Week 9 - Armanjot Bhangu - A04

Armanjot Bhangu

Section: A04

Week #9

For this week, I chose to read “Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America:
perspectives from Asian America and Hawaii" by Jonathan Y. Okamura. In this reading, Okamura
describes the campaign that Obama ran in 2008 from the point of view of Asian Americans, specifically
on how they viewed him. His victory single-handedly changed the perception that America was a place
where only whites could win. Therefore, even though he was African-American, he was hailed as a hero
for all immigrant groups and people of color. This points to why he was often referred to as
“the post-racial candidate” by the press. He brought hope not only to African Americans, but all other
ethnic groups in the U.S. as well. This ‘campaign of hope’ that he ran worked, as in recent years we
have seen more and more minorities take up campaign for public office and win, a sight that was not as
commonly seen before Obama’s win in 2008. Obama was looked at highly by Asians mostly because
of his experiences while living in Hawaii. He was looked at as “an honorary Asian American and as a
local from Hawai‘i”, which allowed Asians from there to believe that he was one of them and they
could succeed just as he had.

QUESTION:

How much support would an Asian-American candidate get from their own community if he/she were
to run for president, regardless of political party?

REFERENCES:

Okamura, J. Y. (2011). Barack Obama as the post-racial candidate for a post-racial America: Perspectives from Asian America and Hawai‘i. Patterns of Prejudice, 45(1-2), 133-153.