Tag: Pew Research Center

Study Indicates Shifts in Shared Identity of Asian Americans

Illustration of people walking towards a lighted doorway over a superimposed image of the American flag. (Photo credit: DepositPhotos)

Posted By Jenn

In a new survey, Pew Research has found that Asian Americans are evolving in our understandings of identity and shared experience, with evidence that Asian Americans are increasingly more likely to see themselves as a group that is politically isolated from mainstream America.

In the large national study conducted between July 2022 through to July 2023, and covering a period of widespread anti-Asian hate including the aftermath of the Atlanta shooting that killed 8 including 6 Asian/Asian American women, Pew surveyed over 7000 Asian/Asian American adults from the five largest East, Southeast, and South Asian American ethnic groups from all 50 states. The survey was conducted in six languages including Chinese, English, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. Survey results were augmented by findings from pre-survey focus groups conducted on Asian and Asian American adults to capture the perspectives of other Asian American ethnic groups.

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Are Asian Americans not voting?

Posted By Jenn

Because every post about elections needs a generic picture of "I Voted" buttons.
Because every post about elections needs a generic picture of “I Voted” buttons.

2014 is turning out to be another critical mid-term election year, with most analysts predicting huge losses for the Democrats in both the House and the Senate. Whatever changes are made to the political distribution of Congress will critically impact the final two years of the Obama Administration: an administration that has been largely hamstrung in pursuing all of its major policy initiatives by obstinate and obstructive Republicans. Should the trend of Democratic losses in Congress continue, it could seriously hamper the chances that any real work will be done in the next two years in the Capitol.

Consequently, attention is focusing once more towards the electorate, and various voting groups. Asian Americans have routinely been cited as a growing swing electorate, one that I suggested made a significant impact in the outcome of the 2012 election. This year, Asian Americans — who make up about 4% of registered voters — could once again swing the election.

However, last week, the Pew Research Center published a report suggesting that compared to other minority groups, Asian Americans have the lowest voter turnout, at just 31%. And more disturbingly, our voter turnout rates have seriously declined in the last 20 years, compared to turnout rates of White and Black voters, which have remained stable or which have risen slightly.

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