Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
(This picture has little to do with the subject, but... hey, why not?)
Rob Long sets us up a bomb on the main feed by asking why Asians aren't already Republicans. Then he quotes Charles Murray, he of the Bell Curve and Coming Apart fame, who thinks the reason is because the Republican brand is dominated by social conservatives:
This time I will explicitly offer a broader argument and then give the numbers. My thesis is that the GOP is in trouble across the electoral board because it has become identified in the public mind with social conservatism. Large numbers of Independents and Democrats who are naturally attracted to arguments of fiscal discipline, less government interference in daily life, greater personal responsibility, and free enterprise refuse to vote for Republicans because they are so put off by the positions and rhetoric of social conservatives, whom they take to represent the spirit of the “real” GOP.
I use Asian-Americans as an example of how powerfully this antipathy can alienate a naturally conservative voting bloc. Let it be clear: The causal link with social conservatism is asserted here, not proved. But the GOP had better take the hypothesis seriously.
And in the comments following Rob Long's post, various theories are floated by distinctly non-"Asian" folks, ranging from the idea that we're Confucianists, that we're all about illegal immigration, and so on.
Look, I can't speak for all "Asian-Americans" (a term fraught with peril, as we will shortly discuss), but having been a raging Marxist, and then a stereotypical Left-Progressive, and then a sorta-confused-squish-center-right and finally (so far) a "radical" Tea Party conservative ... I'll offer some thoughts here as to why "Asian-Americans" are not Republicans.
1. There Ain't No Such Thing as an Asian-American
The first point that must be made is that there is no such creature as an "Asian-American", at least not yet. I am a Korean-American. My wife is Chinese-American. My kids are Chorean-Americans. Neither of us know jack diddly squat about Vietnamese culture or language.
Confucianism is an important cultural element ... for Northeast Asians, such as Chinese, Koreans, and to some extent, Japanese. I have no idea whether Indians, Pakistanis, Thai, Cambodians and Bangladeshis are influenced at all by Confucius -- but I'm going to lean towards No.
Barkha Herman asked in the comments whether Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal are not Asians.
As the term is used here in the U.S., as opposed to in the UK, the answer is no. Sorry, you can try to be PC about it, but that's just the truth. No Indian walks into a Korean restaurant and feels at home; no Japanese guy goes to a Pakistani grocery to buy his miso.
So that's #1. There's no such thing as an "Asian-American", although the political forces of both Left and Right would dearly love to create such a thing. (I had raging fights with my school back in my university days, protesting the idea of "Dean of Asian-American Students".)
To the extent, then, that Murray or Rob Long or most folks think about "Asian-Americans", they really mean the dominant Northeast Triad of China, Japan, and Korea. (In Houston and SoCal, Vietnamese would be the 4th, but don't forget the large numbers of Viet-ching, i.e., Vietnamese of Chinese descent).
For example, all of the stats about success in education did not apply all that well to Southeast Asians (Vietnamese, Cambodians, Filipinos, Hmong, etc.) which caused all sorts of issues for "Asian-Americans" talking about stereotypes.
2. So Let's Talk about the Northeast Triad
Confining myself then to the Northeast Triad, which I know best, I do think Charles Murray makes an excellent point. But I think he misses the larger operating principle. (I think I'll call the NE Triad - Chinese, Japanese, and Korean -- by the term "Asian-American" since that's what most of y'all would think anyhow.)
It isn't that the Republican brand stands for Bible-thumping, anti-abortion, gay-bashers ... as much as it is that the Republican brand stands for stupidity. Again, this is a stereotype that is ludicrously inaccurate, but there's a reason why George W. Bush and Sarah Palin were attacked so viciously as being unintelligent. Why Richard Mourdock (whom I've met, and is a very thoughtful, very intelligent man) and Todd Akin were attacked not just as sexist, but as stupid and ignorant.
Now, speaking from personal experience, the distinguishing feature of Asian-American culture is the degree of importance we attach to academic achievement (which, by the way, is distinct from intelligence or common sense). There is literally no profession that is more revered than that of college professor. My entire childhood and teenage years were devoted to getting into the right college, and after that, the pressure was to become a professor of some sort or another. My parents were distinctly disappointed when I chose to go to law school instead of pursuing a Ph.D.
So reverence for teachers and professors is something that was/is very much stressed in Asian cultures. Imagine, then, what the influence of one's college professors at a place like, say, Princeton would be on an Asian-American young person.
Even if, however, one doesn't end up an academic, that whole attitude towards academic success, towards intelligence, towards credentials infuses our culture. It bleeds through outside of academic/intellectual circles. Two examples.
One of the few successful post-Boomer Asian-American authors is Chang-Rae Lee, who wrote, among others, Native Speaker and Aloft. My parents, uncles, and aunts told me about him. Dude is Exeter - Yale, and teaches at Princeton. They don't know Amy Tan, don't know Michiko Kikutani, but they do know the Yalie.
Why exactly do you suppose that Asian-American fans went nuts for Jeremy Lin? It wasn't just because he was ethnically Chinese. Hines Ward is ethnically Korean; Tiger Woods is ethnically Thai. No Asian-American went nuts over them. Hint: it has to do with where Linsanity got his BA.
3. It's Not the Social Conservatism; It's the Perception of Anti-Intellectualism
So I disagree with the esteemed Professor Murray. I don't think that evangelicals and social conservatives hurt the Republican brand with Asian-Americans. After all, have you ever stepped foot in a campus ministry meeting on our elite college campuses? Huge chunks of IVCF, CCC, and other evangelical student movements are Asian-Americans.
No, I think the problem is that very significant elements of the Republican "brand" have an anti-intellectual bias to them. For example, the "brand identity" of Catholic priests (especially Jesuits) is that of rigorous classical scholarship; the "brand identity" of evangelical ministers is televangelists with mega-churches and rock bands. I love me some Joel Osteen, but I don't think anyone confuses him for an intellectual.
Elements of the Republican Party, and the conservative movement in general, embrace American culture. Things like the NFL, NASCAR, bowling, hunting, fishing. All are wonderful, and there are brilliant men and women who love all of those things. But the patina of perception around such American culture is one of physical vs. intellectual, of body vs. brain.
And ... let's be honest here. There are some elements of the conservative movement that look down on the pinhead credentialed intelligentsia that come up with some of the most ridiculous stuff ever seen.
Personal anecdote time. A good friend of mine is a doctor, living in a deep red state. He's a second-generation Korean-American who graduated from Yale. He's an evangelical Christian, married to an evangelical Christian (who happens to be white, from Texas, and a doctor). His parents came here with $50 in their pockets, worked their butts off, and passed on the immigrant work ethic to him. He's fiscally conservative. He's socially conservative. He voted for Romney. That Bible-thumping, anti-gay, anti-abortion creationist that Murray rails against? That's him.
He's not a Republican. He voted for Obama in '08.
If you can't get that guy to be a Republican, then kicking out every social conservative won't make a whit of difference.
4. So, How To Appeal to Asian-Americans
That's all fine and dandy, but ... what do we Republicans do about this?
My answer, as the "target market", is to stop trying the divide and conquer ethnic tribal game of the Left. The Right is no good at it. And it goes against the very principles of liberty.
The Right is supposed to, at least, stand for the proposition that the only unit of society that truly matters and deserves special protection is the individual. It's the Left that stands for ethnic, gender, sexual, linguistic, whatever collectivism of one kind or another. Don't try to out-Walmart Walmart.
Instead, if we want to have our arguments taken seriously by Asian-Americans, send out our most credentialed, most intellectual spokespeople. Send out Paul Rahe. Send out John Yoo. Send out Richard Epstein. Have them defend the principles of liberty, principles of conservatism (well, at least libertarianism in the case of Epstein), while festooned with all the sheepskin from all the right institutions.
Stop thinking of "Asian-Americans" as some group that you need to send "one of our own" to speak to. Bobby Jindal is a fantastic guy, but he ain't "one of mine." Nikki Haley is awesome, but she doesn't "look like me." John Yoo does look like me, but don't expect him to be the spokesperson to the Filipino-American community, just because of his "Asianess" (since there's no such thing.) No, send us the white-as-the-driven-snow Peter Robinson of Stanford University.
Socially conservative views, policies, and philosophies may need to be promoted and defended on intellectual battlegrounds, rather than on "Well, the Good Book says so". It isn't as if there aren't intellectual giants in the SoCon world; it's just that the Republican brand doesn't incorporate them as much.
Recruit some new leaders out of the campus Christian movements. I guarantee that you'll find some "Asian-Americans" at our elite universities who can be groomed into real positions of influence.
And take back our campuses. Do whatever that takes.
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Comments:
Nov '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Oh, and what's getting lost in all this detail is TheSophist's original point, which is that we need to recruit from the campus Christian movements. Hey, maybe someone needs to write an Intervarsity Press or Navpress book that makes a case for conservatism? There used to be plenty, back in my day, that argued in the other direction.
Dec '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
When Rob Long drew a distinction between Asians and Jews I was tempted to point out that Jews are Asians. Israel is in Asia. So are Iraq, Iran, Georgia, Turkey (mostly), and many others. When people say Asian, they mean East-Asian. We used to say Oriental, but that is not PC.
Edited on November 28, 2012 at 3:50pmOct '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
BrentB67: Great post. I don't agree with everything, but this is the kind of stuff that makes me a Ricochet subscriber.
I think one area we can all improve is dropping the (insert heritage/ethnicity here)-American jargon. I am not Italian-American. I am American. I have been blessed to meet a lot of black people, but I have not met an African-American and that includes my pal Adayemi Adelfe (spelling is way off I am sure) he is African and when he is naturalized he will be American.
I think conservatives can do better leading a big diverse family if we start acting like we are a big diverse family and drop the faux PC -American jargon. · 10 hours ago
As a Danish/Welsh/GermanJew/English-American I resent that. I want my cultural identity recognized! (I left out a couple to make it easy for you all to remember. Yes, I have high cheekbones.)
Oct '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
I don't know how soon the Right can take the intellectual high-ground from the left, which I agree with The Sophist is the issue here. The credentialed intellectual high-ground. It will be a fight on the order of discrediting the racist label, with the added difficulty of an institutionalized prejudice at nearly every college and university. I'm afraid it might be a long slog.
Feb '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
I think it is anti-intellectual to fall for the "( insert name) is stupid" slander. As far as Mourdock and Akin go, their comments were not to the level of stupidity of a Biden or Obama gaffe. They are scapegoats used to excuse one's election choice made on the basis of embracing one or more of the 7 deadly sins.
Apr '11
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
If impressions can be fostered by one side with no rebuttal, we've already lost no matter what that perception is. But why aren't the left's policies considered evidence of ignorance about the world? Socialism failed. Defined benefit retirement and health systems are inherently unsustainable. The combination of the welfare state and loosening of traditional moral norms have lost the War on Poverty.
By all means, let's not praise stupidity. But the conservative world view is firmly rooted in how the world works. It's common sense. The utopian fantasies of the liberals may appear in peer-reviewed pieces, but they don't work.
Jan '11
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
CoveredUp
How many Democrat creationists do you know?
Plenty, actually. The difference between the Right and the Left on this is that you find significantly less support for Creationism among lefty elites than you do among conservative elites. Then again, you're also more likely to find more anti-vaxxers and sex-difference deniers among elite lefties too, so go figure.
Sep '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Anecdotally, I can assure you that the spoiled offspring of wealthy overseas Asians are as annoying as our North American variety as they pay international tuition rates to attend our second, third and fourth string state funded universities. This thread has focused on the "high achievers" but there are lots of EMO slacker types with multi colored hair, Elvis jackets, and more earbuds than limbs wandering around suburbia in a stupefying trance while fumbling for the keys to Mom and Dad's BMW 3 series that they bought them as a Christmas present.
Jun '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Lucy Pevensie
EJHill:
And that's what all these people need - a good dose of reality. The problem is not our product - freedom is always the right product - but young people have been sold the idea that the free lunch, not the free soul, is their birthright. They will get a taste of reality soon. How they react to that reality will steer the course of the nation.
This sounds true in many contexts but not, to me, in the context of Asian-Americans. I've spent a lotof my life among Asian-Americans of lots of different national origins, and a free lunch is just not on their radar. And, despite TheSophist's point about differing cultures, I have to say that on this point the cultures I am familiar with--Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean--are pretty much as one. · 10 hours ago
Absolutely.
May '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
It is a lot simpler than the dissertation/article. Asians mostly come into the States through LA, Portland or Seattle. Ergo, their first exposure to the US is in dark blue states. First thing the immigrants do is hit up the churches, social groups, etc. Guess which party dominates.
So, it gets passed on and on without any discussion like Neanderthal language- Democrats Good, Republicans Bad. There ain't nothing being done to stop this.
P.S. I speak from first hand knowledge as having an Asian (very conservative, but alone) wife and as a political candidate in a nonpartisan race of a town of 100k. As a rookie running against two perennial runners, I almost got them because I was able to tap into the huge Asian vote. It wasn't anything I said or any of my political positions- it was that I was family, pure and simple.
Jan '11
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
TheSophist
Now, speaking from personal experience, the distinguishing feature of Asian-American culture is the degree of importance we attach to academic achievement (which, btw, is distinct from intelligence, or common sense). There is literally no profession that is more revered than that of college professor...
Even if, however, one doesn't end up an academic, that whole attitude towards academic success, towards intelligence, towards credentials infuses our culture...
[And ] let's be honest here. There are some elements of the conservative movement that look down on the pinhead credentialed intelligentsia that come up with some of the most ridiculous stuff ever seen.
Excellent point in an excellent post, Sophist.
While reading Rob's post yesterday, I tried to think of a an urban Republican who might appeal to (NE-Triad) Asian-Americans and, for about 10 seconds, I thought Scott Brown might be a good fit. Then I realized that Brown's presentation of himself as An-Average-Guy-Who-Drive-A-Truck running against a Pointy-Headed-Harvard-Law-Professor would have guaranteed Warren a landslide in an Asian-American district.
It's ironic, considering Brown's a law-school grad himself.
Edited on November 28, 2012 at 4:18pmJun '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Lucy Pevensie:
And I have been massively frustrated to observe the leftward drift of the community from the older generation to the younger. · 2 hours ago
The ivy league schools have been overwhelming successful in marketing and positioning themselves as the envy of the world. Even here on Ricochet, many agree that if you are from one of those colleges, you are smart, you are set for life. Most asian parents aspire their children to enroll in Ivy League colleges with little regards to its liberal agenda. I constantly ask them why they spend about half a million a child to learn liberal values, the replies from these extremely educated and wealthy parents are : They are there to learn a skill and stay out of politics.
Apr '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
I'm willing to do my part to help win back Asian Americans. If someone can just find me an eligible tenure-track job, I'll get right on it.
Feb '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
CoveredUp
For the same reason that other people do. They understand that Dems will provide for them. Asians are pretty pragmatic. They're going to go to the guy who gives them a better deal. It's no different than anyone else. · 11 hours ago
This reality is the one that we really have to accept and find a way to overcome. People (by which I mean groups, not individuals) will ALWAYS vote for the guy who gives them stuff! As Klavan has said, how do you compete with Santa Claus!?
Nov '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
RedRules
CoveredUp
For the same reason that other people do. They understand that Dems will provide for them. Asians are pretty pragmatic. They're going to go to the guy who gives them a better deal. It's no different than anyone else. · 11 hours ago
This reality is the one that we really have to accept and find a way to overcome. People (by which I mean groups, not individuals) will ALWAYS vote for the guy who gives them stuff! As Klavan has said, how do you compete with Santa Claus!? · 5 minutes ago
Again, and I can't say this often enough, this just does not apply among most Asian subgroups.
Mar '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
TheSophist: The Right is supposed to, at least, stand for the proposition that the only unit of society that truly matters and deserves special protection is the individual.
Actually I thought modern conservatism was for the family, for mom and dad and the kids. It is purposefully promoting family life in contrast with the women who are married to Uncle Sam and who make their living off of the taxation of others.
I thought modern conservatism is for some modicum of self-reliance, of a sense of self in a sense of the familiar (or perhaps, familial?). I saw this as a contrast with the "individualism" that is destroying human beings one at a time, and of the lack of human cohesiveness that is broadly displayed in western culture.
Parts of this thesis are outside of my experience, limiting my ability to comment on them. I think however that the individual/family item is inside of my experience and needs to be better explored in regard to people of Asian descent, no matter where in Asia they originated.
Jun '11
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Speaking as a Chinese living in Hong Kong, I can say that Chinese are most definitely not natural conservatives.
Hong Kong is renowned for its laisser faire policy. But over the year since the handover to China it has become clear that this is purely a phenomenon imposed by the British colonist government. You seldom hear locals defending laisser faire and if they do it is always from a economic or business perspective.
Chinese may be hard working, smart, socially conservative and all that, but they do not truly love or understand freedom. Freedom, as understood by conservatives, was never part of Chinese culture and history. Chinese may want a merciful and efficient government over a cruel and wasteful one, but they are not for small government. They certainly have nothing against big government per se. Chinese are missing the freedom loving part to become truly conservatives.
This may sound very politically incorrect, but Conservatism is very much a Western ideology. Wonderful and wise it may be it is just not for people of any culture and background.
Jul '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
This post is getting a lot of well deserved attention. It is spot-on in so many ways, its hard not to simply say, Amen.
Its not just the Asians who would respond to a more intellectual approach by Republicans. Many of us would. Perhaps a man like Bobby Jindal could do it, but there are not a lot of intellectuals who are interested in politics and also charismatic.
It is hard to fathom why voters think Democrats are the smart ones when they've got Nancy Pelosi and Harry Ried (who seem to me as dumb as a box of rocks) but once a notion takes hold, it becomes hard to dislodge in the public mind. Combine that perception with the social distance between urban dwellers and social conservatives, religious people, hunters, the military, and blue-collar flag waving NASCAR types, and you have a mountain of resistance to changing people's perceptions.
Sep '10
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Somewhere in my archives I have some quote from either Leo Strauss or a fellow Straussian about a Chinese scholar who admitted that his language had no word or concept with which to express "freedom" in.
Freedom and liberty are not concepts that people are born with. Historically speaking, freedom and liberty are the exceptions in human history, not the norm.
Jun '12
Re: Why "Asians" Aren't Republicans: Response to Rob Long & Charles Murray
Lucy Pevensie
RedRules
CoveredUp
For the same reason that other people do. They understand that Dems will provide for them. Asians are pretty pragmatic. They're going to go to the guy who gives them a better deal. It's no different than anyone else. · 11 hours ago
This reality is the one that we really have to accept and find a way to overcome. People (by which I mean groups, not individuals) will ALWAYS vote for the guy who gives them stuff! As Klavan has said, how do you compete with Santa Claus!? · 5 minutes ago
Again, and I can't say this often enough, this just does notapply among most Asian subgroups. · 33 minutes ago
Agree, in fact, if any politician insinuates an Asian is a taker and not a giver, it will be a permanent deal breaker. Asians take great pride in self reliance.