Opposition to affirmative action has long centered on white men and conservatives complaining about “reverse discrimination.” Challenges to those policies have also come from some Asian-Americans who worry that their success in winning jobs and college admission spots may suffer in a quest to open opportunities to other racial and ethnic groups.

While polls have indicated that many Asian-Americans, particularly younger ones, support affirmative action programs, the funding and organizing for the current campaign to uphold Washington’s prohibition has come overwhelmingly from members of that ethnic group.

Mr. Locke, who also served as a former commerce secretary and ambassador to China, said he felt compelled to step forward — in part because he has benefited from affirmative action . He said some recent immigrants do not appreciate the depth of racial inequality upon which the United States has grown.

“Asian-Americans have made great progress in our society,” Mr. Locke told the group at the restaurant event, “but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make sure that other ethnic groups also enjoy those opportunities.”

Opponents handed out fliers ahead of Mr. Locke’s speech that said the effort to restore affirmative action would “abolish the standard of equality for all.” Others challenged Mr. Locke with questions about how such policies would work in practice.

ZhiQing Yao, a software engineer from the Seattle area, said he worried that new policies would undermine the ideals of the country that he came to 17 years ago from China .

“We came to the United States because the country has equal opportunity for everyone,” Mr. Yao said. “This is really un-American.”