Memorandum

To: ALLY

From: CATHERINE JI

Date: JULY 28, 2024

Re: Addressing AAPI Poverty and the Racial Wealth Gap

1. Executive Summary

Asian American and Pacific Islander groups have been perceived as financially successful, with a median income of $106,954 in 2022, well above the statistics for white Americans ($79,933) and soaring above the estimates for African Americans, Hispanics, and other historically disadvantaged groups. However, many national surveys and reports for the racial wealth gap have significantly exaggerated the wealth of the AAPI community by failing to account for the multiethnic and dynamic economic differences within the group itself. 

In the past, Asian Americans have banded together to guard against violence. There have been many instances when resentment towards one ethnicity was projected onto other ethnicities because of the refusal to recognize ethnic differences. During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals who looked even remotely East-Asian were attacked by people who felt that Chinese people were to blame for the COVID-19 virus. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which represent over 30 countries and 100 different languages have been forced to consolidate and identify as a single “ethnic” group.

The notorious “model-minority” term was coined during the mid-20th century and has consequently characterized the entire community as “well-off” and “white-adjacent,” despite clear dissimilarities among the community. These stereotypes have incorrectly grouped Asian Americans, despite prevalent instances of victimhood in the past, as one of the main aggressors and perpetrators of economic inequality. 

These assumptions are critically harmful to members of the AAPI community. They perpetuate a scapegoated-mindset built on falsehood, using the reportedly-high salaries of certain ethnic groups to justify ignorance of the harsh poverty experienced by others. The cumulation of these factors further isolates ethnic groups, prevents solidarity, and ultimately pits people of color against one another.

2. Background

Data Aggregation

Despite reports of the wealth of Asian Americans—who represent the fastest-growing racial group in the United States with 24.7 million individuals—at least one in ten Asian American households live in deep poverty. This number varies greatly among different ethnic groups. 19% of Burmese-Americans and 17% of Hmong-Americans live below the poverty line, comparable to the 14.3% poverty rate for Black families and 16.8% for Hispanic families. On the other hand, only 6% of Indian and Sri-Lankan Americans live below the poverty line.

Lack of racial variety in surveys and the Census forces Asians to conform to a single racial category, which make results unreliable. This aggregation of data has led to consistent misreporting, allowing families in need to fall through the cracks of data, stopping assistance programs from truly targeting those who need help.

Governmental Assistance

In total, roughly 2.3 million Asian-Americans, or 12.6% of the population, are living below the poverty line. This includes households that have not participated in social safety net programs despite their poverty. For example, although Malaysian Americans have a poverty rate of 25.1%, only 3.2% received SNAP. Many poor Asian Americans do not rely on government assistance because of its perceived social stigma  as well as language and cultural barriers. 

Lack of English fluency cannot be understated; it is near impossible for victims who can’t speak English well to advocate for themselves in the face of unfair practices, such as eviction. The language barrier also makes it difficult to complete complicated paperwork necessary to apply for programs. 

3. Current Solutions

NPOs and CBOs

Both Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and Nonprofits (NPOs) have collectivized to meet needs in the AAPI community. Organizations like the NCAPAC and Asian Americans for Equality have worked for lower-income communities. These organizations have advocated for better policies and community action with regards to the housing crisis and financial stability, succeeding in areas such as Los Angeles and New York City. However, these initiatives do not reach non-metropolitan areas, leaving an empty margin in the Midwest and Southwest regions (36% of the Asian-American population). Websites often operate in English and it is easy to translate information to one’s native language online. However, these services are not accessible for Asian-Americans living in remote areas, or for those who cannot access information easily from the internet. 

Disaggregated Research

The Pew Research Center has largely disaggregated statistics on Asian heritage groups, one of the only large research institutes to do so. The “Being Asian in America” portfolio has published nuanced reports relating to specific Asian-American groups, cited by many news outlets on poverty, access to services, political engagement, and population information that has been skipped by the official Census. This type of media and scientific engagement is critical to addressing misconceptions towards Asian Americans at-large, and is unique because of its legitimacy and authority. Although collecting disaggregated information is difficult, furthering this research while correcting previous statistics is essential to the movement. 

The Biden-Harris Administration has also released and revised an order to incorporate more equity into data collection policies and non-federal research. The Administration has supported disadvantaged Pacific-Islander groups through targeted healthcare and financial aid programs. However, there has not been enough aid to the most marginalized communities in urban areas. Strengthened federal language access services have not provided access in a significant number of languages that matter for impacted and disadvantaged Asian minorities. 

4. Proposal

A. Fund research institutions through the government to publish more transparent and disaggregated data on Asian Americans. Following the example of Pew Research Center, think tanks must consider allocating funds to diversify research trends and look at AAPI poverty on a more granular level to better present solutions. This will allow for more detailed findings, without specific limitations in funding. Collaborations between multiple research centers and universities can expand the scope and education of the project. 

B. Spotlight reports to uncover information about AAPI’s through social media campaigns (from government or NPO accounts) to reach the teenage and young adult population, with the goal of eliminating the model minority myth and  encouraging solidarity. This campaign may be limited by its targeted demographics, as the older generation will not be targeted.

C. Fund existing organizations to operate in different locations to better support poor AAPI households and those facing discrimination through online programs. Connect new immigrants with federal aid programs, while specifically targeting metropolitan areas with the highest number of AAPI poverty, notably: New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco (accounting for 26% of poor Asian-Americans). This program would be supported by the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development.

D. Promote government and regional resources for learning English, translations, and connect individuals of the same culture by reaching into existing Asian communities. This would be supported by existing local language programs, which can be prompted with funding from the Biden-Harris Administration. 

E. Ask the USCIS to provide all immigrants with information and safety net programs, qualifications, and application help. Partner with NPOs such as the Asian Pacific Fund, using multilingual services demonstrated by the Chinese Newcomers Service Center (CNSC) to assist immigrants in adapting to life in the United States. 

5. Conclusion

A combination of reporting on wealth statistics, low crime rates, high graduation numbers, and media portrayal have all created the perfect circumstances that indoctrinate the public into believing the model-minority myth. This vigorous belief, fortified only by ignorance, has led to exacerbated poverty due to lack of support for Asian Americans who need assistance.

A successful policy proposal must take into account the needed mindset shift in the status quo. To successfully advocate for and implement a plan set to uplift impoverished AAPI’s, we must engage in data disaggregation, while actively supporting impoverished AAPI’s to embrace a better future for all Americans. 

SOURCES

“Asian Americans Are Falling through the Cracks in Data Representation and Social Services.” Urban Institute, 19 June 2018, www.urban.org/urban-wire/asian-americans-are-falling-through-cracks-data-representation-and-social-services. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Barton, Nimisha. “Nimisha Barton, PhD.” Nimisha Barton, PhD, 28 June 2021, www.drnimishabarton.com/redacted/proximity-to-whitenessnbspanti-blackness-people-of-color-and-the-struggle-for-solidarity. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Beshay. “Key Facts about Asian Americans Living in Poverty.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 27 Mar. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/27/key-facts-about-asian-americans-living-in-poverty/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

“Critical Issues Facing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” The White House, 2024, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/aapi/data/critical-issues. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Greenwood, Shannon. “The Hardships and Dreams of Asian Americans Living in Poverty.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 27 Mar. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/03/27/the-hardships-and-dreams-of-asian-americans-living-in-poverty/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Hatzipanagos, Rachel. “Despite ‘Model Minority’ Trope, 1 in 10 Asian Americans Live in Poverty.” Washington Post, The Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/18/asian-american-model-minority-myth-poverty/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

“More than 50 Years after the Fair Housing Act, More Action Is Needed to Address Housing Discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” Urban Institute, 30 Apr. 2021, www.urban.org/urban-wire/more-50-years-after-fair-housing-act-more-action-needed-address-housing-discrimination-against-asian-americans-and-pacific-islanders. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Pao, Ellen K. “We Need to Talk about What It Means to Be ‘White-Adjacent’ in Tech.” Medium, Project Include, 14 May 2021, medium.com/projectinclude/we-need-to-talk-about-what-it-means-to-be-white-adjacent-in-tech-f91fbcce7a42. Accessed 29 July 2024.

“Policy & Advocacy Archives - National CAPACD.” National CAPACD, 2022, www.nationalcapacd.org/policy-advocacy/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

“United States Median Household Income by Race - 2024 Update | Neilsberg.” Neilsberg.com, 2024, www.neilsberg.com/insights/united-states-median-household-income-by-race/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Viet Thanh Nguyen. “Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All.” TIME, Time, 25 June 2020, time.com/5859206/anti-asian-racism-america/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Xu, Kenny. “Critical Race Theory Has No Idea What to Do with Asian Americans | Opinion.” Newsweek, Newsweek, 13 July 2021, www.newsweek.com/critical-race-theory-has-no-idea-what-do-asian-americans-opinion-1608984. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Yee, Amy. “It’s a Myth That Asian-Americans Are Doing Well in the Pandemic.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 2 Mar. 2021, www.scientificamerican.com/article/its-a-myth-that-asian-americans-are-doing-well-in-the-pandemic/. Accessed 29 July 2024.

Policy Memorandum

To:              ALLY

From:          Iris Gong

Date:           07/28/2024

Re:              Implementation of a Voter Registration and Engagement Campaign targeting Asian-American Communities to Increase Asian-American Voter Registration and Turnout

______________________________________________________________________________

1. Executive Summary

Despite being the fastest-growing demographic group in the United States in 2022, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders remain underrepresented in the electoral process with the second lowest voter registration percentage and voter turnout rate in the previous 2020 presidential election.

The lack of Asian-American participation in US elections is one of the most crucial ongoing issues among the Asian-American/Pacific Islander community, especially considering the impact the 2024 presidential election outcome could have on AAPI and similar minority communities. As a Chinese-American advocate representing one of many branches of a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to promoting Asian-American voices, this issue is particularly concerning since low Asian-American voter participation is reflective of the limited level of civic engagement among the AAPI community. Election outcomes can have lasting social and economic consequences for many years to come, and the most effective and feasible solution to address this issue is to adopt a Voter Registration and Information campaign directed towards AAPI communities. 

2. Scope of the Problem/Background

Not only is the low voter registration and turnout problem affecting Asian-American citizens across the US who are eligible to vote, but the lack of AAPI input in US elections will also result in policies that are not fully reflective of Asian-American views and opinions. This problem has been an ongoing issue for the past few decades, with Asian Americans having the lowest voter registration percentages of 56-57% from 2008-2016. In comparison, their white counterparts have voter registration percentages that consistently hit 72% each election year in the same time span. 

Among the largest underlying causes of low AAPI voter registration is the language barrier. According to a Pew Research study, approximately 6-in-10 Asian Americans (57%) in the US and 7-in-10 (71%) Asian American adults were immigrants or born in another country. This commonly results in Asian American adults (of voting age) facing language barriers, which in turn affects their ability to pass the U.S. citizenship test and be granted the right to vote in U.S. elections. Other institutional barriers AAPI face in the voter registration process include immigration status and length of residency. Research has shown that naturalized US citizens tend to have less knowledge about US politics and thus less political participation compared to native-born US citizens.

For registered Asian American voters, turnout rates for US elections are also consistently low. Some of the causes of low voter turnout rates among AAPI citizens include the lack of contact and resonance with election candidates. US politicians rarely specify Asian Americans as their target audience. In the 2012 election year, compared to a national average of 53%, only 31% of Asian Americans claim that they have been contacted by election candidates or their respective political parties leading up to the election. With little information being provided about the candidates and political parties, Asian American citizens tend to develop a lack of interest in showing up to the poll booths. 

3. Current Solutions or Potential Solutions

The largest and most applicable current solution to the issue of voter registration and turnout is general voter education campaigns, such as When We All Vote (co-chaired by Michelle Obama which works to close the race and age gap between voters in elections) and Vote.org (an online platform that provides information and services to interested voters who aren’t yet registered). While these voter education campaigns successfully provide profuse information on voter education and make voter registration more accessible, especially to minorities, a large setback of these large organizations is how broad these campaigns are. When considering the barriers Asian Americans in the US face in gaining citizenship and the voter registration process, these voter education campaigns fail to address the language barriers and cultural setbacks preventing Asian Americans from increasing their voter registration and turnout percentages. 

While these efforts may increase voter registration, voter education campaigns such as those listed above, have only focused their efforts towards getting interested citizens registered to vote. Those campaigns rarely address specific issues in low voter turnout rates among registered voters. In the case of Asian American citizens, increasing voter education is not enough as the reason behind a slim voter turnout is due to the lack of connection between Asian American communities and political candidates. 

Other forms of existing efforts to tackle the issue of low voter registration and turnout rates among Asian Americans include Community-Based Organizations, or CBOs. These organizations are beneficial as they operate on a local and often race-specific scale, allowing them to become more familiar with community-specific issues. This allows CBOs to address such issues in ways that would most benefit Asian-Americans in their local communities. Examples include the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) which focuses on the civil rights of Asian Americans and provides services including voter education and protection. 

Community-Based Organizations offer a deeper understanding of issues specific communities or demographic groups face, but compared to the broader voter education campaigns mentioned above, these niche organizations tend to be uncommon and recognized by fewer people since they reach a smaller audience.

4. Proposed Policy Recommendation

The best approach to the issue of lower voter registration and turnout rates among Asian Americans is to establish a voter education and civic engagement campaign specifically tailored to address the linguistic and cultural barriers Asian American communities face. By tackling the root causes of this issue on a deeper (social, cultural) level beyond voter registration and information tables, barriers to Asian American voter registration will decrease and political interest among the AAPI community will increase.

By having a website for this campaign with information on the intentions and exigence of this initiative, state-specific registration process to vote, upcoming election information on candidates and their respective policies (from relatively unbiased sources), political issues specific to Asian-Americans, and a discussion blog section, this campaign will reach a widespread audience of Asian Americans across the country while providing solutions specific to Asian-American communities and potential barriers to voting that they may encounter. 

Aside from the website, events could also be held under this campaign at the local scale by holding speaker events hosted by local Asian-American government officials such as Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. This way, voter education and information on current politics or elections can be more personal and engaging to an Asian American audience. 

To address the language barrier that has been hindering the success of AAPI voter turnout, the campaign could also include regular English language learning workshops run by volunteers. 

If implemented successfully and before the 2024 presidential election, there will be a nation-wide increase in voter registration and turnout among Asian Americans across the country. Hopefully, the amount of education and information can inspire Asian Americans to not only exercise their political participation rights by voting, but also through seeking higher forms of political representation to promote Asian American voices. 

Though this plan seems very much feasible, it will require significant amounts of outreach/coordination, outside research, maintenance, and funding, especially if it seeks to address the Asian American community on a national scale. 

This voter education and engagement campaign will most likely receive the support of similar campaigns and community-based organizations specific to Asian Americans. Other race-based organizations may also be interested in collaborating as they can receive mutual benefits from the collaboration. However, there may be certain groups/political figures opposed to these initiatives and opposed to organizations attempting to increase voter turnout among minority groups. These are most likely politicians with predominantly white voter support who are at risk of losing their elections to candidates that are favored by minority groups. To counter this opposition, emphasis should be placed on the non-partisan idea that democracy in general will thrive and benefit from the input of all citizens regardless of race or ethnicity.

5. Conclusion

To address the issue of low voter registration and turnout among Asian Americans, a targeted voter education and engagement effort would be most effective. This method offers culturally and linguistically relevant materials which encourages collaboration between national and local organizations and has the potential to greatly enhance political engagement in Asian American communities. This policy idea seeks to promote equitable representation and strengthen democratic norms by empowering one of the United States' fastest-growing communities.

Works Cited

Budiman, Abby, and Neil G. Ruiz. “Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population.” Pew Research Center, 29 April 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/. Accessed 28 July 2024.

Krogstad, Jens Manuel, and Luis Noe. “Fewer Asian, Latino eligible voters say a 2020 campaign contacted them.” Pew Research Center, 29 January 2021, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/29/most-u-s-citizens-report-a-campaign-contacted-them-in-2020-but-latinos-and-asians-less-likely-to-say-so/. Accessed 28 July 2024.

Lim, Josephine. “A silent voice: why Asian Americans don't vote.” The BluePrint Online, 17 November 2022, https://hhsblueprint.com/22060/features/a-silent-voice-why-asian-americans-dont-vote/. Accessed 28 July 2024.

Miller, Jenesse. “New National Study Finds Persistent Lower Voter Turnout Among People of Color.” USC Price, 29 January 2024, https://priceschool.usc.edu/news/center-inclusive-democracy-new-electorate-study/. Accessed 28 July 2024.

SMIALOWSKI, Brendan, and BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI. “America's fastest-growing demographic groups.” Axios, 29 June 2023, https://www.axios.com/2023/06/29/fastest-growing-demographics. Accessed 28 July 2024.

SMIALOWSKI, Brendan, and BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI. “America's fastest-growing demographic groups.” Axios, 29 June 2023, https://www.axios.com/2023/06/29/fastest-growing-demographics. Accessed 28 July 2024.

Wang, Lo, and Hilary Fung. “Voter registration gaps by race and ethnicity.” NPR, 2 April 2024, https://www.npr.org/2024/04/02/1238751749/voter-registration-gap-racial. Accessed 28 July 2024.