Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
News that nearly 1,000 Chinese Americans donated a total of $86,000 to the far right group the Proud Boys last December shouldn’t surprise anyone.
It should, however, worry Democrats.
Democrats have been counting heavily on shifting demographics with regard to their party’s future. Their hope is that as America diversifies and becomes a less white nation, elections will trend Democratic. However, news of large numbers of Chinese Americans supporting white nationalist groups demonstrates once again that demographics are not that simple.
While it may seem illogical that a large number of non-whites would support the far right, a deep dive into the data helps explain this counterintuitive trend.
Immigrants who came to the U.S. from communist countries—Cuba and China, foremost—are likely to be fervent anti-communists, and are thus tailor made for right-wing politics, including extreme far-right groups like the Proud Boys.
“You have to understand how we feel–we came from communist China and we managed to come here and we appreciate it here so much,” Rebecca Kwan, a Proud Boys donor told USA Today. “The Proud Boys are for Trump and they are fighting Antifa, and can you see anything good that Antifa did except destroy department stores and small businesses?”
Newsweek suggested that the donors could be “radicalized Chinese expats or ‘deeply conservative’ Chinese Americans who support the misogyny and racism of far-right movements.”
Most immigrants who come to the United States come from traditional, conservative, and extremely religious nations, while nations that are considered secular and progressive, such as European countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia, send few if any immigrants to the U.S.
Latin Americans make up the majority of immigrants to the United States. Democrats have been continually surprised that, considering the countless right-wing racist attacks they have endured (including candidate Donald Trump calling Mexicans who sought to come to the United States drug users and rapists), that they do not form a solid Democratic block. They don’t. In fact, some 32 percent of Hispanics say their political views are “very conservative” or “conservative.” This percentage is about in line with American adults in general.
In Texas, a quarter of Latinos voted for Ted Cruz over Beto O’Rourke in the 2016 U.S. Senate race. Without that Latino support, Cruz would have lost his senate bid in a landslide.
As for Sub-Saharan African immigrants, they tend to be conservative and extremely religious. Many find Western culture to be hopelessly decadent. Kevin Thomas, professor of African American and African diaspora studies at The University of Texas at Austin, notes that, in terms of political ideology, Black immigrants tend to lean more on the conservative side than the liberal side. This is in contrast to native-born Blacks who most often describe themselves as moderate Democrats.
One self-described moderate Republican Nigerian immigrant sounded like he was channeling your average white Trump voter when he recently told PRI, “Trump’s not a politician, and he speaks his mind. Does things the way he believes [things] should be done. Nigerians prefer strong leaders.”
Interesting, and perhaps unexpectedly, the one exception seems to be U.S. Muslims. While most American Muslims hail from very traditional, very religious nations, both U.S.-born and immigrant Muslims are most likely (66 percent) to lean toward the Democratic Party and to call themselves moderates. The most obvious reason for this is the way they have been demonized for decades by conservatives and the last Republican administration. Indeed, a recent New America poll found 71 percent of Republicans surveyed said they don’t believe Islam is compatible with U.S. values. Obviously it is hard to join a party where nearly three out four people don’t want you there.
Ironically, then President Trump longed for more northern Europeans to immigrate to the U.S., seemingly oblivious to the point that most northern Europeans are secular and liberal. Meanwhile he worked to block brown-skinned religious conservative immigrants from coming here.
Fortunately Democrats have time on their side. Much of that traditional conservatism and religiosity seems to dissipate among second and third generation immigrants.
Right wingers, meanwhile, will continue to demonize religious, conservative immigrants. And most immigrants will continue to vote for their demonizers.
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