Most Asian Americans face racial discrimination, stereotypes: survey
December 1, 2023
A new Pew Research Center (PRC) report reveals that Asian Americans continue to face prejudice, with a majority feeling that their experiences with discrimination receive insufficient national attention.
About the study: The recent analysis of a survey involving 7,006 Asian adults shows that 57% perceive discrimination against Asians in the U.S. as a major problem, while 63% believe insufficient attention is given to race and racial issues concerning Asian Americans.
The survey indicates that discrimination for many Asian Americans is multifaceted, encompassing experiences related to being treated as a foreigner, the burden of the model minority stereotype and other day-to-day incidents based on their race or ethnicity.
The results: The study found that 78% of Asian adults have been treated as foreigners, even if they were born in the U.S., experiencing incidents like being told to go back to their home country, language criticism and name mispronunciation. Additionally, 63% have encountered assumptions related to the model minority stereotype, such as being good at math or science.
About one-third of Asian adults, particularly East and Southeast Asians, know someone threatened or attacked due to their race during the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S.-born Asian adults, especially those immigrating as children, are more likely to experience discrimination, with 68% rarely discussing racial challenges with family.
Overall, about 90% of Asian Americans have faced at least one of 17 discrimination incidents, with mispronunciation (68%) and assumptions about math skills (58%) being most common. Moreover, 58% report experiencing racial discrimination because of their race or ethnicity, including 5% who say they experience it regularly.
Impact of the “model minority”: The paradox of the “model minority” stereotype is emphasized in the study, where Asian Americans are simultaneously praised for loyalty and hard work but treated as perpetual foreigners. Among those who knew of the term, 42% of respondents said the stereotype is a bad thing, while 17% said it is neither bad nor good.
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