Setting the Context on South Asian Americans: Demographics, Civic Engagement, Race Relations Alton Wang & Karthick Ramakrishnan AAPI Data Setting the Context on South Asian Americans 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 California 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 New York (46) California (7) Texas (6) 59% Bhutanese Texas (12) New York (9) Georgia (9) 30% Indian California (19) New York (12) New Jersey (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) Illinois (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 Indian Americans “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