#StopAsianHate Voices From Asian America: AAPI entertainers talk activism efforts & giving back

Should entertainers use their platforms to express their personal views outside the realm of acting and performing? 

Why the hell, not? As citizens of this country, they have the same rights that all American have. They're entitled to their views if you believe in the Constitution's First Amendment that guarantees Freedom of Speech.

Movies and television help shape American culture and the way we see ourselves. Progress is occurring, but so much more needs to be done to include AAPI actors and representation onscreen. 

First up, on a Zoom call, Daniel Dae Kim, George Takei, Olivia Munn, Dianne Doan, Hari Kondabolu, and Chloe Bennet sat down with EW on Sunday March, 14th 2021 to speak about their experiences as Asian artists and the rise in attacks against Asians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We can't really address the racism that's happening towards Asian Americans without addressing the racism that is happening towards African Americans, our Latinx brothers and sisters," states Bennett, the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. actress.

Below, Ken Jeong, takes a break from his usual comedic nature and gets serious on Late Night.

Unfortunately, "It's going to get worse before it gets better," says the New York-born actress Lucy Liu (below) as she is interviewed by CNN's Erin Burnett.

Margaret Cho, puts the current wave of violence towards Asians in the context of American history. "In the industry I work in, we have a distorted view of Asian Americans," she says.

The more we shift away from the single Eurocentric world view, the better we will be as a country. 

The more we see Americans as more than White, the more we can accept citizens who don't conform to the American self-mage.

#StopAsianHate: On this Day of Action, Voices from Asian America -- Olivia Munn

Olivia Munn, an actress of Chinese/Vietnamese heritage, has not been afraid to use her celebrity platform to speak out. This interview was conducted before the shooting spree in Georgia that killed six Asian women.

DAY OF ACTION: The United States began making anti-Asian laws as early as 1790

Why today, March 26, of all days? Why is the AAPI community asking all Americans to reflect and act on this day?

On March 26, 1790, the Naturalization Act was signed into law, prohibiting non-white people from becoming citizens of the United States. Over 200 years later, Asians in the U.S. are still suffering from the effects of the racism our country was founded upon. Asian elders are being physically assaulted in the streets. Asian American children are afraid to go back to school. We are still grieving the murders of 6 Asian women in a racially-motivated killing spree in Atlanta last week.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Views From the Edge will be posting #StopAsianHate throughout the day.

#StopAsianHate: Kaiser Permanente gives $5.4 million to fight back anti-Asian hate & violence

Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest nonprofit health care organization, has committed $5.4 million to combat the surge in violence against people of Asian descent and to support the rights, health, and wellness of the Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. 

Racial prejudice toward these groups predates the COVID-19 pandemic but has recently increased as pejorative connections between COVID-19 and people of Asian heritage have fueled xenophobic, anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes.

Kaiser Permanente’s financial commitment is intended to help prevent further racist acts, provide interventions when they occur, and promote healing in communities that have been discriminated against. Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders represent 34% of Kaiser Permanente employees, and 23% of its 12.4-million-person membership.

“Kaiser Permanente recognizes the pain that many of our employees, members, and communities are experiencing due to the unacceptable increase in assaults, harassment, and hate crimes directed at people of Asian descent — including the tragic March 16 attacks in Atlanta,” said Greg A. Adams, Kaiser Permanente chair and chief executive officer. 

“As a health care organization, we understand that it is fundamentally impossible to achieve emotional or physical well-being when subjected to violence, racism, and other forms of discrimination, and so stand firmly against all forms of social injustice.”

The grant recipients include two organizations that advocate nationally for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities: Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC and Stop AAPI Hate. 

According to Stop AAPI Hate, the group received reports of 3,292 incidents in 2020 involving verbal harassment, avoidance/shunning, physical assault, vandalism, and other forms of discrimination. Nearly 45% of those incidents took place in California.

Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC, a national nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and underserved allied communities, will assist in redistributing grant funds to community-based organizations where Kaiser Permanente operates and will work with four other independent organizations in the Advancing Justice affiliation. 

“Advancing Justice — AAJC is honored to be in partnership with Kaiser Permanente,” said John C. Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC. “Too often Asian American communities are overlooked because of the harmful ‘model minority’ myth or targeted because of the perpetual foreigner stereotypes that exist. This significant funding provides a robust opportunity to address anti-Asian hate through collaboration between local community organizations and a national response.”

Grant funding will be used to:

• Advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders through education, advocacy, and community building
• Address misinformation and xenophobia, and increase reporting of hate targeting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities
• Strengthen infrastructure within regional community-based organizations for preventing racist attacks, intervening when they occur, and promoting healing

These grants, approved by its board on March 10, are part of Kaiser Permanente’s broad, established commitment to improve health equity and address racism in the communities it serves. Partnering with organizations that have a trusted presence within communities is a long-standing priority for the organization. 

Editorial Comment from Views From the Edge: Kudos to Kaiser, but so much more can be done by corporations and foundations to recognize the existence of AAPI communities and to address their needs. We're not anybody's "model minority."

USC pays out $852 million to settle sex abuse case involving many Asian women

The University of Southern California and the 710 women who filed civil cases in Los Angeles Superior Court involving former Dr. George Tyndall reached a settlement agreement Thursday  that has the school paying out $852 million to the victims of sexual abuse.

Many of victims of the gynocologist were Asian women. He was accused of making  inappropriate racial comments toward Chinese international students and appeared fixated on the heritage and virginity of students of Asian and Middle East descent. 

One victim testified: "He asked intimate sexual details about me and then related my answers to my being Filipina and saying I guess that’s because you’re mixed. He had a creepy smile. He told me to undress from the bottom down and he stood there watching while I did so. And he smiled.”

Another former patient, Lucy Chi, said Thursday that she was abused by Tyndall during an exam around 2014. “George Tyndall specifically preyed upon Asian women,” Chi said. “He paid special attention to me because I was Asian.”

“It is a sickening thought that this doctor might have preyed on international Asian students because he believed they were naive and did not know what to expect during these appointments,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.

John C. Manly, Esq., on behalf of Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel, commented, "Our team is humbled by the courage of George Tyndall's survivors, who endured this process, and hope this settlement brings them healing. Our team also acknowledges USC President Carol Folt and General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim, whose hard work and determination were critical to resolving this case."

USC General Counsel Beong-Soo Kim said, "Reaching a fair agreement with these former students has been a top priority for the Board of Trustees and President Carol Folt. We want to thank the Plaintiff's Liaison Counsel for their willingness to work with us to resolve this litigation responsibly."

Revelations that Tyndall had abused students for years were first made public in 2018 in an exhaustive report published by the Los Angeles Times, for which the newspaper won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

Tyndall was arrested in 2019 that led to his release from the university.

"I am deeply sorry for the pain experienced by these valued members of the USC community," said USC President Carol L. Folt. "We appreciate the courage of all who came forward and hope this much needed resolution provides some relief to the women abused by George Tyndall."

Filipino American tapped for California's new Attorney General

Assemblymember Rob Bonta in front of a portrait of a former tenant of the International Hotel,
was nominated to become California's next Attorney General.

Picking the site of the old International Hotel in San Francisco for Rob Bonta's first press conference after being nominated as California's new Attorney General is full of meaning tying the past with the future. 

“Thank you, Governor Newsom, for the privilege and honor of a lifetime,” Bonta said on Wednesday, speaking from I-Hotel Manilatown Center. “I’m so humbled in the trust, faith and the confidence that you placed in me.

“I stand here because of so many people who come before me, including people like the Asian Americans and Filipino Americans who assembled right here at the International Hotel on August 4, 1977,” he said, speaking in front of portraits of former I-Hotel tenants.

The I-Hotel was the last remaining vestige of the city's Manilatown and the home for elderly Filipino and Chinese tenants. It was the site of years of protests as young Asian Americans fought to save the affordable residential hotel for its residents.The protests helped fuel a rise in AAPI political activism. 

Bonta’s mother was on hand today to witness Newsom announce  her son's selection. In the 1970s, she worked with Emil de Guzman organizing the protests to save the hotel. "He has a certain tenaciousness that I saw when he was a young kid," said de Guzman, who has known Bonta and his family for decades.

If Assemblyman Bonta's nomination is approved -- and it is likely he will be approved by the Democrat-majority in the state legislature -- he would become the first Filipino American to occupy that high-profile post which is often the launching pad for higher office.

The 48-year old legislator is filling the seat vacated by Xavier Becerra, who was recently sworn in as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

One of Bonta's noteworthy pieces of legislation was to make the state recognize and observe the birthday of Larry Itliong, a Filipino American labor leader who led the nationwide grape boycott  in 1965 and with Cesar Chavez, formed the United Farmworkers.

Throughout his career in public service, Bonta has taken on big fights to reverse historic injustice – many affecting communities of color. He has been a leader in the fight to reform California's  justice system and stand up to the forces of hate.

“Rob represents what makes California great – our desire to take on righteous fights and reverse systematic injustices,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom. “Growing up with parents steeped in social justice movements, Rob has become a national leader in the fight to repair our justice system and defend the rights of every Californian. And most importantly, at this moment when so many communities are under attack for who they are and who they love, Rob has fought to strengthen hate crime laws and protect our communities from the forces of hate. He will be a phenomenal Attorney General, and I can’t wait to see him get to work.”

Assemblymember Rob Bonta was elected to the California State Assembly’s 18th District in 2012, where he represents the cities of Oakland, Alameda and San Leandro. He became the first Filipino American state legislator in California’s then 160-plus-year history.

“I became a lawyer because I saw the law as the best way to make a positive difference for the most people, and it would be an honor of a lifetime to serve as the attorney for the people of this great state.," said Bonta.

"As California’s Attorney General, I will work tirelessly every day to ensure that every Californian who has been wronged can find justice and that every person is treated fairly under the law.”

Newsom made the announcement at the historic International Hotel in San Francisco, a site where Asian and Pacific Islander Californians famously rallied in 1977 to save homes of elderly residents and preserve their community. The protests helped fuel a rise in AAPI political activism. Bonta’s mother, who helped organize the protest at the International Hotel, was on hand today to witness the Governor making his selection.

Bonta grew up the son of activists. His mother, Cynthia, a proud Filipina, immigrated to California in the 1960s. His father, Warren, who grew up in Ventura County, was committed to service and social justice from a young age. As a student, the elder Bonta joined Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights organizing in Alabama to pass the Voting Rights Act. 

Warren and Cynthia Bonta were working as missionaries in the Philippines when Rob was born, training young people to serve the needs of rural Philippine villages through service, community organizing and ministry.

When Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, the Bonta family decided to return to the U.S.

Shortly after leaving the Philippines, the Bontas moved to a trailer in La Paz, in the Tehachapi Mountains outside Bakersfield and served in the headquarters for the United Farm Workers movement. Rob Bontas parents worked alongside Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Philip Veracruz, organizing Latino and Filipino farmworkers for racial, economic and civil rights. 

It was in La Paz, surrounded by other UFW families, that Rob Bonta’s parents gave him his first lessons in right and wrong and taught him that everyone had an obligation to speak out when another person is treated unfairly.

Growing up, Bonta had been inspired by characters like Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird” to pursue justice through the law, and reflecting on the stories of the farmworkers his family had known only strengthened that resolve. Bonta was accepted to Yale Law School. It was also at Yale that he met his wife Mia, who he calls “his partner in life and in service.”

TWITTER / BONTA

California Assemblymember Rob Bonta, left, and his family.

After law school, Bonta moved back to California and went into private practice, working pro-bono to protect Californians from exploitation and racial profiling. A few years later, Bonta decided to pursue his passion for public service and put his legal experience to work to help his community full-time. Bonta served nine years as a Deputy City Attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office, representing the city and its employees, before running for local office in Alameda County.

At the State Capitol, Bonta passed major reforms that reversed long-standing injustices. He quickly became a statewide leader in the fights for racial, economic and environmental justice, advancing reforms that put California on the cutting edge.

The AAPI communities make up about 16% of California's population of 40 million, according to the US Census. Attacks against AAPI have been occurring throughout the state but concentrations of incidents have been in the Los Angeles and San Francisco urban areas. 

Bonta's nomination was the result of a lobbying campaign by AAPI leaders that began the day after the November presidential election that saw Harris take the Vice President post. All of California's Filipino American elected officials sent a letter to Newsom's office urging him to pick Bonta. Potential rivals withdrew their name in favor of the Assemlymember.

“Rob is a fighter for justice and will protect Californians at every opportunity,” David Chiu, a Democratic assemblyman and member of the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) legislative caucus, tweeted on Wednesday. “This is a historic nomination for API communities at a time when it could not be more critical.”

If named AG, one of the issues he'll tackle is the current wave of violence targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As an Assemblymember, Bonta introduced a number of bills to improve hate crime statutes, support victims of hate violence, and build bridges between law enforcement and targeted communities.

Bonta told the San Francisco Chronicle that one of his top priorities would be to “protect those facing the forces of hate” and hold accountable perpetrators of hate crimes.

“Hate crimes targeting the API community have skyrocketed over the last year, and we need a champion who will make the pursuit of justice for these victims a top priority,” fellow Assemblymember Evan Low told the Chronicle.

“I have full faith AG Bonta is the right person to meet this moment.”

CORRECTION: Earlier versions of this posting incorrectly said Xavier Becerra replaced Kamala Harris. Becerra was elected to the AG post in 2016.

Cosmo cover: FilAm rapper Saweetie, aka 'Ate Icy' is here to dominate

Filipino American rapper Saweetie, known by her Filipino fans as "Ate Icy," made the April cover of Cosmopolitan for her exclusive interview where she talks about her career, bullying, PTSD and more. 

Saweetie, aka Diamonté Quiava Valentin Harper, is the best counter to the stereotype of Asian women being meek and subservient. 

As the title to the Cosmo article suggests, "Saweetie Isn't Here to Impress You. She's Here to F***king Dominate!" the artist, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, is no shrinking violet.

The article introduces Saweetie to a readership that might not have heard of her despite being named "Favorite New Artist" for the Peoples' Choice Awards.

But as the interview in Cosmopolitan says: 

"Her songs have hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify. She earned a 2020 People’s Choice Awards nomination for Favorite New Artist; she’s had a guest spot on the Freeform show Grown-ish. And then there’s her proudest moment, making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. It was a huge deal for Saweetie, who earned a business communications degree from the University of Southern California—with a 3.6 GPA, it should be noted—and who considers herself a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur. 'I screamed,' she says about when she found out she’d made the list. 'It just let me know that I’m on my way to where I wanted to be.' ”

The Forbes listing was important to her because of earlier interview. In the magazine, she talks about a 2018 interview where the host insinuated that because of her stunning appearance, she could get by with her basic freestyle (rapping).  Saweetie says she suffered from PTSD from that incident and other incidents she endured because of the premise that she was getting by on her looks.

Because of that accusation of "pretty privilege," she worked hard to improve her art, taking vocal lessons, focusing on the studio work and launching a nonprofit, Icy Baby Foundation, to help single mothers.  

If you're late to join the Saweetie bandwagon, welcome. 

Saweetie is interviewed by Kim Lee ("Bling Empire") over lunch at a Filipino restaurant.

AsAm US Senators deliver ultimatum for better AAPI representation in the Biden administration

Senators Tammy Duckworth, left, and Mazie Hirono.

Senators Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii backed off on their threat to withhold voting for President Biden's nominees until AAPI representation in Biden's Cabinet improved.

Duckworth and Hirono, the only Asian American members of the US Senate,  reflected AAPI leaders' frustration with the lack of an AAPI senior Cabinet member despite Biden's vow to have his cabinet "look like America."

With the Senate evenly split between the GOP and Democrats, a "no" vote by Duckworth and/or Hirono would effectively guarantee a nominee's rejection.

Hours after their announcement, the White House said that a senior liaison would be appointed to make sure that AAPI concerns are voiced and addressed.

With the announcement of the liaison to night, Duckworth’s spokesman said the senator would not stand in the way of “qualified nominees — which will include more AAPI leaders.”

“Senator Duckworth appreciates the Biden Administration’s assurances that it will do much more to elevate AAPI voices and perspectives at the highest levels of government, including appointing an AAPI senior White House official to represent the community, secure the confirmation of AAPI appointments and advance policy proposals that are relevant and important to the community,” spokesman Ben Garmisa said in a statement.

Hirono also said that she would vote yes for qualified nominees. 

Since the November election, AAPI leaders have been lobbying heavily for AAPI representatives for Biden's Cabinet, even submitting a list of prospective qualified nominees. Most of them never even received a call, according to Duckworth.

Biden's Cabinet is the first Presidential Cabinet since 2000 to not include an AAPI Secretary.

The two AAPI senators met virtually with senior Biden officials Monday evening to express their frustration at the lack of AAPI representation in the Biden Cabinet.

“To be told that, well, you have (Vice President) Kamala Harris, we’re very proud of her, you don’t need anybody else, is insulting,” Duckworth said.

“That is not something you would say to the Black Caucus — ‘Well you have Kamala, we’re not going to put any more African Americans in the Cabinet because you have Kamala,’” said Duckworth, according to the New York Times.

“Why would you say it to AAPI?” she added.

Tuesday morning, Duckworth told the White House that she would reject Biden's "non-diversity" nominees. Hirono made a similar statement. The offer of senior liaison was offered only after the Senators expressed their frustration and issued their ultimatum.

Angry Connecticut Attorney General responds to official's ignorant comment about Asian Americans

WNPR

Attorney General William Tong corrects a Connecticut legislator's comments.

Connecticut officials are aghast at comments by a state lawmaker that questioned the discrimination suffered by Asian Americans.

Rep. Michael Winkler's comments drew an angry retort from the state's Attorney General William Tong. 

"Let me assure you that Asian Americans count and the hate and discrimination against us is real, and it has gotten people hurt and killed,” said Tong.

Winkler made his comments during a meeting of the Planning and Development Committee during which he dismissed discrimination against Asian Americans.

In an exchange with Greenwich Housing Authority board chairman Sam Romeo, Winkler said he did not believe there was racism in Greenwich. Romeo responded and noted that 37% of the population of the Fairfield County town is classified as “minority.”

"Yes, you count Asians and other minorities that have never been discriminated against," Winkler said to Romeo.

"Every immigrant group that has come in has risen through and above the Blacks, while other immigrant groups, one after the other -- the Polish, the Irish, whatever -- came in and rose up. Blacks have always been at the bottom and remain there." said Winkler. "And so, they're the group that I look to when I'm trying to judge how well people are doing for the most downtrodden, the most oppressed."

Winkler's comments prompted an immediate response from state Sen. Tony Hwang.

“For anyone who says there is no bias or racism against Asian Americans ... those kind of statements are absolutely unacceptable anytime,” said Hwang, who was born in Taiwan. “I demand that he apologize and understand what he said was beyond inflammatory, beyond derogatory and beyond ignorant.”

Later in the meeting, Winkler apologized for his comments, which were broadcast live on YouTube. Word quickly spread through the state government and prompted a response from Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who released the following statement:

“I’d like to say I cannot believe that Representative Winkler would say that Asian-Americans do not count and have not been discriminated against. Except, I can believe it because I was asked myself as a member of the House of Representatives during a debate whether Asian Americans count as people of color. 

"Let me assure you that Asian Americans count and the hate and discrimination against us is real, and it has gotten people hurt and killed,”  

“The Chinese Exclusion Act was real. The forced internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans on U.S. soil was real. The beating death of Vincent Chin was real. Donald Trump’s malicious scapegoating of Asian-Americans for his own failure to respond to the coronavirus pandemic was real. The murder of six Asian women in Atlanta just last week was real. 

"The history of bias and hate against Asian-Americans in this country is long and largely invisible, an unfortunate reality that has been highlighted by the ignorant comments made by Representative Winkler. 

"The myth of the so-called ‘model-minority’ is a dangerous fiction that for too long has allowed this country to erase and ignore this shameful history. 

"I invite Representative Winkler to seize this moment as a teaching opportunity, to educate himself by speaking to his Asian American neighbors and colleagues, and to commit to joining me and others in fighting discrimination in all forms.”

Words matter: Trump's names for the coronavirus emboldened his followers, says study

Donald Trump's use of racist terms when referring to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, "likely perpetuated racist attitudes." according to a new study.

There apparently is some evidence that supports blaming the former White House occupant for unleashing a torrent of ant-Asian sentiment, giving rise to the year-long surge of violence against Asians and Asian Americans culminating (thus far) in the mass shootings in Georgia killing eight people, including six Asian women. 

A new study suggests that Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric around the coronavirus, which is believed to have originated in China, helped spark anti-Asian Twitter content and "likely perpetuated racist attitudes."

Over a year ago, in the week after Trump first tweeted about “the Chinese virus,” the number of coronavirus-related tweets with anti-Asian hashtags rose precipitously, a new study from UC San Francisco has found.

The study examined nearly 700,000 tweets containing nearly 1.3 million hashtags, the week before and after the president’s tweet on March 16, 2020, to see whether his use of the term “Chinese virus” – an expression that public health experts warned against using – may have led others to use anti-Asian language on Twitter.

The UCSF researchers found that users who adopted the hashtag #chinesevirus were far more likely to pair it with overtly racist hashtags.

Dr. Yulin Hswen

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health in its March 18, 2021 issue, comes as the country is experiencing an alarming surge of violent attacks on people of Asian descent and lends support to warnings by public health experts that naming a disease after a place or a group of people is stigmatizing.

“These results may be a proxy of growth in anti-Asian sentiment that was not as prevalent as before,” said Yulin Hswen, ScD, MPH, an assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF and the study's lead author. “Using racial terms associated with a disease can result in the perpetuation of further stigmatization of racial groups.”

Officials of the World Health Organization purposely avoided attaching geography to the virus, as was the practice in the past, to avoid casting blame on a group of people or region. But Trump insisted on tying China to COVID-19 at every turn. A news photographer took a picture of one of Trump's early speeches and he had crossed out "corona" in the word "coronavirus" and replaced in thick black marker with "China."

Standing by his words, even in the face of criticism that it might lead to racial profiling of Asian Americans, Trump claimed it was a "very accurate term," the virus "came from China."

 In a prepared speech, Donald Trump crossed out "corona" and inserted "Chinese."

Playing to the racist nature of some in his base has been Trump's strategy from the beginning of his run for president. When he announced his candidacy in 2015, he blamed the undocumented immigrants from Mexico as "bad hombres" and "rapists." His deliberate appeals to white racists worked well enough to win him the White House.

Hswen said the results of the study demonstrate how important it is to use neutral language when naming diseases and other threats to public health. And she expressed alarm that as recently as March of 2021, Trump continues to refer to the Covid-19 vaccine as the “China Virus Vaccine.”

“Chinese virus, China virus, Wuhan virus, or any derivative of these terms is not something we should be using,” Hswen said. “We should not be attaching location or ethnicity to diseases.”

Study: Immigrant families are more stable than native-born American families

Indian American immigrant families are the most stable.

Immigrant families are closer to the family ideal Americans would love to achieve, according to a new study.

As it turns out, despite the stress of adjusting to a new language, different customs and strange social environment, families who are new to the United States are more stable than native born families, according to a recent report from the Institute of  Family Studies (IFS).

Among immigrant families, those from India are the most stable.

As a group, immigrant families tend to be more stable than families of native-born Americans. Specifically, 72% of immigrants with children are still in their first marriage, whereas the share among native-born Americans is just 60%, the IFS analysis of census data.

About 94% of first-generation Indian Americans with children are stably married; 4% are remarried, and the share of unmarried Indian immigrants with children is only 2%. 

Family stability is also higher among immigrants from other parts of Asia, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan. More than 80% of immigrant families from these countries comprise two stably married adults with their children.

Behind these numbers are the relatively higher marriage rates and lower divorce rates of immigrants in general. The study found that immigrant families' stability pertained to more than just those from Asia. The conclusion holds true for families from families from other parts of the world too. Most first-generation immigrants remain in their first marriage compared to 60% of native-born families.

The study also shows that the longer a family resides in the U.S., the stability drops. While Indian immigrants have the highest family stability: 94% of Indian immigrants with children are stably married, the share of intact marriage drops to 87% among native-born Indian Americans with children, the study noted.

The rate of immigration from Asia has surpassed the immigration from Latin America. The share of immigrants in the U.S. population is nearing the historic high of the early 20th century when immigration from Europe was at its highest. About one-in-seven people (14%) in the U.S. today, or 45 million, are foreign born. 

Biden makes strongest statement condemning racism and xenophobia

SCREEN CAPTURE / ABC

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN

Just days after a mass shooting that claimed eight lives, including the lives of six Asian women in Georgia, President Biden spoke about racism and xenophobia in the strongest terms since he assumed the presidency.

"One of the core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans is standing against hate and racism, even as we acknowledge that systemic racism and white supremacy are ugly poisons that have long plagued the United States," Biden said Sunday.

Biden made his statement on United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

"We must change the laws that enable discrimination in our country, and we must change our hearts," he added.

"We must recognize the ways that racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of marginalization intersect with and compound one another, Biden continued. "And, we must all strive to eliminate inequities in our policies, remove barriers to full participation in our societies, and push for open and inclusive processes that respect all people everywhere."

Biden's statement comes after a Friday visit to Atlanta where he met with AAPI leaders after a shooting spree by a lone white gunman killed eight people and a year-long upsurge of hate and violence targeting  Asian Americans.

After that meeting, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the daughter of an Indian American mother and Jamaican father, said: “Racism is real in America and it has always been. Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too.” 

#StopAAPIHate has collected over 3,800 reports of discrimination or assaults against AAPI since the coronavirus forced a partial shutdown of most of America as a means to slow the spread of the virus.

Many people blame the rise of hate towards AAPI on Donald Trump's use of terms that linked the disease to Asia and Asian Americans. The racist rhetoric coincided with the rise of white supremacists who were emboldened by Trump's presidency.

Although, the brazen shooting spree has not been labeled a "hate" crime despite the death of the six Asian women and the shooter targeted three Asian-owned establishments.

Biden continued his statement: "We will not shy away from engaging in the hard work to take on the damaging legacy of slavery and our treatment of Native Americans, or from doing the daily work of addressing systemic racism and violence against Black, Native, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color."

Biden’ statement, issued on Sunday night, marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

One of the core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans is standing against hate and racism, even as we acknowledge that systemic racism and white supremacy are ugly poisons that have long plagued the United States. We must change the laws that enable discrimination in our country, and we must change our hearts.

Racism, xenophobia, nativism, and other forms of intolerance are not problems unique to the United States. They are global problems. They are human problems that we all need to recognize, name, and dismantle. Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, all nations and people should recommit to the fundamental truth that every human being has inherent dignity and deserves to be treated with fairness. We must recognize the ways that racism, gender discrimination, and other forms of marginalization intersect with and compound one another. And, we must all strive to eliminate inequities in our policies, remove barriers to full participation in our societies, and push for open and inclusive processes that respect all people everywhere.

Under my Administration, the United States will lead the conversation on these painful issues—at home, in international institutions, and around the world. That is why, on my first day in office, I signed an Order establishing a whole of government approach to equity and racial justice. We will not shy away from engaging in the hard work to take on the damaging legacy of slavery and our treatment of Native Americans, or from doing the daily work of addressing systemic racism and violence against Black, Native, Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color. Neither will we fail to speak out against the horrific mistreatment of the Rohingya in Burma, the Uyghurs in China, or any racial discrimination we see in the world.

Hate can have no safe harbor in America. It should have no safe harbor anywhere in the world. We must join together to make it stop.

“Racism is real in America and it has always been,” said Harris, the country’s first Asian-American, first Black and first female vice president. “Xenophobia is real in America and always has been. Sexism too.” she said.

Biden’ statement, issued on Sunday night, marks the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, created in the 1970s to mark a 1960 massacre in South Africa.

AAPI communities' historic weekend of spontaneous protests involves thousands

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Sandra Oh spoke to a rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Starting Friday when President Biden and Vice President Harris met with AAPI leaders in Atlanta, it has been a weekend not seen in decades as thousands of AAPI and their allies staged a score of demonstrations around the United States.

Spurred by the mass shootings in Atlanta that killed eight, six of whom were Asian women, Asian Americans, Latinos, Blacks and Whites took to the streets and parks in unrelated demonstrations as if to say "Enough is enough."

The demonstrations protested not only the Atlanta rampage, but a year that has seen bias and violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders surge to heights not seen since World War II, when 120,000 Americans of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from their homes and into incarceration camps.

Speaking through a bullhorn, the actress Sandra Oh had the crowd in Pittsburgh, Penn. chanting after her, “I am proud to be Asian,” she says. “We belong here.”

“For many of us in our community, this is the first time we are even able to voice our fear and our anger, and I really am so grateful for everyone willing to listen,” Oh said in videos. “One thing that I know is that many in our community are very scared, and I understand that. And one way to go through our fear is to reach out to our community.

“To everyone here," Oh continued, "I will challenge everyone here, if you see something, will you help me? If you see one of our sisters and brothers in need, will you help us?” she said, as the people chanted, “Yes!” in response. “We must understand, as Asian Americans, we just need to reach out our hand to our sisters and brothers and say, ‘Help me and I’m here.’”

From the big cities to the suburbs, AAPI gathered in apparently spontaneous demonstrations. They were angry, fearful and fed up for being targeted by racist bullies and for being blamed for the coronavirus pandemic. Many felt they just needed to do something. 

“We knew we had to do something about it,” John Zhuang told the Eagle Tribune,  the local newspaper of Andover, Mass., with 14% of its population of 37,000 of AAPI descent.

“I just want people to be aware and support us,” he added. “We are the same, dads and moms, and people of this country.”

In California, with the largest AAPI population outside of Asia, rallies were held in the cities that included San Francisco, Oakland, San Jjose, San DIego, and Los Angeles. Across the nation rallies were held in Seattle, Pittsburgh, PA, San Antonio and, of course, Atlanta;  vigils and rallies were held in the suburbs not used to demonstrations such as Andover, Mass., Cary, North Carolina, and the California 'burbs of Alhambra, Fullerton, Walnut Creek, and Brisbane,; even Boise, Idaho, where  AAPI makes up only 3% of the population held a rally organized by teenagers.

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In Atlanta, steel reeling from the deadly shootings, U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen, the first Vietnamese American to serve in the Georgia House spoke at a rally.

“I just wanted to drop by to say to my Asian sisters and brothers, we see you, and, more importantly, we are going to stand with you," Warnock said to loud cheers.

“No matter how you want to spin it, the facts remain the same. This was an attack on the Asian community,” said Nguyen, an advocate for women and communities of color. She noted the shooter targeted businesses operated by women of Asian descent.

“Let’s join hands with our ally community and demand justice for not only these victims but for all victims of white supremacy,” she said.

Camden Hunt, a Black activist, joined Saturday’s rally to “show Black and Asian solidarity, ” adding “I think it’s amazing. I look out and I see people of all shades and ages and backgrounds.”

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Hundreds attended a Saturday rally at Portsmouth Square in San Francisco.

“Whether we are grandparents, workers, women, or young people, we all deserve safety and it is clear the current systems are not working,” Shaw San Liu, executive director of the Chinese Progressive Association, said in a statement read in Portsmouth Square, the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown where several hundred gathered Saturday.

"Our members —many of whom are women, mothers living in the SROs, and young women — are risking their safety to go to work, providing childcare and caring for family members, navigating distance learning, and trying their best to preserve their mental health during these trying times. This is further exacerbating an already stressful time," the statement continued. 

 “We need to fight racism, economic inequality and sexism/gender-based violence with effective community-based solutions if we are to achieve true safety for our communities.”

After speaking with the daughter of Vicha Ratanapakdee, the 84-year old who was killed last month on his morning walk in San Francisco, 13-year old Ashlyn So felt compelled to speak out to the assembled crowd. “How many more of our people’s blood, black eyes, swollen faces, broken bones, must happen before we will be visible?” said the teenager.  “Before we will feel safe? Before we will be an equal?”

Teenagers organized the rally in Boise, Idaho, where about 100 people gathered on the steps of the State Capitol.

“As Asians, we’re supposed to be ‘quiet’ and ‘shy,’ ‘just keep your head down and work hard,’” Yvonne Shen, 13, of Boise told the gathering in Boise. “But we’ve kept our heads down for long enough. It’s time for us to stand up for ourselves.”

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Former Congressional candidate Gina Ortiz Jones, who organized the vigil, spoke to the several hundred who had gathered at San Antonio's Main Plaza Saturday.

Darsheel Kaur told the crowd at Dayton, Ohio's Courthouse Square that Americans love many aspects of Asian culture: yoga, anime, food, spiritualities and nail salons.

“But the moment of now is asking for us to be included in the larger human family,” Kaur said. “Not as the perpetual other, but as your neighbors and friends and colleagues and classmates, who have their own spirit stories and experiences reckoning with and resisting the white supremacy embedded in this land and soil.”

About 2,000 demonstrators rallied in New York City Saturday where local politicians including Mayor Bill DiBlasio and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer addressed the crowd.

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Senate Leader Chuck Schumer spoke to the Saturday demonstrators in New York City.

Senator Schuimer called out Donald Trump for his use of racist rhetoric tying Asians to the coronavirus.

“We will not let bigotry prevail against Asian Americans or any American. We know that violence and bigotry against one is violence and bigotry against all. We stand firm. We speak to the better angels of America,” Schumer declared. “We’ll fight violence with every atom in our bones, and we, not the bigots, not those who are violent, we will win this fight and prevail.”

The attacks against AAPI continue. Friday morning, another elderly Asian man was attacked for no apparent reason other than he was Asian. The 68-year old victims was punched in the face while riding the subway after the attacker said, "You M***F*** Asian!"

The victim was taken to a hospital where he remains because he was in critical, but not life-threatening, condition.

Meanwhile, as people began arriving for another rally in Columbus Park in Manhattan,  at 9 a.m., Sunday, a 66-year old Asian man was punched in the face in New York's Chinatown. Despite a swollen face and puffy eyes, the victim refused hospitalization.

And a 37-year old woman on her way to the Sunday rally with her daughter. She had her handmade sign taken away and when she tried to retrieve it, her attacker punched her twice in the face. She was hospitalized but she was able to get a recording of the man as he ran away.

Her daughter started to cry as her mother was placed on a gurney.