The 2020 Elections has been one, wild ride (to say the least). We’ve been at the tip of our chairs wondering when Nevada will finalize their counts, seeing if Pennsylvania would pull through for Biden, and of course - all eyes on Georgia. That being said, we all breathed a sigh of relief as Biden and Harris are now the President/VP-elects. For us specifically, Kamala Harris is the woman of the hour! With her long-standing history with the Bay Area and her being half-Desi, she checks off all the boxes for us to do a whole podcast episode on her victory. This is a monumental victory not only for Asian Americans, but the Black community as well! As of Monday, November 9 - The Associated Press has called this race as Biden’s victory.

What does Kamala’s victory mean for Asian Americans?

What doesn’t it mean? It means we can do it! Andrew Yang had a great run, but Kamala is the one to solidify the victory and become the first Asian American Vice President! Growing up, politics was pretty low on the list of careers we were taught to be acceptable. We hope that Kamala can be a role model and icon for Asian Americans to be involved with our communities and represent the people. Learn more about Kamala’s career and background here.

Who did Asian Americans vote for?

I’m sure we have all heard of how many Vietnamese American voters voted for Trump. It really does scratch many heads as to why their votes went to the man who has directed so much hate towards our community. Peter helps break it down by explaining that many Vietnamese Americans are heavily persuaded by Vietnamese news outlets - that so happen to be very conservative. Also, Peter mentions that Trump’s policies towards China indirectly benefits the Vietnamese economy, therefore, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Asian Americans are a diverse group of cultures and we all have our reasons why we might be conservative or liberal. It’s really hard to definitely say who we support and our reasons all differ depending on our home countries, relationships, and communities. You can see a report done on Asian American voters here.

What did we think of celebrities who endorsed Trump?

For us growing up in the Bay, Hip Hop music and artists influence much of our past and present. Seeing rappers like 50 Cent and Lil Wayne publicly endorse Trump hit a little close to home since these are artists we have supported so long. It’s pretty obvious they are in it for the tax breaks, since Biden announced he will raise taxes on people making 400k+/year, but it still stings a little to see them endorse the opposition.