Many Asian-Americans feel excluded from ‘true’ US identity, survey finds

Matt King, a 34-year-old graphic designer living in New York, has long grappled with his identity as the son of a Canadian-Chinese mother and white father. Despite being born in the US and raised in Los Angeles, he is aware that mainstream US society does not always see him as a bona fide US citizen. “You’ll always get … a sprinkling of this ‘you’re not truly American’,” the 34-year-old resident of Brooklyn, New York, said, prompting him to claim his own definition. “To me, being an American is carving out that third space, like what aspects of public life are you allowed.” While half of Americans on the whole said a key part of being considered “truly” American was being born in the US – along with a sizeable percentage who included being white and Christian – that number dropped to 23 per cent among Asian-Americans, according to a survey released on Friday. The findings suggest deep concern within the community over being treated as hardworking and well-educated but not necessarily “one of us”. The poll by the Asian-American Foundation on the status of the community highlights the contradictions that Asian-Americans must navigate. On the one hand, Americans give them high marks and see them as exemplary for their work ethic, good manners, respectable careers and commitment to education. But they received below-average marks for assertiveness or charisma, while the plaudits are not necessarily consistent as many reported battling systemic racism, xenophobia and an underappreciation of their contributions to US life and culture. More than a quarter of the American public at large reported that it does not have a relationship with a single Asian-American friend, family member or colleague, although the Asian-American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, community only accounts for around 8 per cent of the US population. And 53 per cent could not name a significant person, US event or policy tied to Asian-Americans. Among those few who could, the winners were Hong Kong-born actor Jackie Chan and the detention of Japanese-Americans after Pearl Harbour. “This is a tough environment right now, especially for being Asian-American,” said Sruthi Chandrasekaran, the foundation’s research director who oversaw the survey. “People continue to feel unsafe in transportation or online spaces.” The foundation, which partnered with the University of Chicago’s NORC polling centre on the data, has conducted polling for several years and was a pioneer in trying to track how mainstream Americans’ view the AAPI community. Unfortunately, changes in methodology this year mean there was no direct comparison with past results, providing limited year-on-year context. The survey found that the perception of Asian-American by American society at large continued to be shaped by three main stereotypes, the “model minority” myth that can underplay their concerns and diversity; the “yellow peril” trope that they threaten Western culture; and the “perpetual foreigner” idea that sees them as “other”. The polling found a community feeling weighted down. While US society as a whole – including blacks, whites and Hispanics – expressed a relatively upbeat outlook, Asian-Americans were more downbeat. “All of the other racial groups say that they’re feeling hopeful. The API community is the only one where worry outweighs hope,” said Chandrasekaran. “These different challenges and also the major federal policy changes are impacting our day to day, having a negative impact on the AAPI community.” But King had a different take, attributing some of the more guarded responses on this issue to a different definition of worry. “For a lot of Western culture, worry is despair, and despair is apathy,” he said. “But to me, worry is drive. For so many Asians, that’s been the double-edged sword. You need to be an A student, your cousin’s a doctor. There’s always some way to make you worry, to light a fire under you a**.” One fifth of Asian-Americans of the 1,500 respondents said they had been insulted or slandered in the past year on public transport or waiting in a queue in their neighbourhoods – some three times higher than whites and twice the level of blacks. Asian-Americans were also more likely to feel negatively affected by recent US policy, including immigration crackdowns, higher fees for skilled worker visas, student visa restrictions and tariffs. Asian-Americans as a whole are also significantly more supportive of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, initiatives even if they did not feel they would benefit. The poll found that 79 per cent do not consider Asian-Americans a threat to US society, although one in four felt they were more loyal to their country of origin than the US. A number of Chinese espionage cases and news of Beijing applying pressure on Chinese-American communities have not helped relative to other groups whose home countries are not locked in a geopolitical face-off, analysts said. On other fronts, one in three Americans as a whole support land laws preventing Chinese citizens from buying US property, compared with 38 per cent who oppose it and a quarter who are ambivalent. The survey found, perhaps not surprising, that the way a question was asked had significant influence on the answers. When asked in the context of national security whether Chinese student visas should be revoked, 32 per cent expressed support. But when asked in reference to cutting international talent, only 25 per cent were in favour. On most counts, average American and Asian-American priorities were consistent, including affordable healthcare and education, home ownership and sufficient disposable income. Asian-Americans expressed attached significantly more importance, however, to having a stable job, living in a country where hard work was rewarded and “being able to provide a better future for my family”. The survey relied in part on the work of Princeton University researcher Susan Fiske who developed a test in 2002, known as the Stereotype Content Model, that teased out social perceptions by asking questions about warmth and competence. Her research found that Asian-Americans were often ranked high in competence, but low in sociability or likeability, that can result in a complex mix of admiration, resentment and envy. “These complex feelings can lead to ‘othering’, where certain groups are seen as ‘fundamentally different or less human’,” the report said, particularly during times of pronounced social change or uncertainty when the majority feels its status or resources threatened. That in turn not only subjects them to violence but also significant mental health problems, the survey said.

Many Asian-Americans feel excluded from ‘true’ US identity, survey finds

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Half of Americans link national identity to birthplace, but just 23 per cent of Asian-Americans agree, highlighting concerns over belonging and bias

Half of Americans link national identity to birthplace, but just 23 per cent of Asian-Americans agree, highlighting concerns over belonging and bias