Politics

Shikha Dalmia on Asian American Hostility to College Affirmative Action

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California
Gavin Huang

Democrats in California are in a state of shock at the defeat of their effort to reinstate racial preferences in university admissions. That's because the defeat was led not by evil Republicans but a loyal Democratic constituency: Asian-Americans.

But what this episode demonstrates, notes Reason Foundation Senior Analyst Shikha Dalmia, is that the zero-sum politics of divvying up a fixed pie — rather than expanding it — is a losing game for Democrats in an increasingly diverse America.