Survey: ANHPI still mostly unseen, unrecognized and unrewarded in the US

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Only 2% of Americans named Vice President Kamala Harris when asked to name a famous Asian American, according to a just recent report.

In addition, a majority of Americans (55%) are unable to name a single event or policy related to Asian Americans, says the 2024 The Asian American Federation (TAAF) report.

Four years after TAAF's original finding made waves, more than half of all Americans (52%) still can’t name a single famous Asian American.

Apparently, the unprecedented Oscar awards to Everything Everwhere All At Once last year, including Michele Yeoh's Best Actress award, failed to register with non-Asians. Nine percent of the respondents named Jackie Chan, who is not even American); 5% wrote down Bruce Lee even though he died over 50 years ago.

Understanding how people view Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) continues to be crucial to building a world where AANHPIs are safe, feel belonging and have pathways to prosperity, said the TAAF's STAATUS Index, the only nationally representative survey that reveals sources of influences on perceptions about the AANHPI community and how harmful stereotypes may persist and evolve over the years.

The TAAF survey uncovered the most pressing issues AANHPIs are facing today. Key results include:

• Americans don’t think hate toward Asian Americans has increased, but Asian Americans disagree.

• Only one-third of Americans think hate towards Asian Americans has increased. Perceptions that Asian Americans are treated fairly in the US have risen steadily since 2021.

Meanwhile, over the past 12 months: 32% of Asian Americans say they were called a slur, and 29% say they were verbally harassed or verbally abused.

The numbers are even higher for some subgroups. For example, Southeast Asian Americans report higher incidences of being called a racial slur (40%), verbal harassment or abuse (38%), and threats of physical assault (22%) over the last 12 months.

• 41% of Asian Americans think they are likely to be the victim of a physical attack and 59% of Asians Americans think it is at least somewhat likely that they will be a victim of discrimination in the next 5 years because of their race, ethnicity, or religion

• Because of discrimination, violence, and lack of representation, only 38% of Asian Americans completely agree they belong, and even fewer feel they are fully accepted.

• Asian Americans are least likely to feel strongly that they belong, and also least likely to feel that they are accepted for their racial identity in the US.

• 38% of Asian Americans completely agree that they belong, while only 18% completely agree that they are accepted in the U.S. for their racial identity.

• For Asian Americans who feel they aren’t fully accepted or don’t fully belong in the US, social media (34%), and workplaces, neighborhoods, and schools/colleges/universities (all 31%) feel the least welcoming.

• For Asian Americans who don’t feel they belong or are accepted, 60% pointed to previous experiences of discrimination and/or violence and 37% said they don’t see people like them in positions of power.

Respondents to the TAAF survey say racism towards Asian Americans will decrease by improving education, boosting visibility, and increasing opportunities to interact.

The top three ideas respondents offered for decreasing racism are to teach the history of Asian Americans in K-12 schools and colleges (41%), increase visibility of Asian Americans in American society (41%), and provide more opportunities to interact with Asian Americans (39%).

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.