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7/27/22

By Kimmy Yam

As the midterm elections draw closer, a new survey shows a more complicated picture of the Asian American and Pacific Islander electorate than political parties have portrayed in the past. 

The Asian American Voter Survey, released Monday, examined Asian Americans’ and Pacific Islanders’ attitudes about key issues leading up to the elections in November. It found that while hate crimes and education continue to be significant to Asian Americans, the group’s priorities also lie in issues like health insurance, the economy and the environment. 

In the past, political parties haven’t sufficiently appealed to the electorate across all those issues, said Janelle Wong, a co-director of AAPI Data, the research organization that conducted the survey. And there’s still plenty of opportunity to activate Asian American voters. 

“Most of Asian American politics covers two topics: hate crimes and affirmative action,” Wong said. “Many people, including candidates, think about Asian Americans as very single-dimensional or dual-dimension, but they don’t think about these complexities and how to really appeal to the broader Asian American agenda.”

For the survey, which was released as a joint effort of the organizations APIAVote, AAPI Data and Asian Americans Advancing Justice — researchers for Asian Americans Advancing Justice polled more than 1,610 registered Asian American voters across six of the largest Asian American ethnicities, in four languages. Similar to years past, respondents leaned left, with 54% reporting that they would vote for Democrats in both Senate and House races. 

Asian Americans also showed consistency on major issues. The survey found that 88% of Asian American respondents ranked health care as “extremely important” or “very important” in deciding their votes in November. Jobs and the economy came in second, at 86% of the electorate, and crime came in third, at 85%. Gun control and the environment were also critical topics. 

“What that tells me is that there are some enduring trends in this community,” Wong said. “People care about health care and the economy as much as they do about crime.”

However, outreach to and understanding of the group remain severely limited, Wong said. The survey found that while about two-thirds of registered voters say they plan to vote, the majority haven’t heard from either party. Fifty-two percent of Asian Americans had had no contact from the Democratic Party, and 60% had had no contact from Republicans.

“Asian American communities, despite the progress we have made and increasing political power, are still being ignored by many politicians, to their detriment,” Christine Chen, the executive director of APIAVote, wrote about the survey in a statement.

Nainoa Johsens, Republican National Committee spokesperson and director of APA Media, its AAPI communications arm, told NBC News they’ve engaged with AAPI voters through a number of avenues.

“Under the leadership of Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, the RNC has been on the ground months before Democrats to engage with the Asian American community through our Asian Pacific American community centers and engaging with AAPI voters with events like dance classes, karate lessons, game nights, and potlucks," Johsens said.

Eric Salcedo, director of AAPI outreach at the Democratic National Committee, said that the party has invested "significantly" in outreach.

“Asian Americans are the fastest-growing coalition group, and communicating to these voters is central to Democrats’ efforts to protect and expand our majority," Salcedo said. "The DNC has made significant investments in multi-platform outreach to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities to reach these voters where they are ahead of the midterm election.”

The president of the Association for Asian American Studies, Pawan Dhingra, a professor of sociology and American studies at Amherst College, said the parties have flattened the concerns of the Asian American electorate. 

It’s as if they talked to Latinx and only talked about immigration, when in fact other issues matter as much or more,” he said. The economy and issues facing small-business owners, reproductive rights and inflation are all also Asian American and Pacific Islander issues, Dhingra said, and they need to be seen as such. And to further activate the electorate, politicians will have to demonstrate that they understand how the population actually experiences those issues “whether by being local in their approach, using non-English languages, recognizing the histories of immigrant groups, et cetera,” Dhingra said. 

“Anti-Asian hate crimes are part of the puzzle but not all of it,” he said.

Hate crimes do continue to be a concern for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Wong said. Those who worry “very often” about hate crimes plan to support Democrats over Republican House candidates by a 3-to-1 ratio. 

However, opinions around the issue are complicated, Wong said. According to the survey results, respondents were more divided in their assessment of the two parties’ handling of crime, indicating that they don’t view the topic as a partisan one, she said. Wong also said their views don’t necessarily match an aggressive push for carceral solutions that some activists have perpetuated. 

“Political power is really about who is organized and which voices are aligning with broader narratives and how are those outside of the Asian American community who have political power framing these issues,” Wong said. “There is a divide between mass public opinion, the beliefs of everyday Asian Americans, because this survey captures everyday registered voters’ rights versus activists.”

The survey found that 50% of respondents agreed with shifting spending from law enforcement to “programs that address economic and social issues for minorities.” About half of that percentage, 24%, disagreed with such a shift. Wong also said that Asian American voters showed concern for racism against communities of color more broadly and that 73% supported including Asian American and nonwhite history in public school curriculums. 

“There is, and always has been, this willingness to join in the broader coalition of people of color when it comes to racial equity, despite the headlines that we still see,” Wong said. 

She added, “We’re not seeing your typical, reactionary response, that being fearful or worried or concerned about crime means that people want to take up an aggressive stance either with regard to law enforcement or with regard to guns.”  

A separate study released last week by the organization Stop AAPI Hate similarly found that 53% of Asian Americans and 58% of Pacific Islanders said education was the most effective response to hate crimes.  Community-based solutions and civil rights legislation and enforcement were also highly favored. A minority of respondents, on the other hand, saw more law enforcement as an effective solution, at 30% of Asian Americans and 21% of Pacific Islanders. 

The Asian American perspective on education also continues to be misunderstood, Wong said. While Asian Americans are often cast as opponents of race-conscious admissions, with candidates often trying to appeal to the group through that perspective, the survey found that the majority of respondents support affirmative action programs. The hyperfocus on affirmative action and hate crimes, Wong added, could also come from a long-standing perpetuation of both model minority and perpetual foreigner stereotypes.  

But across many issues, Asian Americans have exhibited consistencies that point to stronger support for more government and a more cohesive political identity. For example, the vast majority of the electorate supports stricter gun laws, a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and legislation to reduce climate change. 

“There is a foundation to build on,” Wong said. “What is still uncertain is how, and to what extent, will activists be able to really capture the attention of Asian Americans around these issues?”

 

3/18/22

By Maryland Today Staff

Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders remain a serious issue one year after the Atlanta killings of eight people, including six Asian American women, according to a new survey led in part by a University of Maryland researcher.

With 16% of Asian American adults and 14% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islander adults reporting a hate incident since the beginning of 2021, these proportions suggest that nearly 3 million adults from these groups have experienced a hate incident in a little over a year.

The 2022 survey, conducted online March 2-9 by AAPI Data and Momentive of 16,901 adults, including 1,991 Asian or Asian Americans and 186 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders living in the United States, also reveals that Asian Americans are not alone in experiences of hate violence.

Critically, all non-white groups report experiencing hate crimes or hate incidents in the period from January 2021 through early March 2022—from 17% among Black adults, to 16% among Asian Americans, 15% among Native Americans, 14% among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and 13% among Latinos. Only 6% of White adults report experiencing a hate incident over the same period.

“These trends help to add critical context and data to the ways in which hate crimes and more everyday experiences with racial discrimination affect all non-white groups in the country,” said Janelle Wong, a UMD professor of American studies and Asian American studies and AAPI Data’s co-director.

The survey results show that Asian American women and men experience hate crimes and hate incidents at similar levels—28% and 30%, respectively, report having ever experienced hate incidents and 16%, or about one out of six in each group, report having experienced hate incidents since the beginning of 2021.

Accounts of self-reported incidents fail to capture the full scale of anti-Asian hate incidents. For example, the Stop AAPI Hate organization had logged about 11,000 hate incidents involving Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders as of December 2021, far short of the 3 million estimated incidents based on the survey findings.

The survey also found that nearly half (48%) of the general public believes that hate crimes against AAPI individuals have increased from the previous year, higher than what the general public believes for the Black (29%) or Latino (20%) community.

Similar to previous surveys, Black people are most likely to have ever experienced a hate crime or hate incident (35%). Nearly 30% of Asian and Native Americans say they have experienced a hate crime or hate incident during their lifetimes.

The survey also provides insights into a range of experiences with racial discrimination and racial identity among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other groups:

  • More than one-third (34%) of Black people, 28% of Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, 23% of Asian Americans, 18% of Latinos and 16% of Native/American Indians say that their race is a very relevant aspect of their background when it comes to how they are treated at work.
  • Two-thirds (63%) of AAPI adults consider themselves a person of color (compared with 87% of Black people, 48% of Latinos, 49% of Native or American Indians, 6% of white people).
  • AAPIs who say they are a person of color are more aware of the increase of hate crimes against their community (58% vs 39%).
  • AAPIs are among those most likely to say race is a relevant aspect of their identity at work (compared with 58% of Black people, 57% of AAPI, 41% of Latinos, 39% of Native Americans, 20% of white people).

“These data provide new and essential context on the persistent impact of the tragic events of the past year,” said Jon Cohen, chief research officer at Momentive. “Getting fresh insight into the incidences of hate crimes along with reports of day-to-day discrimination shine a spotlight on how AAPI individuals are thinking about and expressing their identities.”

This article was based on a release produced by AAPI Data.

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Professor Janelle Wong will talk at 10 a.m. Friday about the new data on hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in an event sponsored by the Williams Center for Education, Justice and EthicsWatch her conversation with retired U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams Jr. on YouTube live.

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Professor Janelle Wong will talk at 10 a.m. Friday about the new data on hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in an event sponsored by the Williams Center for Education, Justice and EthicsWatch her conversation with retired U.S. District Court Judge Alexander Williams Jr. on YouTube live.

 

10/18/21

By ARHU Staff 

The College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) at the University of Maryland continues its successful Dean's Colloquium Series on Race, Equity and Justice, a colloquium and conversation series hosted by Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill. The series, which began in 2020, seeks to introduce audiences to faculty expertise on issues of systemic racism, inequality and social justice, and continues this year with a focus on the impacts of systemic racism on Asian, Jewish, Black, LGBTQ+, Arab and Muslim populations in the U.S. The events are free and take place virtually. 

The first colloquium of the 2021–22 academic year will be held Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, from 9–10 a.m. and features Associate Professor of History Christopher Bonner. Bonner’s talk “Willis Hodges's Shield: The Meanings of Black Voters” will focus on voting and racial justice through the lens of the 19th-century activist Willis Augustus Hodges. It will be followed by a conversation with the dean and a Q&A. 

Upcoming talks will focus on topics ranging from countering Islamophobia to fan fiction and social justice. A full list with links to register is available below.  

“I am so pleased that this successful series continues into a new academic year with even more opportunities for the community to learn from our incredible ARHU faculty members,” said Thornton Dill. “They are nationally-known thought leaders on issues of race, inequality and social justice and their expertise will undoubtedly promote dynamic conversations and spark new ideas for social change.” 

The series is part of a collegewide campaign launched in 2020 to address racism, inequality and justice in curriculum, scholarship, programming and community engagement. Among other actions, the Committee on Race, Equity and Justice, made up of faculty, staff and graduate students, serves to advise the dean on goals related to the eradication and dismantling of structural racism and on strategies for ensuring equity and social justice throughout the college, campus and community. 

Each event is free. These conversations are also ARHU TerrapinSTRONG events.

The full list of 2021–22 colloquia events is as follows: 

Oct. 27, Christopher Bonner, associate professor in the Department of History, whose talk is titled "Willis Hodges's Shield: The Meanings of Black Voters." Register here

Nov. 19, Janelle Wong, professor in the Department of American Studies, whose talk is titled “At the Crossroad: Black and Asian American Relations in U.S. Politics Today.” Register here.

Dec. 9, Robert Levine, Distinguished University Professor in the Department of English, whose talk is titled “The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson.” Register here.

Feb. 17, Alexis Lothian, associate professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, whose talk is titled “Fan Fiction, Social Justice and the Politics of Fantasy.” Register here.

Mar. 16, Sahar Khamis, associate professor in the Department of Communication, whose talk is titled “Insights on Countering Islamophobia through Research, Activism and Media Outreach.” Register here.

Apr. 15, La Marr Jurelle Bruce, associate professor in the Department of American Studies, whose talk is titled “How to Go Mad without Losing Your Mind: Toward a Mad Methodology.” Register here.

Apr. 27, Shay Hazkani, assistant professor in the Department of History and Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies, title forthcoming. Register here

To watch previous talks, visit: https://arhu.umd.edu/news/arhu-series-talks-centering-race-equity-and-justice

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