What Asian Coloradans face
The Colorado Lotus Project disaggregated data about the state's Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander communities, revealing new findings.
Issue #68
Hi all —
One of my biggest pet peeves when I tell people I’m originally from Colorado is the knee-jerk reaction: “Whoa, beautiful state — and isn’t it just full of white people?” Well, it’s true that about 65% of my home state’s population is white, according to census data. But that cheap, reductive reaction erases one-third of Coloradans and their stories — including my own Indian American family’s which began in the early 1980s there.
The state’s hub, Denver, used to be home to the world’s largest community of Mongolian immigrants. It’s also an official sister city to Chennai, India, as well as home to one of America’s Japantowns and a Little Saigon enclave. The suburb of Aurora has a booming Koreatown.
Only about 5% of Colorado identifies as fully or partly Asian, but they are part of the nation’s fastest growing racial/ethnic demographic and have vibrant histories of their own in Colorado.
That’s why I was thrilled to see the Colorado Lotus Project — an effort by the Colorado AAPI Circle in partnership with the Colorado Health Institute — take data about Asian American, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in Colorado and disaggregate it to better understand the opportunities and challenges various sub-communities are facing. I’ve been helping spread word about this report to journalists around the state, as part of a Red, White and Brown Media grant, funded by the Colorado Media Project.
The report, which was released in May, has some key findings that jump out to me:
Colorado is more diverse than stereotypes claim.
The state has about 260,000 who identify as Asian and more than 22,000 who identify as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (these figures are alone and in combination with other races/ethnicities). Some AANHPI have stated they feel “invisible, not valued, or dismissed” despite being a part of the state’s story.
I think the numbers are especially noteworthy considering Colorado remains one of the top states in the country for population growth. Over the last decade, some of the newest immigrants to Colorado include individuals from Bhutan, Burma and Nepal.
Colorado needs more doctors that speak Asian languages and understand cultural nuances.
AANHPI communities are more likely to be recent immigrants than most other ethnic groups. Nationally, 6 out of 10 Asian Americans were born in another country. Even though about 72% of Asian Americans, nationally, speak proficient English, that still leaves a quarter of the population behind in accessing mainstream health resources.
Korean Coloradans are facing disproportionately high levels of mental health distress.
There are about 34,000 Korean Coloradans. The project’s data reveals that 22.2% of Korean Coloradans report mental health distress (defined as 14 or more poor mental health days in the last month), compared to 12.4% for Coloradans overall.
Mental health stigmas linger in all AANHPI communities, including South Asian populations. There are several factors that feed prolonged mental health distress, including lack of access to culturally tailored care and the pandemic influx in hate.
More than half of Bangladeshi and Burmese Coloradans are facing a housing cost burden.
As the cost of living in Colorado continues to grow, housing remains one of the key expenses that can spiral households out of budget. The project’s data shows 57% of Bangladeshi and almost 53% of Burmese Coloradans are spending more than 30% of their monthly income on housing costs, a high proportion often dubbed a “housing cost burden.” The statewide average for Asians overall is 27% and almost 28% for all Coloradans, so these communities are facing especially high housing distress.
As the project found, immigrants and refugees could face more housing affordability concerns. Around half of Burmese and Bangladeshi Coloradans also have incomes at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or around $29,000.
I think this is noteworthy because the model minority myth and “crazy rich Asians” stereotypes often overshadow economic inequalities in various AANHPI subgroups.
Asian Coloradans face limited access to interpreters and cultural responsivity during legal and police encounters, sowing mistrust.
Inconsistent access to interpreters during police encounters or legal proceedings can lead to unfair outcomes or sentencing disparities. I think this sparks a larger conversation about why there are insufficient resources for serving various AANHPI communities.
Colorado has zero Asian American state legislators.
The representation doesn’t match up: AANHPIs are 6.1% of the U.S. population but only 0.9% of the nation’s elected leaders. In Colorado, there are no AANHPI state legislators, even though upwards of 5% of the state is of full or partial Asian descent.
The project reports only about half of Asians nationwide said either the Democratic or Republican Party reached out to them over the last year. The data reveals those of Indian, Japanese, Filipino and Korean descents have felt especially ignored.
Read the full report or check out Axios’ summary of the findings.
While the majority of Asian Americans nationwide live in California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Washington state, it is refreshing to see data highlighted and stories told about those living elsewhere in this expansive country.
Thanks for joining the conversation,
Vignesh Ramachandran (on Signal at 773-599-3717)
Co-founder of Red, White and Brown Media
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