Sneha Venkateswaran

November 17, 2008

Thuy Linh Tu, Minh-Ha T. Pham

Using the course texts as well as outside sources, discuss the role of race in this year's presidential
election, specifically the significance of the "Asian American vote."

The Asian American Political Voice

“America is a place where all things are possible… It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich

and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled

and not disabled.” Barack Obama spoke these words during his victory speech in the 2008 Presidential

Elections. Within this statement, Obama includes every major racial formation in the United States today,

including Asians. But Obama only nominally addresses each racial formation, in conjunction with age,

societal status, sexuality, and ability. Obama thereby only deals with each racial formation on the surface

level, without considering the implications of his words – and so I question whether America really is a

place where all things are possible for everyone. In this year’s election, I noticed that race definitely

played a huge role in the voting. However, I would argue that the Asian American vote was not given as

much importance as the votes of other racial formations due to the fact that Asian Americans lack a

concrete political bloc. My argument is three-fold: after defining my key terms, I will talk about how

other racial formations have political power through their respective political blocs; then I will proceed to

discuss the fact that the numerous intra-racial differences within the Asian American racial formation

leads to a lack of political unity; and finally I will explain that due to the newfound Orientalism after

September 11, many Asian Americans engage in docile patriotism. This three-fold argument goes to show

that only racial formations with concrete political blocs were considered to be of great significance in the

2008 Presidential Election.

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 A few terms require definitions. The Asian American vote is a term formed by community

organizers who try to give the Asian American racial formation a political voice by reaching out to and

attempting to organize the Asian American community. For example, “Asian Americans for Obama” was

a community organization looking to unite Asian Americans who were in favor of electing Senator

Obama for president. Another term that needs defining is political bloc, which is a group of people that

shares a common political aim. Political blocs are a way of organizing, understanding, and interpreting

the different voices in a community. Finally, I need to define the word importance (from my thesis).

When I use the word importance, I refer to the acknowledgement and recognition given – primarily by the

U.S. media. I will deal with the media primarily simply because it shapes both individual and societal

beliefs and values. In this case, the lack of media exposure for Asian Americans in regards to politics

affects the way American society perceives Asian Americans and the way Asian Americans perceive

themselves. This idea will be further expanded upon in following paragraphs.

I watched the full election coverage on CNN the night of November fourth and almost

immediately noticed how frequently the white, black, and Latino votes were mentioned. However, I did

not once hear the Asian American vote mentioned. Why? The crucial difference lies in the fact that the

white, black, and Latino racial formations all have more well-defined political blocs than the Asian

American racial formation does. As Matt Bai suggests, voting behavior to an extent is tied to our racial

identity. “Given the fact that he is not, in fact, a white male, Obama would seem to face an even-less-

forgiving landscape among white-male voters… Obama might be losing as many as six percentage points

nationally because he’s black” (Bai 8). There were lower-educated white voters who chose to vote for

John McCain over Obama simply because of Obama’s skin color. These voters felt racial affinity towards

McCain, the white candidate. Thus, voting tied to racial identity can be seen within political blocs formed

within a specific racial formation. Similarly, black voters were largely in favor of Barack Obama.

According to CNN, from the blacks who voted, 96% of them voted for Obama. Many blacks voted for

Obama in knowing that a black president would bring their racial formation great pride: “The

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psychological advantage of waking up knowing and seeing almost every day the leader of the free world

as a member of your own tribe brings pride even to the most cynical critic” (Cardwell 2). There was

strong political unity within the black political bloc as the members shared the common political goal of

electing the first black president of the United States of America – and this gave the black racial

formation political power in this year’s election. Thus, voting patterns can be seen in political blocs. In

the white political bloc, it was noted that Obama’s skin posed as a color barrier with lower-educated black

voters. In the black political bloc, it was observed that Obama’s skin color helped him gain many

supporters. It remains difficult however, to find voting patterns within the Asian American racial

formation, which can be explained by the fact that Asian Americans do not have a concrete political bloc.

Yet for a racial formation that does have a developed political bloc, its votes are more widely recognized

(particularly by the media), allowing it to gain political voice and power.

Why did the media, for the most part, not consider the importance of the Asian American vote? I

strongly believe it is due to the fact that Asian Americans lack political unity. This lack of political unity

is mainly caused by the several intra-racial differences within the Asian American racial formation. Pei-te

Lien, in the text “What Ties that Bind”, surveyed Asian American political affinities but could not find a

solidified common political aim or belief. There were simply too many different types of Asian

Americans – Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Indian, and Vietnamese – for them all to fall into bloc

vote. In accordance with Lien, Jesse Washington’s article “Growing Asian-American Vote Sheds Passive

Past” also suggests that Asian Americans cannot be thought of as a single, monolithic political bloc:

“Asian attitudes toward the two presidential candidates are as varied as the nations stretching from India

to Malaysia to Japan, lumped into one racial category by the U.S. Census” (Washington). The term

“Asian American vote”, however, somehow implies homogeneity within the Asian American racial

formation. “Political unity [is linked] to political empowerment” (Lien 171). This theory resonates with

many events in history, such as the African American Civil Rights Movement. But currently, Asian

Americans lack political unity and are thus politically disempowered in relation to other racial formations

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in the U.S. In order for the media to widely recognize the Asian American vote, Asian Americans need to

politically unify. This, however, remains difficult because of the heterogeneity within the Asian American

racial formation.

Finally, I believe that due to September 11 and the newfound Orientalism that arose from it,

many Asian Americans engage in docile patriotism today. This docile patriotism disallows Asian

Americans from having a strong political voice. In order to substantiate this idea, I will refer to the text

“Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorism and the Production of Docile Patriots” by Jasbir K. Puar

and Amit S. Rai. Puar and Rai claim that post September 11, there has been a new racial formation of

Arab Americans as being sexually perverse terrorists. This has affected other Asian Americans as well.

The Asian Americans are impacted by the Orientalist notion that the East is sexually deviant, while the

West (specifically America) is sexually normative. This Orientalist notion has made Asian Americans

docile patriots, pushing them to try even harder to assimilate into American society. 9/11 became the

pretext for even more discrimination against Asian Americans. Sikhs, for example, were mistaken for

supporters of Osama Bin Laden because of their turbans. This actually made many Sikhs in the United

States stop wearing their turbans.

Much mainstream Sikh response has focused on getting the attention of white America,

intent on renarrating themselves through American nationalism as respectable,

exemplary, model minority citizens who have held vigils, donated blood and funds to the

Red Cross, and were quick to cover their gurudwaras in American flags. (Puar & Rai

138)

In response to the racism they faced, the Sikhs made sure they were seen as good American citizens.

Asian Americans, therefore, have to refashion themselves as docile patriots of the United States of

America – otherwise they faced the risk of being ostracized as sexually perverse terrorist-monsters.

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 Docile patriotism allows for little political voice and thereby little power. As Washington writes,

Asian Americans are “passive participants in American politics”. In the same article, Vietnamese

American Loc Pfeiffer comments that Asian culture is very obedient: “There's the assumption that you

give up all your individual rights for the whole”. Asian Americans do not actively voice individual

opinions, which is why I believe they lack political voice. Asian Americans also have to contend with the

“notion of being outsiders, foreigners, of being outside the social dialogue of the United States”

(Washington). Despite the years of assimilation into American society, Asian Americans still deal with

Orientalism and its implied idea of “insider” and “outsider”. As “outsiders”, Asian Americans are not

given much political power and the Asian American vote is not given importance.

In this election however, Asian Americans were less politically passive and more politically

unified compared to prior presidential elections. Although it is heavily understated by the media, an

overwhelming amount of Asian Americans voted for Barack Obama. According to the Asian American

Institute, 81% of the Asian Americans who voted chose to vote for Obama, while only 16% voted for

McCain (Lariosa). “Some say Barack Obama's rise from humble origins resonates with many Asians who

value education and hard work as the keys to success and have been forced to fit their heritage into an

American framework” (Washington). Also, Obama grew up in Hawaii, a place with an Asian American

majority. Thus, Obama shares a more similar identity with Asian Americans than McCain does, making

Obama the more relatable, favorable candidate. The fact that Asian Americans showed some political

unity in this year’s election gives hope that one day there will be a centralized Asian American political

bloc with a recognized voice. When the media recognizes the Asian American vote, Asian Americans will

begin to value their own political voice more, which I think is crucial.

Although there was some political unity within the Asian American racial formation in the 2008

Presidential Election, a stronger coalition can still be formed. Yet before Asian Americans can think of

forming a monolithic Asian American political bloc, I think that more of them actually need to participate

in electoral politics. Because around two-thirds of the Asian Americans are foreign-born (according to
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Washington), many of them are not citizens of the United States. Also, many Asian Americans do not

register to vote because of language barriers and inadequate education. Lien asserts at the end of the

chapter that “the greater threat to the prospect of political empowerment for Asian Americans today is not

divided participation but nonparticipation” (Lien 197). He suggests that a political bloc is not as crucial as

political participation. Until more Asian Americans get out to vote, there cannot be political unity and

subsequent political empowerment within the Asian American community. The Asian American vote

needs to become more significant in numbers. Only then can Obama’s words widely resonate among

Asian Americans: “America is a place where all things are possible”.

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 References

Cardwell, Diane. “Daring to Believe, Blacks Savor Obama Victory.” New York Times on the Web 5

Jan. 2008. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/

05race.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>.

Lariosa, Joseph G. “Asian-Americans Voted Overwhelmingly for Obama.” GMA News on the Web

13 Nov. 2008. 15 Nov. 2008 <http://www.gmanews.tv/story/133328/Asian-Americans-voted-

overwhelmingly-for-Obama>.

Obama, Barack. “Victory Speech.” 2008 Presidential Elections. United States of America

Government. Grant Park, Illinois. 4 Nov. 2004.

Washington, Jesse. “Growing Asian-American Vote Sheds Passive Past.” Yahoo! News on the

Web 26 Oct. 2008. 12 Nov. 2008 <http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081026/ap_on_el_pr/

the_asian_vote>.