Race in a Pandemic: Asian American Perceptions of Discrimination and Political Preferences in the 2020 Election

Abstract

Are individual perceptions about racial discrimination relatively stable or are they influenced by external cues? Does belief stability on racial discrimination items offer some explanation for the inconsistent findings on the relationship between perceptions about discrimination and political behavior for racial minorities identified in the past literature? This study highlights the case of Asian Americans and the rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID pandemic as an opportunity to understand how Asian Americans report discrimination against their group in response to surrounding events. Using an original three-wave study of Asian American respondents collected over 2020, we find that perceptions of discrimination were relatively stable over 2020. At the same time, we find that a respondent's preexisting attitudes about racial discrimination held prior to the pandemic informed their assessment of discrimination during the pandemic. We also find that a respondent's preexisting discrimination beliefs moderate the relationship between their assessment about discrimination during the pandemic and 2020 presidential candidate choice. This study offers new interventions into existing assumptions about the link between discrimination and political behavior.