As we head into the Second Trump Administration, we’re taking stock of what’s been happening in politics within and around Asian American communities. In light of new data showing significant shifts to the right among Asian American voters, as well as new, sometimes troubling developments in diaspora politics, we are doing a deep dive into some issues relevant to AAPI communities that surfaced this past election season, and seeing how the political and ideological landscape of Asian America has grown more complex and more fractious over the past eight years.

We speak with Janelle Wong, a professor in the Departments of Government and Politics and American Studies at the University of Maryland, and longtime observer of Asian American voting patterns, about the 2024 election results and how conservatism is, and is not, penetrating in different AAPI communities.

We also explore how Hindu supremacist movements are shading into the political landscape of South Asian American communities, efforts to resist caste discrimination in the U.S., and tensions between reactionary and progressive forces within South Asian American communities that are coming to a head under the second Trump administration.  We spoke with Karthikeyan Shanmugam, convener of the California-based Ambedkar King Study Circle, and Ram Vishwanathan, an organizer and researcher with the Savera coalition. 

Have a story idea or want to join the APF Collective as a co-producer? Send comments and questions to: asiapacificforum [at] gmail.com

Learn more:

2024 American Electorate Voter Poll Provides Insight Into How Asian Americans Voted (Asian Americans Advancing Justice)

Why Asian Americans did not swing to Harris (Niskanen Center)

Savera reports

"Which Hindus do Hindu Supremacists Represent in the US?" (The Wire)

“South Asian activists call Calif. governor's vetoing of caste bill 'heartbreaking'” (NBC)