Race-ing solidarity: Asian Americans and support for Black Lives Matter

What explains support for Black Lives Matter among Asian Americans? This article draws on nationally representative data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey to examine the contours of Asian American public opinion on Black Lives Matter and the factors that shape them. Examining intragroup and intergroup attitudes across a set of racial, ethnic/national origin, and cross-racial group measures, I show that race-based considerations are significant predictors of Asian American support for Black Lives Matter. Specifically, I find that those who support Black Lives Matter are more likely to perceive linked fate with other Asian Americans and with other non-white groups and to perceive anti-black discrimination in the United States. I argue that, while never a panacea, race-based linked fate beliefs among Asian Americans, both as Asian Americans and with other groups of color, are a viable and imperative part of building cross-racial coalitions and contemporary racial justice movements.