Political Contexts and Asian Americans’ Belief in Linked Fate

• In Event: Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Views of/by Asian Americans

Abstract

This paper explores the sources of Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate in changing political contexts. I will use Asian Americans for my analysis, because Asian Americans have recently experienced unusual political and social situations. These include the Covid-19 pandemic, political leaders’ populist discourses against China and “Chinese,” and the violence against Asian Americans such rhetoric inspired. These elements provide an opportunity to explore how social and political contexts influence Asian Americans’ belief in a pan-ethnic identity – i.e., linked fate - differently from previous time periods. In proposing his theory of linked fate, Dawson (1994) suggested important sources of blacks’ belief in linked fate that include institutional conditions (e.g., organizations such as the church) and the experience of discrimination. In line with Dawson’s theory on the sources of belief in linked fate, I explore the relationship between these two sources and Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate. In addition to these sources, this study attempts to expand the theory by exploring the role of political contexts in accounting for Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate. Given the salience of racial issues during the 2020 election period due to the above-mentioned factors, other sources than these could also influence Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate.

One potential source is Asian Americans’ political predispositions – partisanship and ideology. Although Asian Americans’ political orientations did not previously have much influence on their pan-ethnic group identity, the political atmosphere – then-President Trump’s politicization of China and “Chinese” and the ensuing anti-Asian violence - could also have contributed to the politicization of Asian Americans. Thus, I hypothesize that such political predispositions became an influential factor in accounting for Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate.

The second potential factor that accounts for Asian Americans’ belief in linked fate is each members’ national ethnicity. Although the politicization of racial issues made political predispositions salient in accounting for their belief in pan-ethnic linked fate, it is possible to see a meaningful difference among the members of the Asian American community as to their belief in this linked fate. We have observed a certain ‘distancing’ among Asian Americans in the past when a national ethnic group was targeted and mistreated by mainstream political and social forces. The most exemplary case was when Japanese Americans were targeted and sent to internment camps during WWII At that time Koreans and Chinese were trying to distance themselves from the Japanese. I expect that a similar phenomenon would occur within the Asian American community during the 2020 election period. I propose that there will be a significant difference between Chinese Americans and other Asian Americans as to their belief in pan-ethnic linked fate. These two considerations originate from the particular political contexts or conditions that were experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic and the presidential election cycle of 2020. To test these two main expectations, I will use the Cooperative Multi-racial Post Election Surveys of 2016 and 2020.

Author

• Dukhong Kim, Florida Atlantic University