Poll reveals shocking stats about Asian Americans facing discrimination

Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Threads

Results from an NPR poll have revealed shocking statistics about Asian Americans experiencing discrimination.

The NPR survey was conducted between 26 January 2017 to 9 April 2017. 3,453 adults aged 18 or older were surveyed through the telephone. It included nationally representative samples of African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and white Americans; men and women; and LGBTQ adults.

‘Southeast Asian American’ included respondents whose families are Filipino, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian or Malaysian. ‘Chinese Americans’ referred to Asian-Americans of Chinese heritage, but not those who identified as Taiwanese.

The poll was a collaboration among NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

“Our poll shows that Asian-American families have the highest average income among the groups we’ve surveyed, and yet the poll still finds that Asian-Americans experience persistent discrimination in housing, jobs and at college,” says Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard Chan School who co-directed the survey.

“Over the course of our series, we are seeing again and again that income is not a shield from discrimination.”

Data from the poll suggested that 27% experienced discrimination in applying for jobs and 25% when trying to rent or buy housing. 25% also reported discrimination in being paid or promoted equally.

More nonimmigrant Asian-Americans reported experiencing individual discrimination due to their race. 36% of nonimmigrant Asian-Americans experienced threats or nonsexual harassment and 20% experienced violence.

However, immigrant Asian-Americans reported more discrimination when visiting the doctor, as did Asian-American women on the whole.

 

Insensitive or offensive comments were experienced the most by Asian-Americans, with slurs not being too far behind. Interestingly, the poll found that Indian Americans were almost 9 times more likely to report unfair police stops or treatment than Chinese Americans. All Asian Americans were 6 times more likely to report such incidents than Chinese Americans.

For Asian American people in America, 68% believed that the biggest problem they face is discrimination based on the prejudice of other people, rather than institutional discrimination.

 

 

Author
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Threads

Stay Connected

Latest news

More From Resonate
Peter Chan reflects on Hong Kong cinema’s director-driven golden age, Comrades: Almost a Love Story, Hollywood, and the lessons shaping
Thirty years after Quentin Lee and Justin Lin launched Shopping for Fangs, the indie film returns to open the 2026
Aamir Khan explores shared values between India and China, his films’ appeal to Chinese audiences and piracy’s role in introducing
The Oscar-nominated actor voices and executive produces the Cannes-lauded animated memoir opposite Will Sharpe ahead of a winter cinema run.
Amanda Jiang stars as Countess Isolde Dragomir in Dracula: The Crimson Code, a female-led gothic vampire thriller now filming in
Logan Kim will play Steven Yeun’s son again in Netflix’s supernatural drama Pagans, following his role as Glenn’s son Hershel
Resurfaced podcast footage shows Texas GOP congressional candidate Brandon Herrera joking about sending unadopted kittens to Chinese restaurants, invoking a
Hur Jin-ho says South Korea’s opposition party wanted The Assassin(s) withdrawn, but the film opened SGIFF 2026. The director on