Situating Asian Americans in the Political Discourse on Affirmative Action

Abstract

THE HEGEMONIC BLACK/WHITE PARADIGM of race relations has fundamentally shaped how we think about, engage, and politically mobilize around racial issues. Historical narratives of racialized minorities in the United States are cast in the shadows of the black/white encounter. Contemporary conflicts between a number of different racial/ethnic groups are understood in relationship to this bipolar model, which the media then utilizes as a master frame to present such conflicts. During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, for example, various racial subjects were identified (for example, Koreans, Guatemalans), but the popular interpretation of the civil disorder was fundamentally shaped by the hegemonic paradigm. This prevailing bipolar model of race significantly obscures the complex patterns of race over time. Toma's Almaguer, in his study of race in nineteenthcentury California, breaks from the dominant mode of biracial theorizing by illustrating how Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese, and Japanese are racialized and positioned in relation to one another by the dominant Anglo elite.' His discussion draws attention to how the Asian American historical experience is essential to a full comprehension of racial dynamics in the West. We want to suggest that a more complex and nuanced understanding of the affirmative action debate needs to be attentive to how distinct political positions socially construct and represent Asian Americans. Our intent is to locate Asian Americans within the political discourse on affirmative action, a move that would serve to deepen a critical analysis of the black/white paradigm, and, in doing so, reveal some intriguing aspects about racial politics in the current period. Gary Y. Okihiro, in a collection of essays on Asian American history and culture, asks: Is yellow black or white?2 His discussion of this question highlights how Asian Americans have historically been located somewhere between black and white. Depending on the period in question, Asian Americans have been seen as racially black3 or as a group outwhiting the whites.4 The question of how to situate Asian Americans on a spectrum-close to African Americans at one end or closer to whites on the other-helps to critically define the distinctive political positions on affirmative action. Both the Right and