42% of Americans Can’t Name a Single Prominent Asian American, Study Shows

May 17, 2021

Nearly half of the Americans featured in a recent national study were unable to name a single prominent Asian American, highlighting the lack of Asian and Asian American representation in U.S. media.

The findings: The recent study was commissioned by Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH) to “unearth data on the attitudes and perceptions of Asian Americans to address the root causes of racism and discrimination.”

The study, named the STAATUS (Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the United States) Index, analyzed the results of 2,766 American adults who took a survey conducted by Savanta Research between March 29 and April 14.
This year’s STAATUS Index Report revealed that 42% of Americans answered “Don’t know” when asked to name a prominent Asian American, while 11% named Hong Kong martial artist and celebrity Jackie Chan and 9% named Asian American icon Bruce Lee.
Meanwhile, only 2% cited Kamala Harris, the U.S.’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president.
Respondents hardly mentioned Andrew Yang, Sanjay Gupta, Jeremy Lin and Tiger Woods.

Other results: The study also uncovered other noteworthy details, as NextShark previously reported.

Around 80% of Asian Americans claim they “do not feel respected and are discriminated against in the U.S.”
More than 25% of the respondents who identify as Republican believe that “terms used by the Trump Administration, such as ‘China Virus,’ ‘Wuhan Virus,’ or ‘Kung Flu,’ are appropriate for COVID-19,” while 6% of the respondents who identify as Democrat think the same.

LAAUNCH’s study comes amid an ongoing wave of anti-Asian violence, with Stop AAPI Hate reporting that hate incidents targeting Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. nearly doubled from 3,795 to 6,603 in just a year.

Featured Image via Paramount Pictures

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