# Will a Chinese-American ever be considered electable as President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 27, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601 "2015-06-27T05:03:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/41 "2015-07-24T02:55:02Z")
I’d note that Japanese-Americans were rather traumatically shown the necessity of getting involved in US politics. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/42 "2015-07-24T04:42:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’d note that Japanese-Americans were rather traumatically shown the necessity of getting involved in US politics. That’s a nice observation, but I’ve never read anything by any J-A politician to suggest that the WWII internments (if that’s what you meant) were a major motivation for entering politics. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/43 "2015-07-24T13:39:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m sure you have data regarding Chinese-American law school applicants to back up that assertion, right? I’d hate to think you were pulling it out of your arse. Especially since you seem to think Indian-Americans are more likely to be steered into law, and that Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal were lawyers before seeking public office. Are you just trying to prove your screen name isn’'t a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/44 "2015-07-24T13:52:03Z")
So, no? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/45 "2015-07-24T14:23:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > So, no? First, you will search in vain for ANYWHERE I even implied that Nikki Haley or Bobby Jindal were lawyers. Look again, and confirm this fact. Perhaps you imagined you saw such a thing. Or perhaps YOUR head was up your “arse.” Second, I used Haley and Jindal solely to illustrate that even conservative Southern white voters have gladly pulled the lever for Indian candidates for high office. Why would anyone assume they WOULDN’T vote for qualified Chinese-American candidates? Third, check out who represents heavily Chinese districts in Congress. Does a Chinese-American represent San Francisco’s Chinatown, or New York’s Chinatown? Nope. Chinese-Americans simply don’t vote their numbers. They have the clout to elect their own to high office, but rarely do. Get the idea that maybe, just MAYBE, they don’t care about politics as much as other ethnic groups do? Asian candidates do fine in elections when they bother to run. They just don’t run very often. For what it’s worth, the handful of Asians who ARE representing mainland US states in Congress today (Mike Honda, Doris Matsui, Judy Chu, Ami Bera, Tammy Duckworth, Bobby Scott and Grace Meng) all represent districts that are mostly NON- Asian. Finally, since you crave “numbers,” let’s look at the subjects Asian-Americans tend to pursue when they are admitted to prestigious colleges and universities. 35% of the medical students at Harvard are Asian or Asian-American. Meanwhile, just 11.8% of Harvard law students are Asian. [https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/facts-figures](https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/facts-figures) [http://law-schools.startclass.com/compare/73-100/Harvard-University-vs-Columbia-University](http://law-schools.startclass.com/compare/73-100/Harvard-University-vs-Columbia-University) Does that NOT seem like a significant discrepancy to you? Does it not APPEAR that smart Asian kids would rather study medicine than law? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/46 "2015-07-24T14:37:04Z")
At this point, I wouldn’t count out anyone based on race or gender. The barrier to a Chinese American becoming president isn’t so much that there’s racism against that group, as much as there’s no one of that ethnicity on the political horizon to be taken seriously as a candidate, but that all could change as quickly as by 2016 or 2020. After all, Obama wasn’t elected because “America is ready for a black president” he was elected because he had the message that America wanted at the time. I think that he is black served more to harm his election than help, and I also think that general racism against blacks is stronger than against the Chinese. That all said, I do think there are some groups that have virtually no chance in the foreseeable future. As mentioned upthread, I think religion is still going to be a problem. I could potentially see someone who is Jewish getting elected, but I couldn’t see someone who is Atheist or some religion other than Christianity, particularly Muslim, anytime soon. I also don’t see anyone who is gay is electable as president now either. I think, for many people, it’s one thing to allow gays to marry, but it’s something else to put them in a position of power. Though, I think once gay marriage is just seen as fairly normal, maybe in 20-30 years, it’s a possibility. But back on topic, I think if a Chinese American politician could have a meteoric rise akin to Obama over the next few years and get in the national spotlight, he could be electable in 2024. I don’t think there’s enough time for an unknown that’s not a governor or at least a senator now could get enough support to be elected as soon as 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/47 "2015-07-24T14:45:43Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > First, you will search in vain for ANYWHERE I even implied that Nikki Haley or Bobby Jindal were lawyers. Look again, and confirm this fact. Perhaps you imagined you saw such a thing. Or perhaps YOUR head was up your “arse.” Second, I used Haley and Jindal solely to illustrate that even conservative Southern white voters have gladly pulled the lever for Indian candidates for high office. Why would anyone assume they WOULDN’T vote for qualified Chinese-American candidates? [/quote] Fair enough, and I apologize. > [@](#): > > Finally, since you crave “numbers,” let’s look at the subjects Asian-Americans tend to pursue when they are admitted to prestigious colleges and universities. > > 35% of the medical students at Harvard are Asian or Asian-American. Meanwhile, just 11.8% of Harvard law students are Asian. > > [https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/facts-figures](https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/facts-figures) > [http://law-schools.startclass.com/compare/73-100/Harvard-University-vs-Columbia-University](http://law-schools.startclass.com/compare/73-100/Harvard-University-vs-Columbia-University) > > Does that NOT seem like a significant discrepancy to you? Does it not APPEAR that smart Asian kids would rather study medicine than law? It appears that smart Asian kids are _accepted_ into medical school in greater numbers than law school. That likely says very little about where their families are pushing them, and a great deal about how different graduate programs implement race-conscious admissions criteria. You also moved the goalposts from “Chinese-American kids” to “Asians.” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/48 "2015-07-24T18:23:29Z")
> [@Blaster\_Master](#): > > …I think that [President Obama] is black served more to harm his election than help… I’ve seen some polling suggesting it was pretty much a wash. He fired up black voters and motivated white voters who were proud to show that they weren’t racist and were eager to cast a historic vote, but he also riled up racists and bigots. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/49 "2015-07-24T19:46:48Z")
Let’s start small: how many Chinese-American politicians are there, period? How many of them have even RUN for prominent elected offices? Perhaps there are far more than I think, but I’m not aware of many. The “problem” is not that white folks are bigots who refuse to vote for Chinese candidates. It’s more that Chinese candidates for office are few and far between. And there’s no obvious reason for that. There are plenty of districts with large Chinese populations, in which the Chinese vote could be a potent force, but which nonetheless elect white Congressmen. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/50 "2015-07-24T20:14:17Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Are you just trying to prove your screen name isn’'t a joke? Let’s just rein that in a bit. Getting personal is a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601/51 "2015-07-24T20:27:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The “problem” is not that white folks are bigots who refuse to vote for Chinese candidates. It’s more that Chinese candidates for office are few and far between. And there’s no obvious reason for that. There are plenty of districts with large Chinese populations, in which the Chinese vote could be a potent force, but which nonetheless elect white Congressmen. I can agree with your conclusions (that is, that there aren’t many Chinese-American candidates). I just don’t think your explanation really holds water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-chinese-american-ever-be-considered-electable-as-president/723601.md?page=2)