Asian Americans, without a doubt, have been the most visible opponents to SCA5, the just blocked California bill that would have proposed a state constitutional amendment to reinstate race as a factor for admissions into California universities.
Others opposed have been content to let Asian Americans do the work for them.
So what accounts for this shift away from a traditionally Democratic issue by Asian Americans? This is especially a valid question given that Asian Americans lean Democratic and according to exit polls, 73 percent voted for Barack Obama in 2012.
California Magazine took a look at that issue to get a better sense of what factors might be at play.
It’s no secret among researchers that the more educated one is, the more liberal they tend to be. But that theory doesn’t always seem to hold.
“Those who are most highly achieving with respect to higher ed tend not to be supportive of anything that they might worry would undermine their place,” said Laura Stoker, a UC Berkeley political science professor. “It might have nothing to do with ethnicity itself, per se, but educational attainment.”
74 percent of Taiwanese Americans, 71 percent of Indian Americans and 52 percent of mainland Chinese Americans have a bachelor degree or higher.
Those statistics would seem to back Stoker’s theory. But another set of statistics seem to contradict it.
The 2013 National Asian American Survey released this past June show that Asian Americans support affirmative action by a 3-1 margin.
So again, we go back to the question, what does this all mean? Karthick Ramakrishnan, a political science professor at UC Riverside, headed up that survey.
He says most of the political activism in the Asian American community has come from civil rights groups such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice.
“These civil rights organizations are not as connected to Asian Americans who are wealthier and that leaves a potential opening.” said Ramarkrishnan.
So where do Asian Americans go from here? Has SCA5 awaken the more conservative members of the Asian American community? Should Democrats be concerned? You can find out more about the in California Magazine.
