A nationwide poll indicated that four in five Asian Americans do not feel like they belong in America, and more than half do not feel secure going out alone.
In a feature report by USA Today, many respondents reported feeling unsafe or not truly belonging anywhere from their schools and workplaces to their own neighborhoods due to discrimination. It is a continuing rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, lingering stereotypes, and a lack of representation in prominent places.
Norman Chen, CEO of The Asian American Foundation in Washington, which commissioned the poll earlier this year, expressed alarm about the results. "To live in a country where you don't feel like you belong and don't feel safe is really concerning," he said.
Tensions Are Rising
For its third annual STAATUS Index report, the foundation polled 5,235 Americans aged 16 and up about their views on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
According to the results, 78% of Asian Americans who participated in the study thought they did not fully fit into US culture. Over 75% of Black and Latino respondents shared this view, and only 43% of White respondents did. This sentiment was felt most strongly among Asian American women and young people.
About three in five blamed discrimination for their lack of belonging, while nearly half blamed a lack of role models in influential positions.
Long-Standing Problems
Reportedly, the study also indicated that 52% of Asian Americans feel frightened due to their race or ethnicity, second only to the 53% of Blacks who feel the same but higher than the 47% of Latino respondents and 28% of whites.
Among Asian Americans, 29% reported feeling unsafest while riding public transportation, followed by 19% in their own neighborhoods, 19% at school, and 17% at work.
More than 11,000 cases of anti-Asian hatred were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a San Francisco-based organization founded during the early phases of the COVID-19 outbreak.
"The lack of a feeling of safety and belonging is not just something experienced during COVID and the previous (presidential) administration. These are long-lasting issues that need to be addressed," Chen pointed out.
The conclusions of the foundation are consistent with those of year-long research by Columbia University and the Committee of 100, a New York-based charity made up of influential Chinese Americans. The majority of Chinese Americans who responded to the State of Chinese Americans study still felt like outsiders in mainstream American culture.
Over half of the respondents reported being afraid of hate crimes or harassment due to their race, and about 75% said they had experienced racial discrimination in the previous year. About 20% of those surveyed said they had been the target of multiple incidents of racial slurs or bullying, and nearly 10% claimed to be the victim of physical intimidation or assault.
