The Ascent of the Buffoon and the Asian-American Divide
Our voice has been heard, but we are divided as well.
We are often viewed as the Switzerland of America: neutral to most matters and politically reserved. We are viewed as a community that plays it safe, and the only way we are threatening is if we play a badass in a zombie show. We are Asian Americans, and we are viewed as a silent engine that simply moves with the flow of the machine.
I am an Asian American, and I can safely state that all of the above is a fountain of horseshit.
We have marched against police brutality, vehemently defended the rights of our gay brothers and sisters, and raised our voices for those that were slain by senseless gun violence. Our collective roars have developed into a true force, and our presence is quickly being translated into a real impact in politics and our election cycles.
According to AAPI Data, the number of Asian-American voters has increased by 620,000 people each presidential cycle since 2000, bringing the total estimated count for this year’s election to roughly 7 million registered voters (out of 12 million eligible voters). Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing population in the country, and make up more than 5% of the total electorate in nine states (Hawaii, California, Nevada, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Alaska, Maryland, and Virginia). It is estimated that by 2040, one in every 10 Americans will be AAPI, and the number of registered voters will balloon up to 12 million people.
In short, our voice is no longer a rounding error. It is significant, and we can truly make a difference.
And that brings us to Tuesday, November 8th, 2016.
On that day, the Highest Clown of the Orange Court, Donald J. Trump, was elected president of the United States. The very embodiment of unethical toxicity bum-rushed his way to the Oval Office on the back of an angry, underestimated electorate. Now he is sixty days away from implementing an agenda that aims to reverse all healthcare progress, rip apart numerous families through excessive deportation, and install a Supreme Court judge that will make Justice Scalia look like Obama.
Some say that this was bound to happen. The pendulum needed to swing after all. But the pendulum swung so far that it broke off its fucking hinge.
Half of the electorate is relieved and/or cheering in jubilation, while the other half is grieving. I am a member of the latter. And like most of those in my camp, I have spent the last few days making sense of the result.
I found myself looking at the exit polls, and found something that caught my attention.
Our voice was heard, but it is more divided than we thought.
See that green box there? Yeah.
Almost 30% of the Asian-American vote went to Trump.
Using the projected voter turnout rate of 56.9% (of eligible voters) provided by the US Elections Project, that’s roughly 2 million Asian Americans.
Two million of us voted for him. *
- As a footnote to this, Fusion.net has reported that the exit polls didn’t properly capture the Asian vote and in actuality, the number is closer to 20%. That’s still roughly 1.4 million Asian-Americans that voted for a guy who believes that climate change is a hoax crafted by the Chinese.
I sat down and thought about this for a while today. And then it hit me that many of my Asian-American friends were struggling with their loved ones wanting to vote for Trump. We wouldn’t talk about it too much because it was fatiguing to even bring it up, but it was surprisingly rampant. A lot of us just swept it under the rug, hoping that it would fade away after Trump would leave the political climate in November.
But alas, he’s here to stay.
After the election, one of my Asian-American co-workers revealed that he voted for the man. He said it would be “better for his wallet.” No mention of the KKK’s endorsement, no mention of sexual assault, no mention of banning Muslims. His deduced that his wallet would simply be heavier if he voted for Trump (in actuality, he wouldn’t be saving much — “middle income” households would see an increase in their after-tax incomes of just 0.5%, as opposed to the 2.8% increase that the top 1% would be getting).
And therein lies the divide. Donald Trump, a child trapped in a man’s body (credit to Sam Harris), has successfully worn the cloak of a traditional Republican conservative that catered heavily to single-issue voters. Did it matter that Trump promised absolutely nothing of value to minorities during his campaign? Did it matter that he had clearly demonstrated a deep disdain of China and spit vitriol towards the whole area over and over again? I guess not. The folks that voted for him treated his bigotry as a cold side dish — just push that shit off to the side, maybe it’ll get heated up later.
A majority of us did emphatically oppose a Trump presidency. However, roughly 30 percent of us still voted for him.
That’s a lot of us, and it’s evident that we’re unaware of who we are. And that begs the question… why can’t we be more transparent about this in our own community, and why are we not talking about it in more detail?
We are not dialoguing with one another because every political decision is deeply polarizing these days, and it’s fucking exhausting. Look at what’s going on in Asia now.
During this shitshow of an election, did you know that the following political shitshows were also happening throughout Asia:
(1) Millions of South Koreans are calling for the resignation of the current president after it was revealed that her longtime friend, a leader of a shamanistic cult, had been meddling in both domestic and foreign policy affairs throughout her term.
(2) Hong Kong is once again experiencing significant turmoil after Beijing removed two pro-independence activists from Hong Kong’s parliament, igniting a furor of protests in her streets.
(3) The president of the Philippines has waged an all-out war on drugs, threatening the democratic fabric of the country. Since he took office four months ago, more than 4,700 people have been killed by police officers and vigilantes without due process.
And that’s just a few of them. Then throw the 2016 election on top of that for the Asians that live in the States.
You are either pro-Trump or anti-Trump. You either support Hong Kong’s desire for sovereignty or you support China’s need to control it. You either call for the resignation of the Korean president, or you experience the wrath of the 95% of the population that hates her.
There is no middle ground anymore. We have warped democracy into two concrete piles of humans, and everyone in the middle is vilified.
Politics has devolved into an exhausting game of “one or the other”, “the lesser of two evils”, and “there is a wrong answer”. Are any of those values in line with what we want to teach our children? Do any of those sound like inviting topics that we really want to delve into with our loved ones?
Perhaps not. And as Asian Americans, it could be easy to ignore the dialogue we need to have with those that voted for The Great Buffoon. After all, he never wanted to enforce a political mandate banning Asians, did he? So we’re safe, right?
But in the case of Trump, it has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with ethics. With politics, we can avoid talking about it at the dinner table due to its inconvenience. However, once this becomes a discussion about ethics and basic human decency, then we must exercise the right to use our voices. Whereas politics can be a game built on exclusivity, ethics must hold true for all communities, regardless of who you are. When one community’s basic freedoms and liberties are threatened, then all of us are threatened. So we must speak up. Because the cost of not doing so is too grave.
If Trump’s America is indeed driven by bigotry, then the cost of silence is tyranny. But if it isn’t, then we have to take the time to listen.
We will soon be witnessing the first black president being escorted out of the White House by a man that represents the direct antithesis of his temperament and character. As I view all the protests that are happening throughout the country, it is evident that we are currently in the middle of deep denial and furious anger. I am too.
However, if the five stages of grief do indeed hold true, then acceptance is inevitable. We will grow to accept that this man was elected president, and we must be ready for what that entails.
Elizabeth Warren, the famed U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, recently wrote a thoughtful piece on the election of Donald Trump. In the opening paragraphs, she immediately addressed her ethical concerns regarding him:
“And that marks Democrats’ first job in this new era: We will stand up to bigotry. There is no compromise here. In all its forms, we will fight back against attacks on Latinos, African Americans, women, Muslims, immigrants, disabled Americans — on anyone. Whether Donald Trump sits in a glass tower or sits in the White House, we will not give an inch on this, not now, not ever.”
Warren then goes on to state that there were millions of Donald Trump voters that didn’t vote for him because of his bigotry, but because of their disdain for the political system. These were voters that were hoping for change in the current system because they felt abandoned. And to that, she said the following:
“So let me be 100% clear about this. When President-Elect Trump wants to … increase the economic security of middle class families, then count me in. I will put aside our differences and I will work with him to accomplish that goal. I offer to work as hard as I can and to pull as many people as I can into this effort. If Trump is ready to go on rebuilding economic security for millions of Americans, so am I and so are a lot of other people — Democrats and Republicans.”
I think that sums it up quite nicely. If a Trump presidency brings forth an onslaught of discrimination and injustice, then we will be there to fight it. But if a Trump presidency actually attempts to bring forth political and economic progress, then we should be there to listen to what is being said.
A great divide requires great healing, and that process starts now. It starts with having a dialogue with everyone, but I am especially ready to address the divide in the Asian-American community.
To the 30% of Asian Americans that voted for him, I am ready to listen to you.
If you were moved by his message of ending political corruption, I will try to understand you.
If you were moved by his promises of economic growth, I will try to understand you.
But if you were moved by his racist and xenophobic rhetoric, I will vehemently oppose you.
If you were moved by his sexism, I will vehemently oppose you.
I hope that we will be able to discuss our differences in the context of progress and love rather than exclusion and hate.
To the 70% of Asian Americans that voted against him, I look forward to spreading a message of hope with you to those that are in fear.
To 100% of you that were hurt by his hateful messages towards you and your family, I will wholeheartedly support your battle against that rhetoric.
We must fight against oppression and irrational hatred. But we must also move forward with dignity, respect, and love for one another as well.
We must learn to walk the tight rope that exists between that divide.
That is the only way that we will be able to conquer it.
