The idea that Asian Americans (ASAMs) are the “model minority” (MM) is deeply entrenched in the US consciousness. The MM was introduced to you on the 2/13 alternative assignment presentation, and we’ve continued to refer to it throughout class sessions, but this week’s reading takes a deep dive into what the idea of the MM may convey. 

First, read the Pew Research Center’s report “Rise of the Asian Americans” and answer the following questions in about 150 words: In what light does the Pew Research Center’s report represent Asian Americans? Justify your response with evidence from the text. Are there claims that you would assert as being true, or claims that you would argue as being false or flawed? How does this relate to the MM? Lastly, name one statistic or fact from the report that stands out to you, either because it seems true, ridiculous, wrong, funny, dangerous, etc. (You don’t have to explain why you chose this or interpret the information. Just stating it is fine.) 

Then, read the AAPIPRC’s “Letter to the Pew Research Center” (short one page letter). A small number of Asian American scholars came together to reject “Rise of the Asian Americans.” In another 150 words respond to the following: What is there reason for rejecting the report? What are the dangerous they perceive from the report? 

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010

Asian race Hispanic origin

%

OVERVIEW

Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-
educated and fastest-growing racial group in
the United States. They are more satisfied than
the general public with their lives, finances and
the direction of the country, and they place
more value than other Americans do on
marriage, parenthood, hard work and career
success, according to a comprehensive new
nationwide survey by the Pew Research Center.

A century ago, most Asian Americans were
low-skilled, low-wage laborers crowded into
ethnic enclaves and targets of official
discrimination. Today they are the most likely
of any major racial or ethnic group in America
to live in mixed neighborhoods and to marry
across racial lines. When newly minted
medical school graduate Priscilla Chan married
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg last
month, she joined the 37% of all recent Asian-
American brides who wed a non-Asian groom.1

These milestones of economic success and
social assimilation have come to a group that is
still majority immigrant. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Asian-American adults were born
abroad; of these, about half say they speak English very well and half say they don’t.

Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States.
The educational credentials of these recent arrivals are striking. More than six-in-ten (61%)
adults ages 25 to 64 who have come from Asia in recent years have at least a bachelor’s degree.
This is double the share among recent non-Asian arrivals, and almost surely makes the recent
Asian arrivals the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in U.S. history.

1 The share for recent Asian-American grooms is lower (17%). Overall, 29% of recent Asian newlyweds between 2008 and 2010
married a non-Asian.

Meet the New Immigrants:
Asians Overtake Hispanics
% of immigrants, by year of arrival, 2000-2010

Note: Based on total foreign-born population, including
adults and children. Asians include mixed-race Asian
population, regardless of Hispanic origin. Hispanics are of
any race. The 2010 ACS includes only partial-year arrivals
for 2010; arrivals for 2010 adjusted to full-year totals based
on analysis of 2005-2009 ACS data on partial-year arrivals.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 American
Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample
(IPUMS) files

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2

8

4

9

3

1

18

1

3

U.S. population

Asians

Whites

Blacks

Hispanics

% with a bachelor’s degree or more,
among ages 25 and older, 2010

Median household income, 2010

$66,000

$66,000

$49,800

$66,000

$54,000

$40,000

$33,300

U.S. population
Asians
Whites
Hispanics

Blacks $66 000

Compared with the educational attainment of the population in their country of origin, recent
Asian immigrants also stand out as a select group. For example, about 27% of adults ages 25 to
64 in South Korea and 25% in Japan have a bachelor’s degree or more.2

In contrast, nearly
70% of comparably aged recent immigrants from these two countries have at least a bachelor’s
degree.

Recent Asian immigrants are also about three
times as likely as recent immigrants from other
parts of the world to receive their green cards—
or permanent resident status—on the basis of
employer rather than family sponsorship
(though family reunification remains the most
common legal gateway to the U.S. for Asian
immigrants, as it is for all immigrants).

The modern immigration wave from Asia is
nearly a half century old and has pushed the
total population of Asian Americans—foreign
born and U.S. born, adults and children—to a
record 18.2 million in 2011, or 5.8% of the total
U.S. population, up from less than 1% in 1965.3

By comparison, non-Hispanic whites are 197.

5

million and 63.3%, Hispanics 52.0 million and
16.7% and non-Hispanic blacks 38.3 million
and 12.3%.

Asian Americans trace their roots to any of
dozens of countries in the Far East, Southeast
Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Each
country of origin subgroup has its own unique
history, culture, language, religious beliefs,
economic and demographic traits, social and
political values, and pathways into America.

2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Education at a Glance 2011: OECD Indicators. Based on
2009 data.
3 This is the first official estimate of the size of the Asian-American population produced by the Census Bureau since the 2010
Census; it was released in May 2012. Throughout the remainder of this report, population counts are based on the 2010 Census,
which counted 17.3 million Asian Americans. Totals for Asian Americans include Hispanics and those of mixed race; totals for
whites and blacks include only single-race non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of any race.

Asian Americans Lead Others
In Education, Income

Note: Asians include mixed-race Asian population,
regardless of Hispanic origin. Whites and blacks include only
non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of any race. Household income
is based on householders ages 18 and older; race and
ethnicity are based on those of household head.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 American
Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample
(IPUMS) files

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But despite often sizable subgroup differences, Asian Americans are distinctive as a whole,
especially when compared with all U.S. adults, whom they exceed not just in the share with a
college degree (49% vs. 28%), but also in median annual household income ($66,000 versus
$49,800) and median household wealth ($83,500 vs. $68,529).4

They are noteworthy in other ways, too. According to the Pew Research Center survey of a
nationally representative sample of 3,511 Asian Americans, conducted by telephone from Jan.
3 to March 27, 2012, in English and seven Asian languages, they are more satisfied than the
general public with their lives overall (82% vs. 75%), their personal finances (51% vs. 35%) and
the general direction of the country (43% vs. 21%).

They also stand out for their strong emphasis on family. More than half (54%) say that having
a successful marriage is one of the most important things in life; just 34% of all American
adults agree. Two-thirds of Asian-American adults (67%) say that being a good parent is one of
the most important things in life; just 50% of all adults agree.

Their living arrangements align with these values. They are more likely than all American
adults to be married (59% vs. 51%); their newborns are less likely than all U.S. newborns to
have an unmarried mother (16% vs. 41%); and their children are more likely than all U.S.
children to be raised in a household with two married parents (80% vs. 63%).

They are more likely than the general public to live in multi-generational family households.
Some 28% live with at least two adult generations under the same roof, twice the share of
whites and slightly more than the share of blacks and Hispanics who live in such households.
U.S. Asians also have a strong sense of filial respect; about two-thirds say parents should have
a lot or some influence in choosing one’s profession (66%) and spouse (61%).

4 The college data are for adults ages 25 and older. Household income is based on householders ages 18 and older and comes
from Pew Research Center analysis of the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey. Household wealth is based on
householders ages 15 and older and comes from Pew Research Center analysis of Wave 7 of the 2008 Survey of Income and
Program Participation panel, conducted from September-December 2010.

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58

93

5

7

U.S. Asians

General public

U.S. Asians
U.S. Asians

“Most people who want to get ahead can
make it if they’re willing to work hard”

“Americans from my country of origin group
are very hardworking”

“Thinking about the country as a whole,
Americans are very hardworking”

62

9
9

39

Not enough Too much Right
amount

23

49

American
parents

American parents
from Asian

country of origin

Asian Americans have a pervasive belief in the
rewards of hard work. Nearly seven-in-ten
(69%) say people can get ahead if they are
willing to work hard, a view shared by a
somewhat smaller share of the American
public as a whole (58%). And fully 93% of
Asian Americans describe members of their
country of origin group as “very hardworking”;
just 57% say the same about Americans as a
whole.

By their own lights, Asian Americans
sometimes go overboard in stressing hard
work. Nearly four-in-ten (39%) say that Asian-
American parents from their country of origin
subgroup put too much pressure on their
children to do well in school. Just 9% say the
same about all American parents. On the flip
side of the same coin, about six-in-ten Asian
Americans say American
parents put too little
pressure on their children to
succeed in school, while just
9% say the same about
Asian-American parents.
(The publication last year of
“Battle Hymn of the Tiger
Mother,” a comic memoir
about strict parenting by Yale
Law Professor Amy Chua, the
daughter of immigrants,
triggered a spirited debate
about cultural differences in
parenting norms.)

The Asian-American Work Ethic
% saying …

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q12b, 21, 70. Those who did
not provide a country of origin were asked about “Asian
Americans.”

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Who’s a “Tiger Mom”?
% of U.S. Asians saying (American parents/Asian-American parents) put
… pressure on their children to do well in school

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q17, 53. In Q53 respondents were asked about
parents from their country of origin group (Chinese-American parents, Korean-
American parents, etc.). Those who did not provide a country of origin were asked
about “Asian-American parents.” Responses of “Don’t know/Refused” not shown.

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3
9

13

7

28

5

6

73

69

64

62

52

34

14

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Better in country of origin Better in U.S. About the
same

18

23

21

20

38

32

26

Strength of
family ties

Opportunity to
get ahead

Freedom to express
political views

Treatment
of the poor

Conditions for
raising children

Freedom to
practice religion

Moral values
of society

The immigration wave from
Asia has occurred at a time
when the largest sending
countries have experienced
dramatic gains in their
standards of living. But few
Asian immigrants are
looking over their shoulders
with regret. Just 12% say that
if they had to do it all over
again, they would remain in
their country of origin. And
by lopsided margins, Asian
Americans say the U.S. is
preferable to their country of
origin in such realms as
providing economic
opportunity, political and
religious freedoms, and good
conditions for raising children. Respondents rated their country of origin as being superior on
just one of seven measures tested in the survey—strength of family ties.

(The survey was conducted only among Asian Americans currently living in the U.S. As is the
case with all immigration waves, a portion of those who came to the U.S. from Asia in recent
decades have chosen to return to their country of origin. However, return migration rates are
estimated to be lower for immigrants from Asia than for other immigrants, and naturalization
rates—that is, the share of eligible immigrants who become U.S. citizens—are higher. For more
details, see Chapter 1.)

For Most Asians, U.S. Offers a Better Life
% saying …

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q54a-g. Responses of “Don’t know/Refused” not
shown.

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55

57

33

30
39

15

Indian Americans

Indian public

Chinese Americans

Chinese public

Japanese Americans

Japanese public

Gap

25

18

18

Asians in the U.S. and in Asia

When findings from this survey are compared
with recent surveys conducted by the Pew
Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project
among Asians in major Asian countries, a
mixed picture emerges. For example, adults
living in China are more satisfied with the way
things are going in their country than

Chinese

Americans are with the way things are going in
the United States. By contrast, the publics of
India and Japan have a more downbeat view of
the way things are going in their countries than
their counterpart groups do about the U.S.

Across the board, however, U.S. Asians are
more likely than Asians in Asia to say their
standard of living is better than that of their
parents at a similar stage of life. U.S. Asians
also exceed Asians in their belief that hard
work leads to success in life. And while many
U.S. Asians say that Asian-American parents
place too much pressure on their children to do
well in school, even more Chinese and
Japanese say this about parents in their
countries. (For more details on these and other cross-national comparisons, see Chapter 4.)

Intergenerational Mobility among
Asians in the U.S. and in Asia
% saying their current standard of living is “much
better” than their parents’ was at a comparable age

Data for Indian Americans, Chinese Americans and

Japanese

Americans are from the 2012 Asian-American survey. Q10.
Data for the Indian, Chinese and Japanese publics are from
surveys conducted in those countries in 2012 by the Pew
Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project.

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U.S. Asians
Chinese

Filipino

Indian

Vietnamese

Korean

Japanese

U.S. Asian groups

% of
Asians

17,320,8

56

4,010,114 23.2

3,416,840 19.7

3,183,063 18.4

1,737,433 10.0

1,706,822 9.9

1,304,286 7.5

Differences among Asian-American Subgroups

The Pew Research Center survey was designed
to contain a nationally representative sample
of each of the six largest Asian-American
groups by country of origin—Chinese
Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian
Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean
Americans and Japanese Americans. Together
these groups comprise at least 83% of the total
Asian population in the U.S.5

The basic demographics of these groups are
different on many measures. For example,
Indian Americans lead all other groups by a
significant margin in their levels of income and
education. Seven-in-ten Indian-American
adults ages 25 and older have a college degree,
compared with about half of Americans of
Korean, Chinese, Filipino and Japanese
ancestry, and about a quarter of Vietnamese
Americans.

On the other side of the socio-economic ledger,
Americans with Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese
and “other U.S. Asian”6 origins have higher
shares in poverty than does the U.S. general
public, while those with Indian, Japanese and
Filipino origins have lower shares.7

Their geographic settlement patterns also differ. More than seven-in-ten Japanese and two-
thirds of Filipinos live in the West, compared with fewer than half of Chinese, Vietnamese and
Koreans, and only about a quarter of Indians.

5 This figure includes almost all Asians with origins in the six major country groups, but is not a complete count. The available
2010 ACS data from which it is drawn include specific counts only for Asians with origins in one major group or with origins in the
most common combinations of race or country group.
6 “Other U.S. Asians” are a diverse population that includes numerous subgroups of less than a million people. Seven of these
subgroups number more than 100,000 people—Bangladeshis, Burmese, Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians, Pakistanis and Thais.
7 Revised July 12, 2012, to change “poverty rate” to “% in poverty” or “share in poverty,” and to add a definition to Notes on
Terminology.

The Largest U.S. Asian Groups
The six largest country of origin groups each number
more than a million people

Note: Based on the total Asian-race population, including
adults and children. There is some overlap in the numbers
for the six largest Asian groups because people with origins
in more than one group—for example, “Chinese and
Filipino”—are counted in each group to which they belong.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis based on Elizabeth M.
Hoeffel et al., The Asian Population: 2010, U.S. Census
Bureau, March 2012.

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The religious identities of Asian Americans are quite varied. According to the Pew Research
survey, about half of Chinese are unaffiliated, most Filipinos are Catholic, about half of Indians
are Hindu, most Koreans are Protestant and a plurality of Vietnamese are Buddhist. Among
Japanese Americans, no one group is dominant: 38% are Christian, 32% are unaffiliated and
25% are Buddhist. In total, 26% of Asian Americans are unaffiliated, 22% are Protestant (13%
evangelical; 9% mainline), 19% are Catholic, 14% are Buddhist, 10% are Hindu, 4% are Muslim
and 1% are Sikh. Overall, 39% of Asian Americans say religion is very important in their lives,
compared with 58% of the U.S. general public.

There are subgroup differences in social and cultural realms as well. Japanese and Filipino
Americans are the most accepting of interracial and intergroup marriage; Koreans, Vietnamese
and Indians are less comfortable. Koreans are the most likely to say discrimination against
their group is a major problem, and they are the least likely to say that their group gets along
very well with other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. In contrast, Filipinos have the most
upbeat view of intergroup relations in the U.S.

The Japanese are the only group that is majority U.S. born (73% of the total population and
68% of adults); all other subgroups are majority foreign born.

Their pathways into the U.S. are different. About half of all Korean and Indian immigrants who
received green cards in 2011 got them on the basis of employer sponsorship, compared with
about a third of Japanese, a fifth of Chinese, one-in-eight Filipinos and just 1% of Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese are the only major subgroup to have come to the U.S. in large numbers as
political refugees; the others say they have come mostly for economic, educational and family
reasons.

Asian Americans have varying degrees of attachment to relatives in their home countries—
likely reflecting differences in the timing and circumstances of their immigration. For example,
though they are among the least well-off financially, Vietnamese Americans are among the
most likely (58%) to say they have sent money to someone in Vietnam in the past year. About
half of Filipinos (52%) also say they sent remittances home in the past year. By contrast,
Japanese (12%) and Koreans (16%) are much less likely to have done this.

They have different naturalization rates. Fully three-quarters of the foreign-born Vietnamese
are naturalized U.S. citizens, compared with two-thirds of Filipinos, about six-in-ten Chinese
and Koreans, half of Indians and only a third of Japanese.

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35

42

62

84

65

58
38

16

Asian

White

Black

Hispanic

Less than College College +

0
20
40
60

80

1980 1990 2000 2010

%

Recent Asian immigrants

Recent non-Asian immigrants

35

61

20
30

History

Asian immigrants first came to the U.S. in
significant numbers more than a century and a
half ago—mainly as low-skilled male laborers
who mined, farmed and built the railroads.
They endured generations of officially
sanctioned racial prejudice—including
regulations that prohibited the immigration of
Asian women; the Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882, which barred all new immigration from
China; the Immigration Act of 1917 and the
National Origins Act of 1924, which extended
the immigration ban to include virtually all of
Asia; and the forced relocation and internment
of about 120,000 Japanese Americans after the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Large-scale immigration from Asia did not take
off until the passage of the landmark
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Over
the decades, this modern wave of immigrants
from Asia has increasingly become more
skilled and educated. Today, recent arrivals
from Asia are nearly twice as likely as those
who came three decades ago to have a college
degree, and many go into high-paying fields
such as science, engineering, medicine and
finance. This evolution has been spurred by
changes in U.S. immigration policies and labor
markets; by political liberalization and
economic growth in the sending countries; and
by the forces of globalization in an ever-more
digitally interconnected world.

The Immigrant Education Gap
% with at least a bachelor’s degree, ages 25-64,
1980-2010

Note: Except for 1980, “recent immigrants” refers to those
who came to live in the U.S. in the past three years prior to
the survey. In 1980, the reference period was 1975-1980.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of the 1980, 19

90

and 2000 Decennial Censuses and 2010 American
Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample
(IPUMS) files

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Education Characteristics of
Recent Immigrants, by Race and
Ethnicity, 2010
% among adults

Note: Recent immigrants refer to those who came to the
U.S. in the past three years prior to the survey date (since
2007). “College +” includes those who are either currently in
a four-year college or graduate school or have completed
their bachelor’s degree or advanced degrees. Asian includes
mixed-race Asian population, regardless of Hispanic origin.
White and black include only non-Hispanics. Hispanics are of
any race.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 American
Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample
(IPUMS) files
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These trends have raised the education levels of immigrants of all races in recent years, but
Asian immigrants exceed other race and ethnic groups in the share who are either college
students or college graduates.

Native Born and Foreign Born

Throughout the long history
of immigration waves to the
U.S., the typical pattern has
been that over time the
second generation (i.e., the
children of immigrants)
surpasses the immigrant
generation in key measures
of socio-economic well-being
and assimilation, such as
household income,
educational attainment and
English fluency.

It is not yet possible to make
any full intergenerational
accounting of the modern
Asian-American
immigration wave; the
immigrants themselves are
still by far the dominant
group and the second
generation has only recently
begun to come into
adulthood in significant
numbers. (Among all
second-generation Asians,
the median age is just 17; in
other words, about half are still children.)

But on the basis of the evidence so far, this immigrant generation has set a bar of success that
will be a challenge for the next generation to surpass. As of now, there is no difference in the

Characteristics of Native- and Foreign-born
Asian-American Adults, 2010
% (unless otherwise noted)

U.S.
Asians

Native
born

Foreign
born

Share of Asian population 100.0 25.9 74.1
Citizen 69.6 100.0 58.9
Median age (in years) 41 30 44
Married 59.0 34.9 67.4
Fertility (women ages 18-44)

Had a birth in the past 12 months 6.8 4.8 7.7
Of these, % unmarried 14.6 31.1 9.6

Educational attainment (ages 25+)
Less than high school 13.9 4.7 16.3
High school or more 86.1 95.3 83.7

Bachelor’s degree or more 49.0 49.4 48.9
Median annual personal earnings
Full-time, year-round workers $48,000 $50,000 $47,000
Household annual income

Median $66,000 $67,400 $65,200

Average household size (persons) 3.1 2.6 3.2
Homeownership rate 58.1 57.4 58.3
In poverty 11.9 11.1 12.2
Speaks English less than “very well” 36.5 5.3 47.5

Note: Asians include mixed-race Asian population, regardless of Hispanic origin.
Unmarried women include those who are divorced, separated, widowed or never
married. “High school or more” includes those who attained at least a high school
diploma or an equivalent, such as a General Education Development (GED) certificate.
“Speaks English less than ‘very well’” includes those who say they speak English “well”
or “not well” or who don’t speak English at all.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 American Community Survey,
Integrated Public Use Microdata Sample (IPUMS) files

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share of native- and foreign-born Asian Americans ages 25 and older who have a college degree
(49% for each group), and there is only a modest difference in the median annual earnings of
full-time workers in each group ($50,000 for the native born; $47,000 for the foreign born).
The two groups also have similar shares in poverty and homeownership rates.

Not surprisingly, when it comes to language fluency, there are significant differences between
the native- and foreign-born adults. Only about half (53%) of the foreign born say they speak
English very well, compared with 95% of the U.S. born.

Family formation patterns are also quite different. The U.S. born are much less likely than the
foreign born to be married (35% vs. 67%), a difference largely driven by the fact that they are a
much younger group. (Among adults, the median age is 30, versus 44 for the foreign born.)

There are also differences between the native born and foreign born in the share of recent
mothers who are unmarried. About three-in-ten (31%) U.S.-born Asian women who had
children recently are unmarried, compared with just 10% of all recent foreign-born Asian-
American mothers. Among the U.S. population as a whole, about four-in-ten recent American
mothers are unmarried. Even as births to single mothers have become more widespread in
recent decades, Pew Research surveys find that a sizable majority of Americans believe this
growing phenomenon has been bad for society. So in the eyes of the public, this appears to be a
case of “downward assimilation” by second generation and later generations of Asian
Americans to an increasingly prevalent—but still frowned upon—U.S. pattern of behavior.8

On a more positive note, U.S.-born Asians are more upbeat than the foreign born about their
relations with other racial and ethnic groups, and they are more receptive to the growing
practice of racial and ethnic intermarriage.

8 See Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends project. 2010. “The Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families.”
Washington, D.C.: November.

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19

14
61
62
61
12
12
15

Helps Makes no difference Hurts
Admission into

schools and
colleges

Finding a job

Getting a
promotion

Perceptions of Discrimination

For the most part, today’s Asian Americans do
not feel the sting of racial discrimination or the
burden of culturally imposed “otherness” that
was so much a part of the experience of their
predecessors who came in the 19th and early
20th centuries.

About one-in-five Asian Americans say they
have personally been treated unfairly in the
past year because they are Asian, and one-in-
ten say they have been called an offensive
name. Older adults are less likely than young
and middle-aged adults to report negative
personal experience with bias.

Compared with the nation’s two largest minority groups—Hispanics and blacks—Asian
Americans appear to be less inclined to view discrimination against their group as a major
problem.9

Just 13% of Asian Americans say it is, while about half (48%) say it is a minor
problem, and a third (35%) say it is not a problem.

About six-in-ten say that being Asian American makes no difference when it comes to getting a
job or gaining admission to college. Of those who do say it makes a difference, a slightly higher
share say that members of their group are helped rather than hurt by their race. Those with
less education are more prone than those with more education to say that being an Asian
American is an advantage.

9 For more details on how Asian Americans’ perceptions of discrimination compare with those of other minority groups, see
Chapter 3.

Does Being Asian American Help
or Hurt with College, Career?
% saying being of their U.S. Asian group helps,
makes no difference or hurts when it comes to …

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q46a-c. Responses of “Don’t
know/Refused” not shown.

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26

24

16
15
61

59

56

48

9
11
19
28

Very well Pretty well Not too/Not at all well

With whites

With other U.S.
Asian groups

With Hispanics

With blacks

29

55
48
32
26
18
12
6
9
5
8
9
9
2
U.S. Asians
Japanese
Filipino
Korean
Chinese
Vietnamese
Indian

Net

35

64

54

39
35

27

14

Other
Asian

Non-
Asian

U.S. Asian groups

Group Relations

Overall, more than eight-in-ten Asian
Americans say their group gets along either
very or pretty well with whites; roughly seven-
in-ten say the same about relations with
Hispanics and just over six-in-ten say that
about their relations with blacks. Korean
Americans stand out for their negative views
on their group’s relations with blacks. Fully
half say these two groups don’t get along well;
while 39% say they get along pretty well and
just 4% say they get along very well. In several
cities across the country, there has been a
history of tension between Koreans and blacks,
often arising from friction between Korean
shopkeepers and black customers in
predominantly black neighborhoods.

About four-in-ten Asian Americans say their
circle of friends is dominated by Asians from
the same country of origin, while 58% say it is
not. Among U.S.-born Asians, however, just
17% say that all of most of their friends are
from their same country of origin group.

Asian-American newlyweds are more likely
than any other major racial or ethnic group to
be intermarried. From 2008 to 2010, 29% of
all Asian newlyweds married someone of a
different race, compared with 26% of
Hispanics, 17% of blacks and 9% of whites.
There are notable gender differences. Asian
women are twice as likely as Asian men to
marry out. Among blacks, the gender pattern
runs the other way—men are more than twice
as likely as women to marry out. Among whites

Getting Along across Group
Boundaries
% saying their U.S. Asian group and each of the
following get along …

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q49a-d. Responses of “Don’t
know/Refused” not shown.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Intermarriage Rates for Asians
% of Asian newlyweds (2008-2010) married to …

Notes: “Newlyweds“ refers to people ages 15 and older who
got married in the year prior to the survey, and their marital
status was “married, spouse present.” U.S. Asians and each
U.S. Asian group include non-Hispanic single-race Asians
who are from only one group; “Non Asian” includes
Hispanics and single- or multiple-race non-Hispanics except
single-race Asians; “Other Asian” includes non-Hispanics
from other single-Asian or multiple-Asian groups. “Net” was
computed prior to rounding.

Source: Pew Research Center analysis of 2008-2010
American Community Survey, Integrated Public Use
Microdata Sample (IPUMS) files

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

14
The Rise of Asian Americans

www.pewresearch.org
11
90

41

43

Asians in majority-
Asian tracts

Whites in majority-

white tracts

Blacks in majority-

black tracts

Hispanics in majority-

Hispanic tracts

and Hispanics, there are no differences by
gender.

Among Asian-American newlyweds, Japanese
have the highest rate of intermarriage and
Indians have the lowest. More than half of
recent Japanese newlyweds married a non-
Asian; among recent Indian newlyweds, just
one-in-eight did.

Asian Americans were once highly
concentrated into residential enclaves,
exemplified by the establishment of
“Chinatowns” and other Asian communities in
cities across the country. Today, however,
Asian Americans are much more likely than
any other racial group to live in a racially
mixed neighborhood. Just 11% currently live in
a census tract in which Asian Americans are a
majority.10

The comparable figures are 41% for
blacks, 43% for Hispanics and 90% for whites.
(This comparison should be treated with caution: Each of the other groups is more numerous
than Asians, thereby creating larger potential pools for racial enclaves.)

10 A census tract is a small, relatively permanent subdivision of a county that often follows generally accepted neighborhood
boundaries and has an average of 4,200 residents. The Census Bureau delineated about 73,000 tracts for the 2010 Census.

Residential Segregation, 2010
% from each group living in census tracts where the
majority of residents are from their racial/ethnic
group

Note: Based on total population, including adults and
children. Asians, whites and blacks are single-race, non-
Hispanic. Hispanics are of any race. See footnote on this
page for definition of census tract.

Source: Pew Research Center tabulations of 2010 Decennial
Census SF1 data

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

15
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

www.pewresearch.org
62
69
43
19
18

22

14
9
28
U.S. Asians

Foreign born

Native born

Country of origin/COO American
Asian/Asian American
American

Among U.S. Asians who are …

Identity

Despite high levels of residential integration and out-marriage, many Asian Americans
continue to feel a degree of cultural separation from other Americans. Not surprisingly, these
feelings are highly correlated with nativity and duration of time in the U.S.

Among U.S.-born Asian Americans, about two-thirds (65%) say they feel like “a typical
American.” Among immigrants, just 30% say the same, and this figure falls to 22% among
immigrants who have arrived since 2000.

The Asian-American label itself doesn’t hold
much sway with Asian Americans. Only about
one-in-five (19%) say they most often describe
themselves as Asian American or Asian. A
majority (62%) say they most often describe
themselves by their country of origin (e.g.,
Chinese or Chinese American; Vietnamese or
Vietnamese American, and so on), while just
14% say they most often simply call themselves
American. Among U.S.-born Asians, the share
who most often call themselves American rises
to 28%.

In these identity preferences, Asian Americans
are similar to Hispanics, the other group that
has been driving the modern immigration
wave. Hispanics are more likely to identify
themselves using their country of origin than
to identify as a Hispanic or as an American.11

11 Taylor, Paul, et al. 2012. “When Labels Don’t Fit: Hispanics and Their Views of Identity.” Washington, D.C.: Pew Hispanic
Center, April. The question wording differed slightly from the Asian-American survey; see Chapter 2 for a fuller explanation.

“Asian-American” Label Doesn’t
Stick
% saying they most often describe themselves as …

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q42. Only respondents who
identified a country of origin (COO) were asked this
question; percentages shown here are based on total
sample. Responses of “Depends” and “Don’t know/Refused”
not shown.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

16
The Rise of Asian Americans

www.pewresearch.org
5
22
43

17

U.S. Asians

U.S. Hispanics

Less More Equally

45

55

Perceptions of Success

About four-in-ten Asian Americans (43%) say
Asian Americans are more successful than
other racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. A
similar share of Asian Americans (45%) say
they are about as successful, and just 5% say
they are less successful.

Native-born and foreign-born Asian Americans
have similar views about their groups’ success
relative to other minorities. Recent
immigrants, however, tend to be somewhat
less upbeat in these assessments than are
immigrants who came before 2000: 36% of the
former versus 48% of the latter say their group
has been more successful than other minority
groups in the U.S.

Members of the nation’s other large immigrant group—Hispanics—are less than half as likely
as Asian Americans to say their group is more successful than other racial and ethnic
minorities, and they are four times as likely to say they are less successful.12

On a personal level, Asian Americans are more satisfied than the general public with their
financial situations and their standard of living. When measured against how well their
parents were doing at the same stage of life, about half (49%) say they are doing much better,
and a quarter say they are doing somewhat better. By contrast, only about a third of all
Americans say they are doing much better than their parents at a similar stage of life.

There are only minor differences between Asian Americans and the general public in their
expectations about the upward mobility of their children. Some 31% of Asian Americans
believe that when their children are the age they are now, their children will have a much
better standard of living, 22% say somewhat better, 19% say about the same, and 19% say
somewhat or much worse.

12 Ibid.

Asian Americans and Hispanics:
How Well Are We Doing Compared
with Other Minorities?
% of group saying, compared with other racial and
ethnic minority groups in the U.S., Asian Americans/
Hispanic Americans have been … successful

2012 Asian-American Survey. Q47. Responses of “Depends”
and “Don’t know/Refused” not shown. U.S. Hispanic results
from November 2011 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

17
PEW RESEARCH CENTER

www.pewresearch.org
28
39
18
29
26
32
40
35
50
49
65
54
49
48
43

36

U.S. Asians
General public
Indian
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
Filipino
Vietnamese

Republican/Lean Rep Democrat/Lean Dem

U.S. Asian groups

On this measure, there are sizable differences among U.S. Asian subgroups. Nearly half of
Vietnamese Americans (48%) say they expect their children eventually to have a much better
standard of living than they themselves have now. About a third of Koreans and Indians feel
this way, as do one-in-four Chinese and Filipinos, and just one-in-five Japanese. Overall, the
foreign born are more optimistic than the native born about their children’s future standard of
living relative to their own at the present.

Political and Social Attitudes

Compared with the general public, Asian Americans are more likely to support an activist
government and less likely to identify as Republicans. Half are Democrats or lean Democratic,
while only 28% identify with or lean toward the GOP. Among all American adults, 49% fall in
the Democratic camp and 39% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. Indian
Americans are the most heavily Democratic Asian subgroup (65%), while Filipino Americans
and Vietnamese Americans are the most evenly
split between the two parties.

President Obama gets higher ratings from
Asian Americans than from the general public
—54% approve of the way he is handling his
job as president, compared with 44% of the
general public. In 2008, Asian-American
voters supported Obama over Republican John
McCain by 62% to 35%, according to Election
Day exit polls.13

On balance, Asian Americans prefer a big
government that provides more services (55%)
over a smaller government than provides fewer
services (36%). In contrast, the general public
prefers a smaller government over a bigger
government, by 52% to 39%.

While they differ on the role of government,
Asian Americans are close to the public in their
opinions about two key social issues. By a ratio

13 2008 national exit polls conducted by Edison Media Research for the National Election Pool.

Asian Americans Lean Democratic
% saying their party identification is …

2012 Asian-American Survey. PARTY, PARTYLN. Those who
refused to lean are not shown. General public results from
February 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center for the
People & the Press

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

18
The Rise of Asian Americans

www.pewresearch.org

of 53% to 35%, Asian Americans say homosexuality should be accepted by society rather than
discouraged. And on the issue of abortion, 54% of Asian Americans say it should be legal in all
or most cases, while 37% say it should be illegal.

Sampler of Key Demographic and Survey Findings
% of adults (unless otherwise noted)

Median

household
income

College
degree or
higher*

Foreign
born

Recent
inter-

marriage
rate

Majority or
plurality
religion

Satisfied
with life

Satisfied
with

direction of
country

Personal
finances

(Excellent/
Good)

Belief in
hard

work**
U.S. Asians $66,000 49 74 29 Christian 82 43 51 69

General public $49,800 28 16 15 Christian 75 21 35 58

U.S. Asian
groups
Chinese $65,050 51 76 26 Unaffiliated 84 41 55 61

Filipino $75,000 47 69 48 Catholic 82 30 50 72

Indian $88,000 70 87 12 Hindu 84 47 67 75

Vietnamese $53,400 26 84 18 Buddhist 82 56 29 83

Korean $50,000 53 78 32 Protestant 83 48 45 64

Japanese $65,390 46 32 55
No

plurality 81 36 57 59

* ages 25 and older
** share that agrees that “most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard”

Source: The four items to the left are from Pew Research Center analysis of 2010 American Community Survey, Integrated Public Use Microdata
Sample (IPUMS) files. The five items to the right are from the Pew Research Center 2012 Asian-American Survey.

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

Letter to Pew Research Center

LETTER TO PEW RESEARCH CENTER:
June 22, 2012
Dear Paul Taylor and Dr. Mark Lopez,

We are writing on behalf of the Asian American Pacific Islander Policy and Research Consortium (AAPIPRC), a national organization of four university-based Asian American research centers. [i] We respectfully submit this response to the Pew Research Center’s recent report, The Rise of Asian Americans. Pew has assembled U.S. Census Bureau and government economic data, developing a detailed survey questionnaire, and conducting extensive telephone interviews with a national sample of 3,511 Asians. We acknowledge this is a major investment of Pew Research Center’s time and resources, and as a result has added to the publicly accessible information on the economic, social, and political situation of Asian Americans.

While there are merits to the Pew report, the selection of what information to present and highlight is highly biased, and the framing and interpretation of the analysis are incomplete and implicitly misleading and damaging for Asian American communities. We believe it is important to acknowledge the many accomplishments made by Asian Americans, but not at the expense of a fuller understanding of the diverse, complex and nuanced reality. The publication presents overly generalized descriptive and aggregate statistics, fails to critically explain the causes and limitations of observed outcomes, and falls short of examining tremendous and critical differences among Asian ethnic groups. We echo the comments by many Asian American scholars, advocates and lawmakers who point out how the study could lead policymakers, the media and the public to draw conclusions that reflect inaccurate stereotypes about Asian Americans being only a community with high levels of achievement and few challenges. There are many educational, economic, and health disparities, among others, facing our diverse communities. The selection of included populations leaves out some of the most distressed groups; consequently, the studied subjects are not representative.
As academic researchers, we understand the power and importance of quantitative analysis, but numbers are not just numbers, and they do not speak for themselves. They support a narrative through subjective decisions on topics, research design and methods, large frameworks to interpret results, and prioritizing which findings to highlight. We do not necessarily dispute the validity of many of Pew’s numbers, but we are deeply troubled by the emphasis that leaves the reader with a one-sided picture. A primary example revolves around the claim that “Asian Americans are the highest-income,” an assertion that is the lead line in the press release and rests on median household income. Pew is accurate in reporting the most recently available numbers from the American Community Survey ($66,000 for Asian Americans and $54,000 for non-Hispanic whites), but fails to fully adjust for two critical factors: one, Asian Americans tend to have larger households, and two, they are heavily concentrated in high-cost metropolitan areas.

Because of a larger household size, income does not go as far in covering expenses. Analytically, per capita income is a more realistic measure. Nationally, Asian Americans on the average have 93 cents to every dollar for non-Hispanic whites. High-cost metropolitan area puts a strain on available income, and the economy partially adjusts for this through offsetting higher wages (compensating differential). Analytically, it is more accurate to compare statistics at the metropolitan level. Over half of Asian Americans (54%) live in the ten metropolitan areas with the highest number of Asian Americans. In these areas, Asian Americans have 71 cents to every dollar for non-Hispanic whites. Clearly, the statistics on median household income and on adjusted per capita income portray Asian Americans very differently. Accounting for household size and location is very well known within the extensive literature on Asian Americans. While we realize that Pew acknowledges the potential role of household size and location, it nonetheless decided to spotlight unadjusted median household income. We believe that there are also other analytical flaws with the report because of Pew’s “spin”.
“Spinning” and selectively framing have serious implications. Pew examines race relations, and not surprisingly, the findings indicate inter-group tension. Unfortunately, the report does not adequately explain the factors and context that create the friction nor formulate effective solutions. Instead, it implicitly highlights the negatives. In examining perceived discrimination, the report does not integrate the research showing that Asian Americans are less likely to interpret, report and verbalize such acts, which can result in under-reporting. While the report sheds light on significant U.S. immigration trends and policies as they relate to Asians, it does so in a way that can adversely affect Asian-Latino relations. By highlighting the success of high achieving Asian immigrants, it shifts the immigration policy debates away from the concerns and contributions of Latino immigrants, especially the large numbers who are undocumented. This “model minority” framing can have a damaging impact on intergroup collaborations.

Again, we want to be balanced in our critique. We assume that Pew has made a useful contribution that brings much needed attention to the accomplishments of Asian Americans. At the same time, this has been counter balanced by the negatives. Our goal is to inform the public, decision makers and the media with accurate and well-rounded research that incorporates quantitative and qualitative methods, along with historical and humanistic accounts that give depth to the Asian American experience.
It is important, therefore, for Pew and other organizations to include researchers and analysts with greater knowledge of Asian American experiences. As you know, we are in the process of establishing an independent policy voice that more adequately represents Asian Americans. The Consortium is an initial effort to promote solid applied research. In this larger effort, we look forward to support and collaboration with Pew, along with other mainstream institutions.
We look forward to your response. Please send any correspondence to Professor Paul Ong (pmong@ucla.edu), who has agreed to coordinate AAPIPRC’s activities on this issue.
Sincerely yours,

Professor Joyce Moy, Executive Director
Asian American / Asian Research Institute at the City University of New York
Professor Lois Takahashi, Director
University of California Asian American Pacific Islander Policy Multi-campus Research Program
Professor Paul Watanabe, Director
Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston
Professor David K. Yoo, Director
UCLA Asian American Studies Center
[i] This statement was prepared by Paul Ong, Melany De La Cruz, Chhandara Pech, Jonathan Ong and Don Nakanishi.