Report: Chinese Americans increasingly seen as "threat" in U.S.
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Waverly Place in San Francisco's Chinatown. Photo: Stephen Lam/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
More than one in four Americans believe Chinese Americans are a threat to U.S. society, a new survey finds.
Why it matters: Five years after the pandemic-driven surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian Americans — who constitute over 37% of San Francisco's population — are still battling harmful stereotypes and deep-seated misperceptions.
By the numbers: 63% of Asian Americans reported feeling unsafe in at least one daily setting, per the nationwide STAATUS Index released May 1 at the start of AAPI Heritage Month.
- The same percentage said it was at least somewhat likely they would be victims of discrimination based on their race, ethnicity or religion in the next five years. By comparison, 33% of white Americans said the same.
- Asian Americans (40%) are far less likely than white Americans (71%) to completely agree that they belong in the U.S., and they are the least likely among all races surveyed to feel they belong in online spaces/social media and their neighborhoods.
Between the lines: Anti-AAPI hate crimes in San Francisco jumped 567% from 2020 to 2021 as the coronavirus led to scapegoating and violent attacks, especially on older people.
- That fear hasn't abated, the survey shows, even as attention to the issue faded.
Case in point: Lily Zhu, a 70-year-old Oakland resident, told Axios in Mandarin in February that while she's no longer scared to leave her house, most Asian older people in her circle stick to Chinese community spaces to avoid risk.
Zoom in: This year's survey found that a record percentage (40%) of Americans believe Asian Americans are more loyal to their countries of origin than to the U.S., up from 37% last year.
- That's the highest since the STAATUS Index launched in 2021.
- Norman Chen, the Bay Area-based CEO of The Asian American Foundation and STAATUS report co-founder, called it "one of the most alarming results."
- About two-fifths of Americans support legislation prohibiting "foreign citizens" from certain countries, including China, from purchasing land.
Stunning stat: Fewer than half (44%) of Americans strongly agree that Japanese American incarceration — the forcible detainment of 120,000 people with Japanese ancestry during World War II — was wrong.
The big picture: The survey also found that most Americans continue to believe the harmful "model minority" myth of overachieving Asian Americans who are "good at math," according to Chen.
- It's why local organizations like the Chinese Culture Center, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action and Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA) have advocated for educational initiatives to ensure Asian American stories are visible — both in schools and public spaces.
- "People don't know the history of the amazing Asian American activism in this country," Annie Lee, CAA's managing director of policy, told Axios in reference to Wong Kim Ark's landmark birthright citizenship case.
- "It's so fundamental. All of these rights Asian Americans have fought for that benefit not just our community but other communities."