The views and opinions expressed on this site and blog posts (excluding comments on blog posts left by others) are entirely my own and do not represent those of any employer or organization with whom I am currently or previously have been associated.
Academic Version: Applying my personal experiences and academic research as a professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies to provide a more complete understanding of political, economic, and cultural issues and current events related to American race relations, and Asia/Asian America in particular.
Plain English: Trying to put my Ph.D. to good use.
For those who missed it, the Pew Research Center recently released a report titled, “The Rise of Asian Americans” that, among other things, attempted to provide a demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural summary of the Asian American population, using a combination of Census data and the Pew’s own telephone survey of over 3,500 Asian American respondents. Some of the report’s notable findings are:
In terms of total population, there are over 18 million Asian Americans as of 2011 and they represent 5.8% of the total U.S. population.
Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial/ethnic group in the U.S. in terms of percentage growth. This is also reflected in the most recently-available data from 2010 that shows that 430,000 Asians (legal and undocumented) immigrated to the U.S., compared with 370,000 Latinos.
Confirming current patterns, Asian Americans also have the highest proportion of adults 25 years or older who have a college degree and have the highest median household income.
The Pew report also spends much of its time discussing the “cultural” characteristics of Asian Americans and unfortunately, it is at this point where things start to hit the fan. As the New York Times summarizes:
In the survey, Asians are also distinguished by their emphasis on traditional family mores. About 54 percent of the respondents, compared with 34 percent of all adults in the country, said having a successful marriage was one of the most important goals in life; another was being a good parent, according to 67 percent of Asian adults, compared with about half of all adults in the general population.
Asians also place greater importance on career and material success, the study reported, values reflected in child-rearing styles. About 62 percent of Asians in the United States believe that most American parents do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school.
Soon after its release, numerous Asian American scholars, community organizations, and academic associations began roundly criticizing the report. For example, the Japanese American Citizens League stated, “While our community reflects diversity, this research does not; instead, it sweeps Asian Americans into one broad group and paints our community as exceptionally successful without any challenges. This study perpetuates false stereotypes and the model minority.”
Another nationally-recognized Asian American group, the Organization of Chinese Americans, wrote:
“What is particularly disturbing is that these types of broad generalizations can have serious implications in public policy, civil rights, as well as perpetuation of bias, discrimination, and racial tension between communities of color. Even though the study fills a void for more statistics and information on the APA community, the framing of the contextual data in the report is troublesome. . . . The assertions that our community enjoys an exaggerated level of privilege are simply and unfortunately not the case.
Other statements of criticism and even condemnation of the Pew report came from organizations such as the Association for Asian American Studies, the Asian American Pacific Islander Policy and Research Consortium, the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, and numerous Asian American Studies departments and programs around the country, to name just a few.
Perhaps the best critique came from Professor Karthick Ramakrishnan, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California Riverside, and ironically, a member of the Pew’s faculty advisory board on Asian American issues:
Unfortunately, [the report] prioritized questions asked of Asian Americans — regarding their parenting styles and their own stereotypes about Americans — that seemed more concerned with Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother than with the priorities of Asian Americans themselves, either as revealed in past surveys or as articulated by organizations serving those communities. . . .
More concerning than the Pew report, however, was the sensationalist headline on the press release that introduced the study to news media: Asians Overtake Hispanics in New Immigrant Arrivals; Surpass US Public in Valuing Marriage, Parenthood, Hard Work. These few words carried sway in hundreds of newspaper articles in the first two days of the report’s release, provoking outrage among broad swaths of the Asian American community, including many researchers, elected officials, and community organizations. . . .
As one of 15 advisors to the project, I felt blindsided by the press release. Words failed me as I read it for the first time, as we had not gotten a chance to review it. The dominant narrative in the release reinforced the frame of Asians as a model minority, stereotypes that the advisors had strongly objected to in the only meeting of the group two months ago.
Generally, the Pew Research Institute produces useful, informative, and reliable data and reports. However, as Prof. Ramakrishnan points out in the full text of his critique, this is not the first time that Pew has mischaracterized, sensationalized, or even misinterpreted its own data. Further, as I pointed out before, on occasion, Pew has inexplicably excluded Asian American respondents in some of its previous studies.
With that point in mind, I suppose we should be somewhat thankful that Pew has been more inclusive of Asian Americans as a valuable source of study lately. Nonetheless, simply including Asian Americans is not the same as accurately representing our community.
Pew might argue that their methodology and data are valid. Technically, I suppose they are. But as the above-referenced criticisms consistently point out, many of the questions they asked were sensationalist and not representative of the real, substantive issues and concerns that the Asian American community have identified themselves.
In the end, this Pew report teaches us a couple of valuable lessons. First, that biases can come in many different forms. That is, most of us thinking of biases in the form of direct and blatant statements that clearly favor one ideological viewpoint over another. But the Pew report shows us that biases can also manifest themselves in the questions researchers ask and how they frame the results of their data, based on the misfocused questions, to emphasize certain interpretations over others.
Second, the Pew report shows us that even something that is initially framed as a positive portrayal of Asian Americans can turn out to be just the opposite — a skewed misrepresentation that actually reinforces negative and damaging stereotypes. This lesson is at the core of the model minority image of Asian Americans and how some naively think that they are paying Asian Americans a compliment by commenting how well-educated we are, or how we’re so good at math or science, or how hard we tend to work. While there is obviously some truth to these observations, the problem is that such characterizations are easily and often generalized to the entire Asian American population. When that happens, they mask the demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity among Asian Americans and marginalize the continuing discrimination, inequalities, and injustices we still experience.
The Asian American community deserves to be represented better than this and research organizations such as Pew need to do a better job at asking us about the issues that we, not they, care about.
Here are some more announcements, links, and job postings about academic-related jobs, fellowships, and other opportunities for those interested in racial/ethnic/diversity issues, with a particular focus on Asian Americans. As always, the announcements and links are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of the organization or college involved.
Vietnamese American Community Center, 42 Charles Street Boston MA (near Fields Corner T-stop)
Interested in Asian American activism within Dorchester? Want to develop your leadership skills? Want to organize for social justice?
Join Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) and the Asian American activist community on July 28, from 11-2:30pm, for the community launch of the exciting and new Dorchester Organizing and Training (DOT) Initiative. We will find free lunch, new friends, and lots of fun!
AARW is launching the “DOT Initiative” to provide a space for young Asian Americans in Fields Corner to build community and organize for social change. After meeting with residents and community leaders, AARW identified and seeks to fill the need for leadership development within young, working-class Asian Americans in Dorchester, in order to increase civic engagement and organize the community to fight against injustices.
Please join us! Don’t miss out on a day that will include:
Food and Socializing – free lunch and good people to talk with.
Activist Training – led by a prominent community organizer, to build your activist skills with a voter registration training Door-knocking session – take action in Fields Corner, putting your training to use right away.
Report on civic engagement within the Asian American community – conducted by the UMass Boston Institute of Asian American Studies.
AARW is a pan-Asian organization that seeks to empower the APA community to work for full participation in US society. Join us for what is shaping up to be an exciting event!
2012 Abe Fellowship Competition
Deadline: September 1, 2012
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC), the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) announce the annual Abe Fellowship competition. The Abe Fellowship is designed to encourage international multidisciplinary research on topics of pressing global concern. The Abe Fellowship Program seeks to foster the development of a new generation of researchers who are interested in policy-relevant topics of long-range importance and who are willing to become key members of a bilateral and global research network built around such topics.
The Abe Fellowship Research Agenda
Applicants are invited to submit proposals for research in the social sciences and related fields relevant to any of the following three themes:
Traditional and Non-Traditional Approaches to Security and Diplomacy
Topic areas include transnational terrorism, internal ethnic and religious strife, infectious diseases, food safety, climate change, and non-proliferation, as well as the role of cultural initiatives in peace building.
Global and Regional Economic Issues
Topic areas include regional and bilateral trade arrangements, international financial stability, globalization and the mitigation of its adverse consequences, sustainable urbanization, and environmental degradation.
Social and Cultural Issues
Topic areas include demographic change, immigration, the role of civil society and media as champions of the public interest, social enterprise, corporate social responsibility, and revitalization of multicultural urban areas.
Research projects should be policy relevant, contemporary, and comparative or transnational.
Fellowship Terms
Terms of the fellowship are flexible and are designed to meet the needs of Japanese and American researchers at different stages in their careers. The program provides Abe Fellows with a minimum of three and maximum of 12 months of full-time support over a 24 month period. Part-time residence abroad in the United States or Japan is required.
Eligibility
This competition is open to citizens of the United States and Japan as well as to nationals of other countries who can demonstrate a serious, long-term affiliation with research communities in the United States or Japan. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. or the terminal degree in their field, or equivalent professional experience at the time of application. Applications from researchers in professions other than academia are encouraged.
Contact Details
For further information and to apply, go to http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/abe-fellowship/ or contact SSRC staff at abe@ssrc.org.
My name is Cindy, and I’m writing to let you know that the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) has announced that its Call for Entries for the 31st San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, held on March 14-24 2013, is now OPEN!
It is a terrific opportunity for filmmakers to be a part of the largest film festival in North America dedicated to showcasing films by or about Asian Americans and Asians around the world and have the chance to have their film viewed by one of the most sophisticated and enthusiastic audiences in the nation, as well as by many festival programmers, including delegates from nearly every Asian American film festival in North America.
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31st SF International Asian American Film Festival
March 14-24, 2013
Eligibility
The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival accepts films, videos and digital and interactive projects that are made by or about Asian Americans and Asians of any nationality. All lengths and genres will be considered.
Deadlines
Your signed entry form, entry fee, screener and press kit must be postmarked by one of these two dates:
* Early Deadline – Sept 3, 2012
* Late Deadline – Oct 1, 2012
* Withoutabox.com Extended deadline –Oct 8, 2012
A presentation of:
Center for Asian American Media
145 Ninth Street, Suite 350
San Francisco, CA 94103-2641
www.caamedia.org
Call for Submissions: Race and the Life Course
“Racing through Life: Readings on Race and the Lifespan” is a collection of readings about race and the life course edited by Drs. Diditi Mitra and Joyce Weil. Holding race and aging constant, the book will incorporate readings that reflect how both these concepts intersect with other elements of social differentiation, such as gender, social class, sexual orientation, and immigrant status to name a few.
Additionally, the project will include works that echo the broad range of social methodologies used in studying the intersecting experiences of race and the life course. Thus, on the whole, the collection of works will include varieties of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The book will also provide space for personal histories pertaining to the topics of race and the life course perspective that contextualizes those histories within a social scientific framework.
We welcome works on all race and ethnic groups, including whites. Our goal is not to focus on the “other” races, but to include whites, as well, in order to offer meaningful insights into the topics of race and the aging. The readings will be divided among the book’s three parts: the journey to adulthood (Part I), adulthood and midlife (Part II), and aging and latter years (Part III).
Please let us know of your interest and contact us if you would like to discuss a topic. The recommended length of the manuscript is between20 and 25 pages. The deadline for submission is November 1, 2012. Your expert contribution to this edited collection is greatly valued. Dr. Joyce Weil and Dr. Diditi Mitra can be reached at joyce.weil@unco.edu (970.351.1583) and dmitra@brookdalecc.edu (732.224.2537), respectively.
