1. I respect a lot of the work Benjamin does but sweeping generalizations such as this usurp authority to represent the views of Latino/Latinx and Asian American people who do buy into and promote these narratives. https://twitter.com/BenjaminABoyce/status/1324047348696117248

2. I haven’t seen any polls so I don’t know what percentage of either community supports these intersectional narratives but certainly among academics, activists, and other elites who hold power in these communities, my observation is that it’s high.

3. When you see people pushing back on these types of narratives from the left or center, it’s usually black public thinkers. I don’t usually see Asian Americans and Latinos at the table unless they’re conservatives.

4. My experience is mainly in Boston’s Japanese American and Asian American communities as well as the national JA community. These narratives are deeply embedded there.

5. Although I do know from private conversations that it’s not everyone in these communities, if you look at who holds power, it’s this cohort.

6. A few years ago I learned by accident that some Asian Americans I know are supporters of President Trump. I was looking to do interviews for a piece I ended up not writing about the 2016 election and had made an incorrect assumption about their politics.

7. They had an extremely powerful story but after initially agreeing to talk to me, they declined, in part because they were concerned about the effect it could have on their relationships with people in the community.

8. They had well established roots in the community so I’m not sure how well founded these concerns were, but I think it was very likely that if they had gone on the record about their support for Trump they would have been ostracized by many.

9. When I’ve attended events (pre-pandemic) where politics comes up, light Trump/Republican bashing is the norm. It’s understood that no one in the room could possibly be anything other than a Democrat.

10. But I’ve also observed that there’s a clear lack of understanding of who Republicans/conservatives are, what they believe, and why they support certain politicians & policies.

11. At one event I attended someone raised a question that seemed to wonder what kind of person could possibly support X (implication being only a monster).

12. I wondered if they’d ever thought to ask a Republican? Asking a room full of mostly progressive liberals won't get you an answer to that question. But likely they don’t know any to ask and I’m not sure they wanted an answer. It was a rhetorical question.

13. There have been both Republicans & Democrats in my heavily evangelical Christian Hawaii-born Okinawan American family since before I was born, so I don’t have to wonder who these people are. They are my ohana. And they are not monsters.

14. I do see online that there appear to be Asian Americans and Latinos joining the Republican party but if they’re doing that, they’re probably exiting the social circles in the progressive POC left where these narratives are thriving.

15. Many of the videos I’ve watched have been highly partisan, insulting, and dehumanizing towards their former friends on the left. That’s not going to persuade anyone. They’ve just traded in one ideology for another, and reversed the cast of friends/enemies.

16. Please be wary of anyone trying to oversimplify the culture war and use the identities of people who support X to bolster their own cause.

17. There’s nothing black & white about this stuff and most of the people shouting the loudest—anywhere on the political spectrum—aren’t giving you the whole picture.

18. Is the person giving you information citing solid sources or drawing from personal experience to make the claims they’re making?

19. If the answer is no, chances are high they either don’t know what they’re talking about or they’re only presenting a small slice of information that supports their angle.

Reject oversimplification.
Be curious.
Seek understanding.

20. I haven’t had a chance to read @buster’s book, “Why Are We Yelling?”, but I really like the advice he’s presented in this thread.

https://busterbenson.com/whyareweyelling/ https://twitter.com/buster/status/1182390032671203328

21. Update:

I don’t personally have any way to verify the accuracy of these exit polls but here’s some fresh data to go along with this thread.
cc: @BenjaminABoyce https://twitter.com/aaldef/status/1324147993105358850

22. The numbers don’t speak directly to what I was saying since a vote for Biden ≠ a vote for wokeness (just ask all the conservatives who voted for Biden) but ...

23. ... I’d guess that those trying to hold up Asian Americans as the new vanguard of the anti-woke brigade haven’t talked to too many Asian Americans.

24. They polled 5000+ Asian American voters.

“Asian Americans strongly favored Joe Biden over Donald Trump by a margin of 67% to 30%.”