that it was of the Clinton administration's creation, the perceived persecution of Lee provoked a sense of minoritarianism among Asians, which the Democrats were well positioned to exploit.<br /><br />The advantage of the affirmative action issue is that it gives Republicans the opportunity to utter the phrase "whites and Asians" a million times in reference to affirmative action's losers. The subtext is, "you're in the boat with us, not the boat with them."Dr. Φhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-11089117375855919252014-12-11T19:09:13.721-05:002014-12-11T19:09:13.721-05:00I have to confess a part of me has wondered if the...I have to confess a part of me has wondered if the de-emphasis the GOP has put on affirmative action since the 90's played a role in Asian-American indifference. That is an issue where their views can be (and maybe are) aligned. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com