In percentage terms, the Asian population was the fastest growing in the U.S. this past decade, according to new Census data.

First, let's agree that scapegoating is older than the nation itself. That said, in politics, these tactics don't always work (see: prop 187 and California's Democratic majority). Every election season comes up with racial dog whistles that a candidate hopes will move votes. What's new is who is being targeted.

For those running for office, a lot rides on the name. So much that many are changing their names so that the Chinese translations make them sound more electable, according to NPR:

Newsweek reports that the cheering over the growing numbers of Mandarin language classes in the U.S. is premature. Americans are not on the fast track to learning Chinese and are nowhere close to understanding China.