Letters to the Editor
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Age divide?
One of the letter writers pointed out that the younger Asians tended to support Obama. Besides that, I'd be interested in seeing if there are any statistics that can correlate a person's voting record with the "newness" of of his/her immigration experience. My parents both moved from China in their late 30s - they lived in a country where there was only one race (minorities were tiny and limited in small regions of the country). Even here in the U.S., they have chosen to live within the Chinese community - i.e., most of their friends are Chinese. They have a fairly shallow understanding of other races, so they rely quite a bit on racial stereo-types. I have seen that in many of their friends as well. Is this racism? I am inclined to say yes. It is racism out of ignorance, found in just about any ethnic group - black, white, brown, yellow, pick a color.
I am an ardent Obama supporter and I am very disappointed with the poor support from the Asian community. However I think the reasons for this are many - economical, political, racial, and personal. It seems pointless to scream racists at Asian people. It is far more constructive to think about how to help Obama reach the Asians in the next waves of primaries.