By Randall Yip | AsAm News
A survey of 7,000 Asian adults found a majority of Asian Americans think affirmative action is a good thing. Yet an overwhelming majority disagree that race should be a factor in deciding admission into a university.
The poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center says 53% of Asian Americans describe affirmative action as a “good thing.” 19% consider it a “bad thing” and 27% “don’t know.”
Support among the various Asian subgroups ranges from a high of 60% among Indian Americans and 57% Filipino Americans to a low of 45% among Chinese Americans and 48% Vietnamese Americans.
“[W]e need a seat at the table. … I mean, even as far as I know, Asian Americans, Filipino Americans have the lowest voter count, and so without having a seat at the table, like how are we going to be heard? So yeah, I mean, I’m down with affirmative action,” said a Filipino man in his 40’s to the researchers.
“Well, I always feel a little mixed about it. I think there are people that cannot advocate for themselves that it probably has helped, but I think it also has hindered those individuals that have either accomplished a lot on their own because people make an assumption that they got helped or that you’re part of a quota,” said a Japanese women in her 60’s.
Support for affirmative action among U.S.-born Asian Americans is slightly higher than that of immigrants, 56% to 52%.
Pew conducted the survey in six languages between July 5, 2022 and January 27, 2023 with a margin of error of 2.1%.
Read the full story at AsAm News
