Pew Report: Discrimination experiences shape most Asian Americans’ lives

Most people of color have experienced discrimination in the United States. Sad, but it's a hard fact of life for Asian Americans and other POC.

And no matter how forgiving one is, experiencing bias is bound toshape a person's outlook and how one lives life day-to-day. 

Today, 57% of Asian adults living in the US see discrimination against  Asian Amricans as a major problem, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis.  A majority of those surveyed (63%) report that too little attention is paid to the racial issues concerning Asian Americans.

“I feel like Asians are kind of known as the model minority," said a Chinese American who took part in the study. "That kind of puts us in an interesting position where I feel like we’re supposed to excel and succeed in the media, or we’re seen in the media as exceeding in all these things as smart. All of us are not by any means. Yeah, I feel like we’re in this weird middle ground.”

Overall, 58% of Asian adults say they have ever experienced racial discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity. This includes 53% who say they experience racial discrimination from time to time and 5% who say they experience it regularly.

        FYI: Read the entire report here.

In addition to this general question, the survey also asked about specific discrimination incidents:

• 78% of Asians living in the US have been treated as a foreigner in some way, even if they were born in the United States. This includes Asian adults who say that in day-to- day encounters, strangers in the US have told them to go back to their “home country”; assumed they can’t speak English; criticized them for speaking a language other than English; or mispronounced their name.

• 63% of Asian Americans have experienced incidents where people assume they are a “model minority,” which includes those who say strangers have assumed that they are good at math and science or not a creative thinker. The model minority stereotype generalizes Asians in the US as intelligent, well-off and only able to excel in technical fields. At the same time, more than half of Asian adults (55%) say they have not heard of the term “model minority.”

• 37% of Asian adults say strangers have called them offensive names in day-to-day encounters. US born-Asian adults are nearly twice as likely as Asian immigrants to say this has happened to them (57% vs. 30%).

• 20% of Asian adults say they have been held back at a security checkpoint for a secondary screening because of their race or ethnicity. Across regional origin groups. One respondent said: 

"After 9/11, things changed a lot. I feel like things changed for a lot of us and I remember my parents putting out American flags everywhere – outside the house, on the mailbox, like wherever they could stick them. And even now, I do get … constantly pulled over when you’re in line at the airport, by TSA and at this point I just know I’m going to get pulled over. … I make my way leisurely to that section because I know that they’re going to profile me.”

South Asian adults are the most likely to have this experience, with 35% saying so. This is about twice the share reported by Southeast (15%) and East (14%) Asian adults.

Notably, the survey found that 38% of Asian adults who were born in the U.S. or immigrate here before they were 18 years old say that when they were growing up, their family never talked about the challenges they might face because of their race or ethnicity.

The multilingual, nationally representative survey conducted from July 5, 2022, to Jan. 27, 2023, among 7,006 Asian adults, asked about personal experiences with 17 different discrimination incidents. Asian Americans’ day-to-day encounters with discrimination were not just single events, but often came in several overlapping forms.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Analysis: There's something troubling about the Billboard Music Awards

K-pop girl groups NewJeans, left and Black Pink won Billboard awards.

Taylor Swift's domination of the Billboard Awards Sunday night was not a surprise. The 33-year old pop music artist won 10 trophies. Less of a surprise was the 11 wis by her male counterpart, Morgan Wallen, who broke out of the Country/Western genre.

On the heels of Swift's massively successful Eras tour that boosted the economy of the host cities, the 33-year old queen of pop, who has been a professional entertainer since she was 16-years old, walked away with 10 trophies.

But even Swift's feat was topped by country singer Morgan Wallen who won in 11 categories.

        FYI: Complete list of Billboard Award winners.

The Asian nominees, all from South Korea, dominated the K-pop categories. Duh! Would it be possible for a non-Korean group to win in these categories?

With super group BTS sidelined for several reasons -- mandatory mlitary service and a desire to strike out as single artist -- perennial favorite BTS was not nominated in any category. That left the door oopen for other K-pop groups.

The girl group NewJeans was named the "Top Global K-Pop Artist" and favorite Black Pink won Top K-Pop Touring Artist.

Stray Kids, 5-STAR wonTop K-Pop Album, a new category specifically created for the Korean music artists.

The Filipino American nominees, not being White, Korean, Black, Latino or Indigenous failed to win in their respective categories. Olivia Rodrigo lost to Swift in the Top Female Artist category. Beyonce beat Bruno Mars as the Top R&B Artist.

It should be noted that the Billboard awards, started in 2003, is based on album and digital song sales, streaming, radio airplay, touring, and social engagement rather than artistry or by membership voting.

Breaking down the Billboard awards by race may not be fair except to point out that the group with the most discretionary funds to actually purchase music are Whites. However, the categories as designed by Billboard appear to be race specific without specifically mentioning race. 

So what about Fuerza Regida, which was named the Top Duo/Group? The Mexican American band is one of those exceptions that was so good it could not be overlooked.

Generally, in order to overcome accusations of a White-preference in the music industry, Billboard and the Grammys (which will be awarded next year) broke music into categories which were born out of racial environments.

It can't be denied that Rhythm and Blues came out of the Black experience, which gave birth to Rock, which today, ironically, is dominated by White males with giant  speakers. 

Country/Western, rightly or wrongly, with few exceptions is almost wholly White music that originated from poor White immigrants from Western Europe who settled in Appalachia. Although there are those who would strongly deny it, the genre has been heavily influenced by Black Gospel and the Blues. The banjo, the most distinctly musical instrument associated with that genre, after all, came out of Africa and popularized by Black slaves.

So-called Pop music, which has the potential of being a melting pot, is still mostly White, since Black artists are almost always placed in the R&B and Rap categories and Latinos shuttled into Latin genres (again, exceptions occur).

Artists like Rodrigo and Mars are the exception to these generalizations because, well, Billboard has the same problem as others in defining Filipinos. The Filipino talent, afterall, is to adapt to the surrounding environment. They are so good at adapting people it is awkward to put them into a music box. Are they really Asian? Are they Latinos of Asia? or Are the darker-skinned Filipinos and soulful artists the Blacks of Asia? 

Rodrigo, growing up in in Southern California suburbs,hones her musical roots in the angst-driven teen society of White suburbia.

Mars, who began his performing career as a mini-Elvis impersonator, knows that the roots of Elvis's music came from the Black artists that merged Gospel, jazz and the Blues.

For non-Whites to cross over into race-rooted musical genres is not easy; at least not as easy for Whites to go wherever they want. It requires that the artists of color to be so outstanding that they can't be ignored by the music industry. This is what happens whenever Mars comes out with a new album either as a single or as duo as he did when her partnered with Anderson Paak as Silk Sonic in 2021-2022 and in 2016-2017 when his 24-K Magic album swept almost all the R&B awards.

And you can be sure to see Rodrigo's presence at the Grammys and next year's Billboard awards after her second album,  Guts, with three hits, "Vampire," Bad Idea Right?" and "Get Him Back."  It appears that Guts will be as successful in sales as her breakout debut albur Sour and will likely be included as Album of the Year.

Race influences almost every aspect of American life, including the nation's music. That's not a bad thing, but it needs to be acknowledged, accepted and appreciated.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

APEC: Filipino Americans contributed $15 billion to Philippine economy

AP

Protestors at the APEC Summit targeted Philippine President Marcos, son of the dictator.

As Filipino American demonstrators protested Philippine President Bong Bong Marcos' presence at the Asian-Pacific Edconomic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, he praised Filipino Americans for contributing $15 billion to the Philippine economy, remittances to their family.

During a meeting at the at the South San Francisco Conference Center, Monday, Marcos acknowledged the contributions of Filipinos and Filipino Americans, particularly healthcare workers, during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that one in every five nurses in California is from the Philippines.

“(During the COVID-19 pandemic), Americans experienced first hand the Filipino way of caring and acting on the needs of others,” Marcos said. “Our Filipino nurses, doctors, our first responders, essential workers have all demonstrated the timeless Filipino virtues of malasakit, pakikipagkapwa, and bayanihan (concern, companionship and heroism).”

“We recognize the hard work of Overseas Filipinos in the US. In 2022, the workers, health workers, injected  $14.89 billion to the Philippine economy in cash remittances—making the United States the Philippines’ biggest single source of remittances.”

“We are all grateful for your selfless service to humanity, and we look up to you as role models for future generations of Filipinos and Filipino Americans,” he said.

The remittances to the Philippines is the result of the Philippine economy. The lack of well-paying employment is driving Filipino nurses, seafarers, construction workers and home care workers to seek opportunities outside of their home country.  The money Filipino workers send money back to their families made up almost 9% of the Philippines Gross Domestic Product in 2022. 

Not all Filipino Americans welcomed Marcos at those at the event organized by the Philippine Consulate.

Anakbayan USA, made up of Filipino and Filipino American students from across the San Francisco Bay Area helped plan protests before and during the APEC Summit.

Among the chants heard during the peaceful demonstrations was, “from Palestine to the Philippines, stop the US war machine!” 

“(APEC is) a tool of big business and the ruling elite to increase their profits at the expense of people and the planet,” Brandon Lee of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines told KQED. “APEC will not be epic. It will be a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars, and it will only result in further worker exploitation and environmental destruction.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

First Asian American baseball player voted NL Rookie of the Year

Diamondbacks player Corbin Carroll voted NL Rookie of the Year.

When Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll was named the 2023 Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year Monday, he became the first Asian American to win that honor.

The vote was unanimous among the Baseball Writers Association of America for the 23-year old whose mother is from Taiwan.

“Definitely not the biggest guy out there on the field, but my ability to not be that guy and still be able to impact the game, that’s one piece of it,” Carroll told media during a conference call Monday.

“Not too many Asian Americans in this circumstance — I Definitely not the biggest guy out there on the field, but my ability to not be that guy and still be able to impact the game, that’s one piece of it, that I hope to inspire.”

The Seattle-raised Carrol is also the first D-back rookie in franchise history to earn the title. 

His performance this past season helped the team reach the World Series as the National League champs, eventually losing to the World Sries champ Texas Rangers.

When informed that he was the first Taiwanese American to play in the Fall Classic, he said: “Wow, that's really cool. I didn’t know that, My grandparents lived over there and my mom was born over there. Just bringing some pride and attention to Taiwanese baseball and that side of my heritage, I take a lot of pride in that.”

Other accomplishments that impressed the baseball writers:

• Became the first Rookie in MLB history to join the 25 homer and 50 stolen bases club.
• Became the first player in MLB history to record 10+ triples, 25+ homers and 50+ steals in a season.
• Became the ninth player to ever record a 20+-homer, 50+-stolen-base season.
• Ranked among Major League hitters in triples (2nd, 10), stolen bases (3rd, 54) and runs (7th, 116).
• Led MLB qualified Rookies in hits (161), triples (10), total bases (286) and runs (116).
• Became the 10th National League Rookie All-Star starter (since 1948) and first fan-elected Rookie starter since 2010…at 22 years old, he was the youngest player on either roster.
• Led the D-backs in hits (161), triples (10), runs (116), stolen bases (54), average (.285), OBP (.362), slugging percentage (.506) and OPS (.868).
• His 54 stolen bases marked the most by a Rookie in D-backs’ franchise history, ahead of Chris Young/2007 (27) and rank second all-time by a D-back in a season, behind Tony Womack/1999 (72).

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

New surevey: 1-in-3 AANHPI experienced a bias incident last year; AANHPI prefer Biden Harris

Despite this year's FBI hate crime report hinting that anti-Aian hate may be dying down, ask any Asian American and they'll likely disagree. Thirty-four percent of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults, or 1 out of 3, report personally experiencing a hate incident in the last year.

In addition, nearly a quarter of AANHPI were verbally harassed or endured racial slurs, while one in ten was threatened with physical assault, according to the first load of information from AAPI Data / AP-NORC survey released Monday. 

Further, 16% say they were the victim of a hate crime, experiencing physical assault, property damage, or threats of assault or property damage because of their race or ethnic background. 

The results align with existing research documenting an increase in attacks targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"The survey reveals the alarming rate at which Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are facing racism and hate and the toll that it is taking on mental health, " says Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The AP- NORC Center. "Not only are the people who faced hate incidents or hate crimes more susceptible to anxiety, but they are also more likely to believe they will be targeted again in the future."

        FYI: Read the complete AP-NORC report.

Eighty-six percent of people from AANHPI communities say that racism is a serious problem in the United States, including 51% who say it’s very or extremely serious. 

While most rate their mental health as good or excellent, 12% are at a higher risk of struggling with chronic anxiety. Those who experienced a hate crime or incident are more prone to anxiety and more likely to anticipate further discrimination or hate

The survey also unpacks the political leanings of the racially and linguistically diverse AANHPI communities, revealing that roughly half align with the Democratic Party, slightly over a quarter with the Republican Party, and about one in five identify as independent or unaffiliated. 

Both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are viewed more favorably than unfavorably, while majorities of AAPI adults view Republican challengers Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis unfavorably.

 In addition, more have unfavorable views of GOP Indian Americans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy than favorable views, and a large proportion say that they don’t know enough about the two candidates (40% and 46%, respectively) to form an opinion.

“This is the first nationally representative survey that includes the views of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders about the major presidential candidates,” says Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and director of AAPI Data.

The report is the first in a series of data about the AANHPI communities to be released by the AAPI Data/AP-NORC a media and data partnership that seeks to elevate the perspective of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) populations on some of society’s most pressing issues. The effort will address historic underrepresentation of AAPI communities in public opinion research.

 “Rather than speculate about where AAPIs stand on candidates like Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy," says Ramakrishnan, "we have timely and reliable data that we will continue to follow through the rest of the presidential primary season.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Olivia Rodrigo breaking barriers, garners 6 Grammy Award nominations

Olivia Rodrigo crosses over from pop to rock.

Anybody doubting Olivia Rodrigo's staying power can stop with the negativity. The 20-year old Filipino American singer/songwriter was nominated Friday in six categories for the 2024 Grammy Awards.

Rodrigo’s just released album GUTS, earned nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Rodrigo’s other nominations this year include Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance, all for the GUTS lead single “vampire.”

Her sixth nomination was a bit of surprise and barrier-breaking. ballad of a homeschooled girl, also from GUTS, was nomnated for "best rock song," a category that has been dominated by men, or as Rolling Stone called them, "dudes with an ego."

“ballad of a homeschooled girl” will compete in the category against The Rolling Stones’ “Angry,” Queens of the Stone Age’s “Emotion Sickness,” boygenius’ “Not Strong Enough,” and Foo Fighters’ “Rescued.”

        FYI: For the complete list of Grammy nominees, click  here.

That’s six opportunities to add to Rodrigo's Grammys trophies, which she started in 2022 when exploded into the music scene by sweeping she Best Pop Vocal Album (SOUR), Best Pop Solo Performance (“drivers license”), and Best New Artist.

Rodrigo will have stiff competition. With nine nominations, Sza had the most Grammy Award nods. In several categories, she go up agains her idol Taylor Swift, who also earned six nominations.

The Recording Academy Awards show will take place Sunday, Feb. 4, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

The 66th Grammy Awards, will air live (8:00-11:30 p.m., Live ET/5:00-8:30 p.m., Live PT) on the CBS Television Network and will stream on Paramount+ (live and on demand for Paramount+.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

UPDATED: Historic musical "Here Lies Love" will leave Broadway Nov. 26

 

In 'Here Lies Love,' wittingly or unwittingly, the audience became part of the show.

Strong support from the AANHPI community wasn't enough to keep the ground-breaking musical Here Lies Love from succumbing to the box office blues.
 

If you haven't seen the latest production of Here Lies Love, hurry up and get your tickets.The David Byrne-Fatboy Slim immersive musical that required an extensive renovation of the Broadway Theatre for its dance club setting, will play turn off the lights e on Sunday, November 26.

Despite mostly positive reviews, Here Lies Love, which featured Broadway's first all-Filipino cast was too costly. It took $22 million o produce.

When it closes, the production will have played 33 previews and 149 regular performances at the Broadway Theatre. 

At an estimated cost of $22 million, Here Lies Love, which uses a 1970s disco club setting to tell the story of the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, part of the conjugal dictatorship that ruled the Philippines for 20 years, will now be among Broadway’s biggest  financial flops in recent years.

Amidst great fanfare, which including transforming the iconic Times Square into a barrio fiesta on opening night, when it opened July 20, the show failed to sustain the level of ticket sales that would cover its weekly operating costs. For the week ending Oct. 29, for example, the show grossed $664,703 with only 84% of available seats filled.

In a lengthy statement released today by the Here Lies Love producers, which includes a good number of Filipino and Filipino American celebrities including Broadway legend Lea Salonga, H.E.R., Joy Koy and Jose Antonio Vargas, said: “When we started this journey to bring this bold and original work to Broadway, we asked ourselves: Can anyone produce on Broadway in a new way? Is there a new path forward? What does the template look like? Will audiences want something radically new? Who will those audiences be?

“We have learned a great deal about the answers to those questions. Yes, new ways can work. Artistic excellence can be achieved. But the reality is, succeeding on Broadway means not only producing excellent work with artistic merit––it also means creating the audience for it. And how much time it takes to find and grow new audiences is out of sync with the tight timeframes for audience-building and awareness.

“Every aspect of our production brought new life and fresh ideas to Broadway, from the innovative music of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, the beautiful choreography of Annie-B Parson, the masterful staging by our visionary director Alex Timbers, and the jaw-dropping set, lighting, sound, and projection designs by David Korins, Justin Townsend, M.L. Dogg, Cody Spencer and Peter Nigrini, and among the most dazzling collection of costumes ever seen on Broadway created by Clint Ramos.

“As the first-ever fully binational producing team, we are deeply proud and honored to have brought this pioneering theatrical event to Broadway. The first all-Filipino acting company on Broadway received universal critical acclaim, celebrated by thousands of people from diverse backgrounds, including record numbers who experienced going to a Broadway show for the first time."

The production debuted 10 years ago off-Broadway to rave reviews. It took a decade to get to Broadway because of the physical requirements of the musical. In order to give the look and feel of a disco nightclub and to accommodate the movable pieces of the stage, the Broadway Theatre removed all the seats in the orchestra to allow the audience to join in the dancing and later in the play, become the People Power demonstrators.

All of those changes were expensive to maintain, and the show was losing money because tickets weren’t selling out. It cost about $700,000 per week to mount “Here Lies Love,” which exceeded its weekly box office take of $500,000 to $620,000, according to The Washington Post.

From the beginning, the show was embroiled in controversy within the Filipino American community. Some people felt the show was glamorizing a dark chapter in Philippine history and was too sympathetic too pro-Marcos. 

In addition, there were those who resented that the creators of the production were not Filipino; telling the story of the dictatorship from a white perspective.

In an attempt to counter that criticism, a bevy of Filipino producers were found and more production crew  members were hired to shore up the Filipino connection. 

Evidently the debate didn't keep Asian American audiences away. Industry sales data show aggregate ticket sales for all Broadway shows attributed to AANHPI buyers at an average of 8% from March-August 2023. 

In comparison, Here Lies Love saw AANHPI buyers accounting for an average 16% of total sales for the same period, peaking at 20% for the month of August 2023.

Marking the historic nature of the groundbreaking show, Here Lies Love will be filmed for the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive (TOFT) at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Discussions are reportedly underway for two upcoming international productions in Japan and Australia.

The Broadway show was historic for featuring an all-Filipino cast and showcased the caliber of talent of AANHPI actors, singers and dancers. As a result, the diversity numbers of Broadway productions will be higher this year because the industry is noted for falling short in reflecting America's diverse population.

The production  features established Broadway veterans Arielle Jacobs (Aladdin) as Imelda Marcos, Jose Llana (King and I) as Ferdinand Marcos, and Conrad Ricamora (King and I, How to Get Away With Murder) as Ninoy Aquino. For the opening month, legend Lea Salonga was featured as Aquino's mother and given a show-stopping number.

The company also includes Melody Butiu, Moses Villarama, Jasmine Forsberg, Reanne Acasio, Jaygee Macapugay, Julia Abueva, Renée Albulario, Aaron Alcaraz, Carol Angeli, Nathan Angelo, Kristina Doucette, Roy Flores, Timothy Matthew Flores, Sarah Kay, Jeigh Madjus, Aaron “AJ” Mercado, Geena Quintos, Shea Renne, and Angelo Soriano.

The producers' statement concluded: “As an artistic, cultural, and commercial enterprise, we believe that Here Lies Love had to be presented on Broadway. We hope anyone who hasn’t seen the production will be able to get to the show before November 26.”

DITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.

SF Filipino neighborhood disrupted by int'l dignitaries

Street banners throughout the Filipino Cultural Heritage District tout the neighborhood's residents.

Most likely the the political and economic leaders from Asia and the United States gathering later this week won't even know they're in the Filipino Cultural Heritage District of San Francisco and severely affecting the residents and businesses in the neighborhood.

Delegates to the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit  should feel at home in San Francisco where one-third of its residents are Asian. However, the attendees may be unaware that they are disrupting the lives and businesses of the Filipino American district, also called SOMA Pilipinas. A few blocks from their main meetings are the Bessie Carmichael School, home to the Filipino Education Center, and a park named after the neighborhood's most famous former resident, Victoria Draves, the first Filipino American Olympic gold medal winner.

“There’s a lot of concern,” Raquel Redondiez, the executive director of the cultural district SOMA Pilipinas told The Standard. “I was just in a meeting last night at the Children’s Creativity Museum, and a lot of residents in the area are hearing for the first time what’s happening.”

The APEC Summit will be the largest gathering of foreign leaders and dignitaries in San Francisco since the United Nations was founded in the city in 1945. Among the world leaders attending will be President Joe Biden, China's President Xi Jinping, Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the Philippines' President Bong Bong Marcos Jr. and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“The city and the Secret Service are telling people, ‘If you don’t have business here, stay away,’” Redondiez said. 

About 20,000 international visitors will be attending the APEC, Nov. 11-17.

San Francisco is expecting over 20,000 attendees, including state leaders, foreign press, security personnel, and global CEOs for APEC, that will be held Nov. 11-17.

Although APEC delegates will be meeting in San Francisco to discuss big-picture economics but at the same time, not seeing the plight of neighborhood small businesses being impacted by their presence.

Kristen Brillantes, who owns The Sarap Shop, told The Standard that Mayor “London Breed said APEC would return $53 million to the city. If so, how much goes to small businesses as opposed to corporations? ’Cause I’m sure they’re seeing things we’re not.”

FYI: More information regarding road closures, detours and checkpoints can be found on the SFMTA website.

The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service is charge of security. Streets near the conference will be closed to vehicles and bikes affecting businesses that depend on deliveries and catering. However, people who live, work or shop in the area will be allowed to pass with proper identification and a police search.

Several senior citizen housing projects are inside the security zone and getting around going to restaurants, buying groceries and seeking services catering to the elderly might be difficult for those with limited mobility and English skills.

Most of the APEC meetings will occur at San Francisco's Moscone Center that lies within the Filipino Cultural Heritage District.

The Salvation Army runs a senior center and food relief operation in the security zone that serves more than 200 people. Managers of the center said in a statement they're not sure if they'll be able to keep the center open through that week.

Nam Hoang, co-owner of Freshroll Vietnamese Rolls and Bowls located at the Metreon, said they will shut down the restaurant for five days. He told KTVU his restaurant relies on fresh product daily to operate.

Hoang said his business also utilizes delivery services like Doordash and Uber, which won’t be allowed to operate in the security zone.

The city assures that food delivery workers, like those delivering for companies like Uber Eats and Doordash, can enter the secure zone on foot, bicycle or non-motorized scooter. It will be a little more difficult who depend on cars for deliveries because there will no on-street parking and some streets will be closed to vehicle traffic.

Employees of businesses in the security zone will need to allot more time to get to work because of the additional security measures, and the closed streets will necessitate which will include bag checks at certain points near the Moscone Center.

Daily routines of the heritage district residents will definitely be affected by the summit.

Residents whose homes are in secure zones will have to go through a bag check upon entering. Postal services and trash pickup are scheduled to continue as usual. Street parking will not be available.

David Dalena said he's yet to hear about how Bessie Carmichael Elementary School on Seventh Street, where his wife works, will be affected.

"It ain't going to work out, just to get to his school," Delena told The Standard. "There's checkpoints, and I hear it's like airport screening. For me driving, I don't know what parking looks like. There's always conferences that go on here for Salesforce, and it's already packed for parking and dropping kids off. This would be even more challenging."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Kamala Harris polls better in foreign countries than in the US where she is under attack by the GOP

SCREEN CAPTURE /60 MINUTES

Vice President Kamala Harris is under constant attack from right-wing media.

ANALYSIS

I'm not sure what Vice President Kamala Harris has to do to overcome the negativity heaped upon her by the radical right media machine and the tendency for mainstream media to repeat those conservative talking points as if they were valid criticisms.

The demonization of Harris has had an impact, especially in the polls where she has scored low ratings. "I don't remember another time when we really focused so much on the vice president and their polling numbers," said Clifford Young, vice president of Public Affairs & Public Opinion Research at Ipsos, BBC.

Harris is not perfect, but as Vice President, she is doing what Vice Presidents are supposed to do: Support the President and tout his agenda and his administration's accomplishments. As the second-in-command, it is not Harris' job to create her own policies.

"I hear from a lot of different people a lot of different things. But let me just tell you, I'm focused on the job. I truly am. Our democracy is on the line," Harris said in a "60 Minutes" interview, Oct. 29. "And I frankly, in my head, do not have time for parlor games."

Really! Can you honestly cite the accomplishments of Mike Pence when he was Vice President. Even Joe Biden as President Barack Obama's Vice President stayed in the background and cheered on the President But neither of those recent Vice President's have received the vitriol and negative attention given to Harris.

That hasn't stopped conservative media. Every chance they get, Fox News, the NY Post, Washington Examiner and their like-minded pundits in the far-flung network of conservative news outlets try to make the first Black and Asian American vice president appear unlikeable and ineffective. In their minds, Harris has three strikes against her: 

1. She's a woman.

2. She's a woman of color, whose parents, Jamaican and Indian, were immigrants.

3. She's "pushy," an attribute that would be seen as admirable if she was a man.

However, internationally, Harris fares far better in the public view because the poll respondents were less likely to hear from the US far right's propaganda bullhorns.

Entering office in 2020, foreign affairs was seen as the area in which Harris has had the least experience. You wouldn't know that looking at a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. Since she took office, she's visited over 100 countries as the President's representative.

A median of 55% of adults in these countries have confidence in Harris to do the right thing regarding world affairs, including half or more who hold that view in 14 countries, according to Pew. Confidence in Harris is particularly high in Sweden, where 77% of adults view her positively.

Confidence in Harris is roughly comparable to international confidence in President Biden, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. A median of about six-in-ten have confidence in each of those three leaders to do the right thing regarding world affairs – slightly more than the median of 55% who have confidence in the U.S. vice president.

Harris’s ratings far outpace those of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is seen positively by a median of 18% of adults, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seen positively by a median of just 9% across the surveyed countries.

Harris has taken on a variety of internationally focused responsibilities during her time as vice president. Those responsibilities have included a high-profile trip to Europe at the beginning of the war in Ukraine and coordination of relations with Central American leaders to stem the flow of migrants coming to the southern border of the United States.

Confidence in Harris is tied to gender in some countries, with women significantly more likely than men to express confidence in her handling of world affairs. 

For example, 68% of Canadian women have a positive view of Harris, while only about half of Canadian men (51%) say the same. Significant differences between men and women also appear in Singapore, Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Ideology is also related to views of Harris in some places. In six countries, those who place themselves on the ideological left are significantly more likely than those on the right to have confidence in Harris. Greece is the only country where the reverse is true: 54% of Greeks on the ideological right are confident in Harris, compared with just 32% of those on the left.

“Polls are a snapshot of the time, they certainly do not define the time,” Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist, told Yahoo News. “And no poll can measure the effectiveness of Vice President Harris and how consequential she is not just to the Democratic Party, and to this administration, but to the country.”

Low ratings for vice presidents is not unique to Harris. By comparison, in October of 2019, then-Vice President Pence had a 38% negative favorability and 34% positive, according to NBC polls, and in December 2010, then-Vice President Biden had a 33% negative view and 34% positive view.

Jonathan Hanson, political scientist and lecturer at the University of Michigan, says Harris is so unique, the US has never had a Vice President who has made history in so many fronts because of her race and gender, it is perhaps unfair to compare her to past vice presidents.

“So we would need to consider the additional possibility that her numbers are being weighed down, due to either gender-related bias or race/ethnicity-related [bias],” Hanson told Yahoo News. “That's something that's kind of hard to disentangle from the broader picture. But there is research out there that suggests that, for some people, her gender and race are positive, and for other people, it might work in more of a negative direction.”

“I do think it speaks to the higher level of scrutiny that [Harris has] faced throughout her time as both a candidate and now an officeholder,” Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics, told Yahoo News.

Experts say Harris’s tenure has been filled with difficult assignments. “She was asked to focus on immigration as an issue, which is, of course, a very politically sensitive and difficult issue to work on. So one could make the argument that she wasn't given a very favorable opportunity to really carve out a set of positive, highly visible public accomplishments,” Hanson said.

In a recent NPR interview, Harris said, “I think about my role as vice president of the United States and what that means both in terms of the bully pulpit that I have, and the responsibility that comes with that, to hopefully inform folks of things I might be aware of, but also to elevate public discourse and hopefully cut through the misinformation.”

Dittmar says there is a concerted Republican effort to throw the spotlight on Harris in order to reduce her poll numbers. If you constantly continue to misrepresent, repeat lies or attack a victim often enough in the conservative megaphones compounded by unfiltered social media, people start believing the BS.

Just ask Hillary Clinton and the questioning about her emails, an issue that haunted her throughout her unsuccessful 2016 Presidential campaign.

One of the reasons there is so much vitriol against Harris is because there is the likely possibility that she might succeed Biden as President. in 2028. “A vote for President Biden, it’s actually a vote for President Harris," said Nikki Haley, who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, told “Fox and Friends” in June. "We are running against Kamala Harris. Make no bones about it.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the blog Views From the Edge.