Forty-two percent of Americans cannot name a famous Asian American according to a new survey.
Commissioned by the nonprofit Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH), the survey polled 2766 American adults across the country between 29 March and 14 April.
42% of respondents answered “don’t know” when asked to name a famous Asian American. 11% said Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan whilst 9% said Hong Kong martial arts legend Bruce Lee.
“This just shows that even when we’re in the news, people are not really soaking in the presence of Asian Americans in our country,” Norman Chen, the co-founder and chief executive of LAAUNCH said.
The survey was conducted almost two weeks after the Atlanta shootings, in which six Asian women were killed.
Additionally, the survey found that 25% of white Americans did not consider that anti-Asian racism is a problem that needs addressing.
Meanwhile, fewer than 25% of Asian Americans felt respected in the USA, according to the survey and 80% said they face discrimination.
The survey also found that 1 in 5 respondents thought Asian Americans were “more loyal to their countries of origin than to the U.S.”
Paul Watanabe, director of the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston was among the Asian American data scientists and scholars from elite universities consulted for survey questions.
“There’s nothing new about these attitudes about Asian Americans, but they’ve emerged in stark relief given the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and the Atlanta shooting,” Watanabe said. “Hopefully an increased awareness about these issues will, in fact, turn the tide.”
In other news, an Asian American student has been racially targeted at a school in New York.
