Pew survey busts myths on Indian-American attitudes; shows community backs affirmative action

Washington In the wake of the Supreme Court verdict on race and college admissions, a recent Pew Research Centre’s study on the attitude of Asian-Americans about the idea of affirmative action busts myths, particularly given that the community has been pitted against African-Americans in the battle for more space in higher educational institutions.

In a survey of Asian-Americans released this June, Pew found that 74% of the whole community had heard of affirmative action. And among those who had heard of it, 53% said it was a good thing. But a majority said that ethnicity or race should not be considered a factor in admissions.

Sixty percent of the Indian-Americans surveyed said affirmative action was a good thing, while only 13% said it was not and 26% said they didn’t know. Devesh Kapur of the Johns Hopkins University, who was an adviser on the study and has written the definitive book on Indian-Americans, said that this finding was in tune with what he had found in an earlier study in 2004 — where a plurality of Indian-Americans backed affirmative action.

The Pew study notes, “Indian adults (60%) are more likely than Korean (50%), Vietnamese (48%) and Chinese (45%) adults to say affirmative action is a good thing. Chinese adults who have heard of affirmative action are among the least likely to say it is a good thing — 27% of Chinese adults who have heard the phrase say it is a bad thing, and 28% say they don’t know.”

The partisan divide is clear though in the responses. The study notes that about two-thirds (64%) of Asians who identify as Democrats or lean towards the Democratic Party say affirmative action is a good thing, while only 32% of Asian Republicans or Republican-leaners say the same. While 11% of Asian Democrats say affirmative action is a bad thing, 39% of Asian Republicans say this.

But having noted this, the Pew study also finds that only 21% of Asian adults say colleges should consider race and ethnicity when deciding which students to accept. “Similar shares of Indian (77%), Chinese (76%), Filipino (76%), Vietnamese (76%), Korean (72%) and Japanese (70%) American adults express this view.” Among them, more Asian immigrants (80%) than those who are US born (64%) say race and ethnicity should not be considered in admissions.

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