For Asian-Americans, 2024 US presidential election stirs anxiety over what is at stake

Litany of fears cited as politicians ramp up anti-China rhetoric and AI disinformation campaigns grow ever more sophisticated

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US Vice-President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Greensboro, North Carolina, on Thursday. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

Published: 4:11am, 13 Jul 2024Updated: 8:46pm, 13 Jul 2024

Anxiety over the US presidential election loomed large at a conference that ended on Friday and drew more than 500 Asian-Americans, a community long familiar with the costs of political scapegoating and discriminatory anti-immigrant policies.

“It’s a big concern,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan of AAPI Data, in remarks at the two-day Asian-American Pacific Islander national leadership summit in Philadelphia.

“There’s a lot at stake for Asian-Americans. Policies that we’ve taken for granted we no longer can take for granted,” added Ramakrishnan, whose group tracks social and political sentiment.

Attendees from more than 50 organisations representing thousands of Asian-Americans cited a litany of fears as politicians ramp up anti-China rhetoric, pass laws blocking Chinese nationals from buying property and spread anti-immigrant verbiage.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai is the first Asian-American to hold the cabinet-level position. Photo: AFP

For many, public discourse shaped by xenophobic overtones has raised the risk that demonising China could translate into hostility towards Asian-Americans.

“We are at a critical juncture in terms of our history and our democracy,” said US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, the first Asian-American in that cabinet-level post, at the conference. “Our democracy, it turns out, is not guaranteed.”