Issue #67
Hi all —
A few items from the news have caught my attention over the last few weeks — all important stories that continue to bash the myth that Asian American communities are “model minorities,” and highlight that there are also challenges some people are facing on a day-to-day basis.
Asian Americans living in poverty
Yes, there are spelling bee champs and CEO promotions. But we can’t ignore folks who aren’t in press releases and headlines, facing problems that need real solutions.
A few weeks ago the lauded Pew Research Center released a new study showing the sheer variance in poverty and education rates across Asian American communities. Three interesting highlights from Pew’s research, which found that overall about 10% of Asian Americans live in poverty:
While Indian Americans and Sri Lankan Americans have the lowest poverty rates (6%) among Asians, the data reveals that other South Asian groups are higher, including Americans of Bangladeshi (12%) and Pakistani (13%) origin.
The discrepancies can’t fully be explained by educational attainment equaling social mobility, a common explanation people like to say at dinner parties. While Asian Americans age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree are less likely to live in poverty than those with less formal education, a third of age 25+ Asian Americans that are living in poverty have a bachelor’s degree. There are likely so many other factors at play, including immigration status, name discrimination and English-language proficiency influencing what economic opportunities people can get.
It’s interesting that the Pew study found both Asian Americans above and below the poverty line have similar views on what it means to achieve the “American dream,” including freedom of choice, a good family life, giving children the best opportunities, homeownership and retiring comfortably. What I’d be curious to ask those same folks on both sides of the poverty line is about the systemic barriers and systemic advantages that let some more easily achieve those life goals, while putting roadblocks for others.
Lacking survey data
We don’t know what we don’t know.
The New York Times’ Saurabh Datar recently reported on how few American pollsters have traditionally invested in public opinion polls that reflect Asian American communities. That’s finally changing thanks to pioneers like AAPI Data.
Even though Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the United States, sometimes Asians have been left out of studies if the sample size is too small. “As a result, many national surveys typically report three main race and ethnicity categories: white, Black and Hispanic. Asian Americans are folded into a catchall ‘other’ category, along with Native Americans and others who don’t identify under the three big categories,” Datar reports.
Misinformation pitches
The Markup, a nonprofit newsroom that does solid investigative and data-driven coverage on technology, is looking for journalism pitches on how misinformation is impacting immigrant communities in the United States.
They’ve already done some fantastic coverage on this issue, and it would be great to see some of you who interact with Asian American communities on a regular basis share your experiences so we can better combat these issues. We all get those WhatsApp forwards that are sometimes questionable, but I’m sure there are other means in which you’re encountering misinformation as it becomes increasingly sophisticated and rampant.
Send your ideas to The Markup, and feel free to reach out if you want some guidance on how to share your experiences.
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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