Despite all the rhetoric about the end of identity politics, it is alive and well. What everyone wants to know is why Hispanics turn out overwhelmingly for Clinton.
What noone seems to be asking is why Asians turn out EVEN MORE OVERWHELMINGLY for Clinton.
My take is that these groups support Hillary because they are more dependent on establishment Democratic party patronage than Hispanics. I think there is also more than a dose of racism. I also think that racism is more apparent to these groups than to white America so they don’t believe that Obama can beat a white male (and perhaps they are racist as well, noone disdains third class citizens more than second class citizens disdain them). They also have fond memories of the relative prosperity they enjoyed under Clinton. Finally, I think Obama has at least made attempts to reach out to the Hispanic community, he has made no such effort to reach out to the Asian community.
I was wondering about this myself, and this is what I came with.
The reason why many whites support Obama, I suspect, is because they are eager to see a likable black guy in a big position. Call it white liberal guilt, call it the desire to see a member of a stigmatized minority shine, or call it watermelon sassafras, it doesn’t matter. Whatever we call it, I think this pressure explains why white support for Obama and Clinton is about neck and neck.
Asians wouldn’t have reason to feel this desire as much, since their demographic group wasn’t responsible for creating the black underclass. On top of that, there may be some racism.
Not to say this the only reason why Asians are pro-Clinton. It may explain a part of it, though.
Awww. Damnit, here I thought I was bucking the trend, being an indivdual, by being a young person who was supporting Hill, not Obama. Now I know. It’s because I’m Asian. (South Asian–does that count?)
I was really surprised by this, because the main Asian American policital youth group in Chicago is firmly for Obama. I suppose the older Asians might lean towards Hillary though. There is a lot of racism still alive and well among first-generation and even second-generation Asian American communities, and the riots in Detriot and LA weren’t that long ago in some people’s minds.
Well, I kinda mispoke. I only meant that Asian Democrats are still chasing endorsements from establishment Democrats. This is no longer true of Black Democrats and is less true of Latino Democrats. It doesn’t explain all the difference but it may explain some of it. Prejudice probably explains a lot of the rest.
Asians in California broke for Clinton soemthing like 3 to 1.
Perhaps I’m a bit ignorant, but why is it that both hispanics and asians who don’t vote for Obama are instanly regarded as racist? Is there a lot of minority infighting that I’m unaware of?
Well, Obama is from Illinois, so that makes sense. And after the LA riots, there was considerable effort to make bridges between the Koreans who own all the corner markets in South LA and the residents who live there (who are now about half Latino, anyway). I don’t know how successful those efforts were, but I think everybody stood to learn a lesson: 1) be nice to your customers, and 2) don’t blame the Rodney King beating trial on people who have nothing to do with it.
I wonder about the results in Westminister in Orange County.
Whites don’t have the market cornered when it comes to racism. There were schools in Texas where the big racial problems were between blacks and Hispanics (yeah I know Hispanic isn’t a race) instead of the white/black problems we’ve all grown to love. At one of the places I worked I the majority of my coworkers were black and they said things at lunch about Asians and Jews that would have gotten me in big trouble had I said the same thing about black people.
I don’t mean to suggest that black people in the United States all exhibit this kind of behavior. It does, however, exist.
Marc
Edit: I think it is unfair for anyone assume that just because someone prefers Hillary over Obama it must be for racist reasons.
I’m (mostly) Asian-American, and I have many relatives who’ve lived in the states 30+ years who are still firmly prejudiced against blacks. They’re not hateful, for the most part, but every “nice” or “smart” black person they meet is considered slightly unusual. The majority of blacks are dumber and more violent than the rest of us. Many members of my family (including a parent) would have varying levels of freak-out if I married a black girl.
Living in China, I can see that the prejudice is even stronger, since it’s not tempered with the experience of actually interacting with blacks. Blacks here are sometimes outright feared (I know someone who was extremely upset that her friend left her alone when there was a black person at the bus stop with her), and they’re definitely not OK to marry. Even many younger more liberal-minded people I’ve met have an aversion to blacks, in some combination of fear, disdain, and disgust. There’s also a segment that are fine with blacks, but just think they’re not as capable (as evidenced by Africa’s plight, and the lower status of blacks in first-world countries). There are plenty of exceptions to this kind of thinking, of course, but this is a general trend.
As for me, Obama is the only one of the current viable candidates that I can stand. As a bonus, I like the thought of the lowest-status race occupying the seat of the most powerful person in the world.
It does seem odd, doesn’t it? I could make an equally compelling case, had Asians voted for Obama, that it was the result of sexism from their “strict and patriarchal culture,” and insert a few horror stories about foot-binding and infanticide. Ah, the Democratic race, where you’re either racist, sexist, or both.
Maybe the 75% who voted for Hillary overcame their sexism to satisfy their racism and the 25% who voted for Obama overcame their racism to satisfy their sexism. I’m so glad we are past identity politics.
McCain? Shit, they’re still pissed they didn’t kill him when they had the chance!
Uh, no. Barack Obama is not the first black Illinois politician to kick honkie ass statewide. Jesse White has a lifetime appointment as Secretary of State and having a state-famous tumbler troupe and not being especially crooked aren’t the only things keeping him in office. Okay, maybe the last part is a pleasant change of pace, but when The Other Paul Simon (Obama’s mentor) ran for president he’d discount his label as a Northern Liberal by saying that his home was as close to Atlanta as Chicago. Illinois is mostly rural white folk, or close to it, and those people are not easily swayed by White Liberal Guilt, yet both White and Obama ate the competition alive. As did Simon.
Bro, you know I’ve avoided the various fringes you reside in, but I’m agreeing with you there. That, and Obama’s not a WOMAN!
Heard some Clinton supporters the other day who were ranting about how men would support ANY man, even a–catching themselves–gentleman of color (okay, they didn’t go that far, but that was their direction given enough rope) rather than a woman. Such nonsense is why I use election years to catch up on my Books on Tape: much easier on the car radio.
What part of many are yall not getting? I’m not saying the only reason whites are voting for Obama is out of white liberal guilt. But I don’t see how it’s unfair to suppose that many are.
If people feel comfortable speculating that Latinos and Asians are motivated at least in part by racism, and the major assumption behind black voting behavior is that they are supporting one of their own, then why can’t we theorize on white voting behavior in similar fashion? Are we really supposed to believe that every other demographic group has racial motivations except for whites? Really?
(shrugging) I’d say that MOST white people, including Obama’s white supporters, haven’t given White Liberal Guilt any thought whatsoever, much less used it as the cornerstone of their selection process, but I pulled that statistic out of my ass, same way most of the statements in this thread were. If you have some PROOF of what you say I’d love to see it, but until then I’d say you were spouting bullshit and projecting onto white voters your beliefs of what white folks are like. Which, if it isn’t out-and-out racism, is prejudging people based on what you imagine them to be like.
