A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and 2012 Asian American Center for Advancing Justice Pacific Islanders in the Midwest, 2012 A COMMUNITY OF CONTRASTS Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the Midwest CHICAGO As IAN CLEVELAND DETROIT A M TWIN CITIES er ICAN WISCONSIN Ce N ter for Adv for ter ANCIN This report was made possible by the following sponsors: The Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, Cyrus Chung Ying Tang Foundation, Just g and Bank of America. IC The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors. e CONTENTS ORDER FORM Welcome 1 Income 66 Publications are available in print or on the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice website Introduction 2 Employment 67 (www.advancingjustice.org) where they can be downloaded or printed free of charge. All orders for paid Executive Summary 3 Housing 68 copies must be prepaid. Sorry, but we cannot process orders or invoice for future payments. For questions Midwest Region 5 Health 69 about ordering reports, please call (202) 296-2300. Demographics 6 Policy Recommendations 70 Chicago Metro Area 10 Glossary 73 Asian American Justice Center, 1140 Connecticut Avenue, suite 1200, NW, Washington, dC 20036 Demographics 11 Appendix A: Population, Population Growth 74 Economic Contributions 13 Appendix B: Selected Population order INforMAtIoN Civic Engagement 14 Characteristics 80 Immigration 15 Technical Notes 85 Language 16 Amount Education 17 title ordered Quantity Cost Postage enclosed Income 18 Employment 19 Asian American Center for A Community of Contrasts: Housing 20 Advancing Justice Asian Americans in the United States 2011 $10.00 ea $4.00 ea $ Health 2 1 Cleveland Metro Area 22 he Asian American Center for Advancing Justice A Community of Contrasts: Demographics 23 T(Advancing Justice) is a leading Asian American Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Economic Contributions 25 civil rights and social justice organization comprising Pacific Islanders in the Midwest 2012 $10.00 ea $4.00 ea $ Civic Engagement 26 four equal and independent affiliates: the Asian Immigration 27 American Justice Center (AAJC), Asian Pacific Language 28 American Legal Center (APALC), Asian American donation: $ Education 29 Institute (AAI), and Asian Law Caucus (ALC). Income 30 Its mission is to promote a fair and equitable Included with credit card billing Employment 31 society for all by working for civil and human Housing 32 rights and empowering Asian Americans and Native Check included Health 33 Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) and other Detroit Metro Area 34 underserved communities. Demographics 35 Each affiliate’s staff has valuable expertise and deep Total $ Economic Contributions 37 experience. AAJC is one of the nation’s leading experts Civic Engagement 38 on issues of importance to the Asian American Immigration 39 community and has enacted a sweeping range of Name: Language 40 programs on critical national concerns. APALC is Education 41 the nation’s largest legal organization addressing the Organization: Income 42 needs of Asian Americans and NHPI by advocating Employment 43 for civil rights, providing legal services and education, Address: Housing 44 and building coalitions. AAI is the Midwest’s leading Health 45 pan-Asian organization dedicated to empowering City: State: ZIP: Twin Cities Metro Area 46 the Asian American community through advocacy, Demographics 47 research, education, and coalition building. ALC is the Phone number: E-mail: Economic Contributions 49 oldest legal organization in the country defending the Civic Engagement 50 civil rights of Asian American and NHPI communities FedEx number (if applicable): Immigration 51 and focuses on the needs of low-income, immigrant, Language 52 and underserved communities. Education 53 Income 54 While well known in their individual spheres for Employment 55 their work and expertise, the affiliates of Advancing Please select method of payment (prepayment is required for all orders): Justice have come together to build a stronger, more Housing 56 Check enclosed, payable to: Asian American Justice Center Health 57 cohesive regional and national civil and human rights infrastructure for the Asian American community. We Wisconsin State 58 Bill my credit card: Visa MasterCard Demographics 59 use our resources to provide valuable information to Economic Contributions 61 the community, work to address more issues in more Credit card number: places, impact a greater number of public debates, Civic Engagement 62 Name: Immigration 63 and help the voices of Asian Americans, NHPI, and other marginalized and underserved communities be heard. Language 64 Expiration date: Amount $ Education 65 Printed on recycled paper using Please e-mail any questions regarding the report to: [email protected]. vegetable-based inks and 100% wind power. WELCOME or many Americans, mention of the Midwest challenges and opportunities our communities face Fevokes images of endless miles of cornfields, in the Midwest. A resource such as this report can the towering office buildings of Chicago, or neat catalyze public education opportunities, better suburban lawns. Rarely are those images populated inform policy campaigns, and provide the content for with the faces of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, leadership training targeting our communities. While or Latinos alongside Whites and African Americans. one report cannot do all of this important movement- Yet throughout the Midwest, unique patterns of building work, we see this as a resource that Asian immigration have brought a wealth of racial and American and NHPI communities throughout the cultural diversity to the heartland of America. For Midwest can use to better advocate with their local Asian American and Native Hawaiian and Pacific foundations and government agencies for resources Islander (NHPI) immigrants, the Midwest represents and support. opportunity and, in the case of refugees, safety from the oppressive political regimes from which they flee. This report is part of a series based on new data and will be followed by regional reports on Asian As our communities grow, Asian Americans and American and NHPI communities in California, the NHPI are making significant contributions to the West, the South, and the Northeast. Additional economy and developing greater political power. reports are also planned, including one focused on But the struggle to raise our collective visibility and the NHPI community and a report on the economic participation in all facets of American democracy contributions of Asian Americans and NHPI. continues. At the same time, our population is incredibly diverse. With parts of the community We would like to thank the sponsors who made this thriving, those who face difficulties seem invisible. report possible, including the Wallace H. Coulter Many Asian Americans continue to face language Foundation, the Cyrus Chung Ying Tang Foundation, barriers and struggle economically, while those who and Bank of America. have achieved economic and professional success face more pernicious barriers to achieving corporate We would also like to thank the Advancing Justice and political leadership positions. In the Midwest, the staff who contributed to this report, including Kathleen ongoing recession has fueled more racism and fear but Fernicola, Tuyet Le, and Rekha Radhakrishnan at has seen Asian American and NHPI communities rising the Asian American Institute (co-author); Marita to the challenge of deeper engagement in civic life. Etcubanez, Olivia Chow, Jacinta Ma, and Leonie Campbell-Williams at the Asian American Justice At this time of both challenge and opportunity, Center (co-author); and Christina Lee, Joanna Lee, the members of the Asian American Center for Dan Ichinose, and Rachanee Srisavasdi at the Asian Advancing Justice (Advancing Justice) have come Pacific American Legal Center (co-author and together to provide this report. A Community principal researcher). Special thanks to our partners, of Contrasts: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians South Asian American Policy and Research Institute and Pacific Islanders in the Midwest, 2012 is a in Illinois; American Citizens for Justice in Michigan; much needed resource supporting growing Asian Hmong American Partnership/Hmong National American and NHPI movements in states such as Development in Minnesota; Asian Services in Action, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin Inc. in Ohio; and the Wisconsin United Coalition of with concrete and up-to-date data and policy Mutual Assistance Associations, who provided critical recommendations. While some reports on Asian guidance on the structure and content of this report. Americans and NHPI paint a simplistically glossy picture, this report aims to provide a fuller and richer portrait of the social, economic, and political A Community of Contrasts 1 INTRODUCTION ramatic growth in the nation’s Asian American Second, this report attempts to make data Dand Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) on immigration, language, education, income, populations is occurring throughout the country. In employment, housing, and health more accessible to states like California, New York, and Hawai’i, large community organizations, policy makers, government Asian American and NHPI communities established agencies, foundations, businesses, and other around the turn of the century continue to grow. stakeholders. It does this by compiling key measures In other states, smaller Asian American and