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Setting the Context on South Asian : Demographics, Civic Engagement, Race Relations

Alton Wang & Karthick Ramakrishnan AAPI Data Setting the Context on South Context #1: Growth and Diversity Setting the Context on South Asian Americans National Origins (2015)

(in Thousands)

SOUTH ASIAN 4,398 Indian 3,590 Pakistani 455

Bangladeshi 165 Nepalese 111 Sri Lankan 52 Bhutanese 25

Source: 2015 ACS 5-Year estimates, Asian alone or in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans

Population Growth (2000-2015)

196%

135% 121% 97% 82%

SOUTH ASIAN Bangladeshi Pakistani Sri Lankan Indian

Source: Census 2000 and ACS 2015 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Southern Growth Rate (2010-15)

NHPI 25%

AIAN 20%

Asian 12%

Hispanic 8%

Southern California 4%

Black 3%

White -1%

Data calculated alone and in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Detailed Growth Rate in Southern California

Bangladeshi 155% Pakistani 77% Sri Lankan 57% Asian Indian 44% Filipino 40% Malaysian 39% Vietnamese 33% Korean 32% Indonesian 31% Thai 30% Chinese (except… 28% Hmong 24% Laotian 23% Cambodian 20% Taiwanese 17% Japanese 7%

Data calculated alone and in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans AA Largest Ethnic Groups in SoCal

Chinese 649,489 Filipino 640,540 Korean 373,771 Vietnamese 354,412 Japanese 225,227 Asian Indian 192,060 Cambodian 60,078 Thai 44,386 Taiwanese 41,735 Indonesian 28,014

Data calculated alone and in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Southern California Foreign Born

Asian 66.0%

Hispanic 37.9%

Southern California 30.3%

AIAN 19.9%

NHPI 19.5%

White 11.7%

Black 7.1%

Data calculated alone and in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Immigrants in SoCal: Asian Americans

Nepalese 82% Burmese 79% Sri Lankan 76% Bangladeshi 75% Mongolian 71% Taiwanese 71% Malaysian 68% Korean 67% Asian Indian 66% Vietnamese 65% Chinese 63% Thai 63% Indonesian 62% Pakistani 61% Filipino 57% Cambodian 55% Laotian 51% Hmong 34% Japanese 26%

Data calculated alone and in combination Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Religious Diversity

Protestant Roman Catholic Other Christian Buddhist Hindu Jewish Muslim Sikh Jain Something else Unaffiliated

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Indian American 11 5 51 10 5 10

Asian American 22 19 10 4 1 26

US Average 50 23 19

Source: Pew 2012 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Gender Breakdowns

Male Female 0% 50% 100%

Asian 47% Nepali 54% Pakistani 53% Bangladeshi 53% Indian 52% Bhutanese 51% Sri Lankan 50% • Comparable to Latinos, reflective of particular types of immigration • In 2nd Gen, remains strong for Bangladeshi

Source: ACS 5-Year file, 2012 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Geographic Dispersal

Total share of Top state 2nd state 3rd state national population Bangladeshi (46) California (7) (6) 59% Bhutanese Texas (12) New York (9) Georgia (9) 30% Indian California (19) New York (12) (10) 40% Nepalese New York (13) Texas (13) California (10) 36% Pakistani New York (17) Texas (15) California (13) 45% Sri Lankan California (26) New York (14) Texas (6) 46% ASIAN AMERICAN California (32) New York (9) Texas (7) 48%

Hmong California (35) Minnesota (25) Wisconsin (19) 79% Filipino California (43) Hawaii (10) (4) 57% Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Context #2: Immigration Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Recent Migration Trends

Africa Asia Europe Central America South America Caribbean Other

Prior to 2005 3.5 26.9 12.8 37.8 6.9 9.5 2.5

2005 to 2007 6.2 30.4 8.0 38.8 6.7 7.6 2.3

2008 or later 6.6 40.3 9.1 25.2 6.1 9.4 3.3

Source: U.S. Census Bureau 2011 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Immigrant Share Of…

80 Adult citizens 57

89 South Asian Adults 69 AAPI

72 Residents 54

Source: American Community Survey 5-Year, 2012 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Sizeable Undocumented Population

Source: Center for Migration Studies, 2015 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Context #3: Civic Engagement Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Many Areas of Convergence across Groups • Presidential voting (exit polls) • Universal health care (NAAS 2008, 2012) • Preserving social safety net (Pew, NAAS 2012) • Support higher taxation (NAAS 2012) • Support pathway to citizenship (NAAS 2012*) • Strong environmentalists (NAAS 2012, AAPI Data 2014) • Strong gun control supporters (AAPI Data 2014, NAAS 2016) • Want affordable and high-quality public education (NAAS 12, 16) Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Areas of Divergence • Experiences with discrimination • Concerns about school bullying • Residential segregation • Electing candidates (can be zero-sum) • Activism on affirmative action and sanctuary cities Setting the Context on South Asian Americans 2016 Election: How Did They Vote? • Disagreement on Clinton support

• 65% in National Exit Polls • 75% in Asian Am Decisions ”election eve” poll • 79% in AALDEF exit poll

• Our estimate: 69% • 64% for English interviews Setting the Context on South Asian Americans How Did AAPIs Vote?

Clinton Other Trump Bangladeshi 90% 4% Pakistani 88% 5% Cambodian 78% 12% Indian 77% 16% Korean 75% 18% Hmong 74% 21% Japanese 74% 19% AA Average 69% 25% Filipino 65% 28% Chinese 61% 34% Vietnamese 61% 34% Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Other Partisanship Questions

Why strong Dem shift? Why so many Asian / Indian Am Republican appointees? Setting the Context on South Asian Americans More Elected Officials • Congress in 2016: 14 • Congress in 2017: 18 • 5 “Fabulous Five”

• John Chiang 2018 – CA Governor Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Uptick in discrimination? • Yes, when it comes to workplace discrimination • Not when it comes to police, restaurants and stores • New battery on microagressions (released in May) Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Who is the “immigrant vote”? 2%

11% 25% White Latino Asian 28% Black All other 34% Setting the Context on South Asian Americans 1st Stage the Voting Gap: Citizenship

White 98

Black 95

NHPI 88

Latino 66

Asian 66 • Silver lining: fastest citizenship acquisition rates, can be improved Setting the Context on South Asian Americans 2nd Stage in the Voting Gap: Registration

White 73

Black 73

Latino 59

NHPI 58

Asian 56 • “Naturalization is not enough” Setting the Context on South Asian Americans 3rd Stage in the Voting Gap: Turnout

Black 91

White 87

NHPI 85

Asian 84

Latino 82 • Keep up the GOTV work Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Low Participation Even Among Seniors, Highly Educated

US Average AAPI

72 Seniors 54

77 College Educated 58

Voting Among Adult Citizens (2012) Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Youth Are Key to Future

Native Born Foreign Born

67 62 56 49 44

2020 2040 2060 2080 2100 Projected Growth of 2nd Generation Setting the Context on South Asian Americans And yet… very low turnout given high education

Black 53

White 46

Asian 37

Latino 37

NHPI 34

Youth (18-29) Voting Rates in 2012 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans How do the get to Participation Parity?

24% 27%

Citizenship Registration Turnout

49%

Source: Calculations based on 2012 Current Population Survey Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Context #4: Poverty & Health Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Poverty

ASIAN AMERICAN 11

Bangladeshi 21

Pakistani 16

Sri Lankan 10

Indian 9 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Self-Reported Health

Excellent/Very Good/Good Fair Poor

Asian American 73 21 6

Cambodian 66 26 7 Chinese 66 29 6 Filipino 80 12 8 Hmong 72 20 7 Indian 88 9 3 Japanese 80 16 4 Korean 61 28 11 Vietnamese 61 31 8 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Affordable Care Act

Don't Know Unfavorable Neither Favorable

Asian American 16 18 51

Cambodian 57 11 24 Chinese 16 18 54 Filipino 19 16 38 Hmong 35 16 40 Indian 14 26 51 Japanese 12 19 45 Korean 13 11 59 Vietnamese 11 19 61 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Context #5: Public Opinion Setting the Context on South Asian Americans “Very Serious” Problems for Asian Americans

Quality of schools 41 Cost of elder care 41 Bullied in school 35 Cost of college 34 Cost or rent/mortgage 34 Credit card debt 31 College debt 26 Medical debt 26 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Problem of School Bullying

Fairly Serious Very Serious

Asian American 17 35

Cambodian 7 45 Chinese 9 17 Filipino 24 44 Hmong 21 70 Indian 17 51 Japanese 14 25 Korean 11 28 Vietnamese 29 40

* Among those with children under 18 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Broadly Progressive Opinion • Gun control • Higher Taxes • Preserve social safety net • Universal health care • Support pathway to citizenship Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Context #6: Race Relations Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Think of self as “Asian American”

Cambodian 26% Korean 23% Chinese 22% Indian 21% Hmong 20% OVERALL 19% Filipino 18% Japanese 11% Vietnamese 7% Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Barriers Remain on How Others View South Asians

Now I am going to read you a list of different groups. After I say each one, please tell me if you think the group is very likely to be Asian or Asian American, somewhat likely, or not likely to be Asian or Asian American. Proportion indicating not likely

Chinese 6 Japanese 7 Korean 8 Filipino 14 Indian 38 Pakistani 44 Arab or Middle Eastern 51 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Basis of Asian commonality

What, if anything do Asians in the United States share with one another? Indian ASIAN AM

52 Common race 49 62 Common culture 53 70 Common economic interests 57 52 Common political interests 43 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Political Commonality With Others Thinking about government services, political power and representation, would you say Asian Americans have a lot in common, some, little in common, or nothing at all in common with…

A Lot Some A little/Nothing

Pacific Islanders 11 27 41

Whites 12 31 45

Latinos 10 27 49

Blacks 8 25 54 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans How Others View Asian Americans Thinking about government services, political power and representation, would you say _____have a lot in common, some, little in common, or nothing at all in common with Asian Americans.

A Lot Some A little/Nothing

Pacific Islanders 21 41 28

Whites 13 37 34

Blacks 10 36 40

Latinos 12 25 48 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Affirmative Action

Oppose Don't Know Support

Asian American 79

Cambodian 91 Chinese 78 Filipino 74 Hmong 89 Indian 82 Japanese 70 Korean 84 Vietnamese 78 Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Cross-Racial Alliance Work • Many issues of convergence, can foster greater sense of cross- racial political commonality in the future

• Universal health care • Preserving social safety net • Support higher taxation • Support affirmative action • Support citizenship for undocumented • Party and presidential dynamics Setting the Context on South Asian Americans Thank You! [email protected] [email protected] aapidata.com