Ethnicity data is critical to address the diverse needs of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

By Karthick Ramakrishnan and Janelle Wong. Cross-Posted from AAPI Data.



Karthick Ramakrishnan, director, and Janelle Wong, senior researcher, wrote this letter with respect to H3361, a bill in Massachusetts that seeks to improve state data collection on Asian Americans

We write as the Executive Director and Senior Researcher, respectively, at AAPI Data—the leading repository for data on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. We are also professors with over four decades of collective experience with original survey data collections on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations and analyses of demographic and administrative data collected at the national and state levels.

Our research findings, as well as those in dozens of other studies, have shown that there are critical differences in life chances among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders that track by detailed origin. Thus, for example, Southeast Asian refugee populations have a distinct set of mental health needs that derive from wartime experiences of individuals and family members. Also, population health risks such as chronic Hepatitis B, childhood obesity, and cardiovascular disease vary significantly by detailed Asian origin. Importantly, language needs also vary dramatically by Asian detailed origin, with some groups such as Indian Americans and Filipino Americans having relatively high levels of English proficiency, and other groups such as Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean Americans have the relatively low levels of English proficiency.

Meet Mark Wahlberg's hate crime victim, 26 years later

Hoa Trinh says he forgives Mark Wahlberg for the 1988 assault.



Many folks have expressed outrage and plentiful "oh hell nos" over Mark Wahlberg's attempts to officially erase the hate crimes of his youth, including that one time he was arrested and convicted of viciously beating two Asian men while calling them racial slurs. The actor/producer recently applied to the Massachusetts Board of Pardons to have the 1988 assault conviction removed from his record.

EXCLUSIVE: Wahlberg gets his pardon from the only person who matters - the VICTIM: Man he beat and racially abused says he forgives star and reveals he had no idea who his attacker was until now

Twenty-six years later, one of the men Wahlberg assaulted says he forgives Wahlberg for the attack, and supports his efforts to get a pardon. He also says he had no idea that his assailant had grown up to become a world-famous movie star. (I'm guessing he is also unaware of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.)

Mark Wahlberg wants you to officially forget his hate crime

Marky Mark has applied to have his 1988 assault conviction removed from his record.



Here's a fun fact about mega movie star Mark Wahlberg: he was once arrested and convicted for beating the shit out of an Asian man, while calling him racial slurs, in a vicious attack that left the victim blind in one eye. Now, the actor/producer is requesting to have the assault conviction officially removed from his record.

Mark Wahlberg applies to have 1988 assault erased

Back in 1988, long before he was an Oscar-nominated actor, or battling Transformers, or even the rapper known as Marky Mark (YouTube it, kids), Wahlberg was a 16-year-old asshole who tried to steal two cases of beer from a Vietnamese American man, Thanh Lam, outside a convenience store in Dorchester. Wahlberg called Lam racial slurs and hit him over the head with a 5-foot wooden stick, knocking him unconscious.

Later than night, Wahlberg approached another Asian man on the street, Hoa Trinh, and punched him in the eye. He called him, among other things, "gook" and "slant eye." Trinh lost sight in his right eye.

Rady Mom wins state representative seat in Massachusetts

Historic win makes him the first Cambodian American state legislator in the nation.



Some historic election news out of Massachusetts... On Tuesday in Lowell, Rady Mom was elected the city's newest state representative, and became the first Cambodian American state legislator in the nation.

Rady Mom makes history, becoming first Cambodian legislator by taking Lowell rep race

Mom, a 45-year-old accupressure therapist who moved to the United States from Cambodia at age 12, defeated Fred Bahou to claim the 18th Middlesex House District, winning more than 61 percent of the vote.

Mom received strong backing from Lowell's Cambodian American voters, and inspired community members to become more active in local politics:

Sign up to help defend voting rights for Asian Americans

Volunteer as a poll monitor on Election Day

Do you want to help defend voting rights for Asian Americans?

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund is looking for volunteers to help monitor upcoming midterm elections for bilingual ballots under the federal Voting Rights Act and to document instances of anti-Asian voter disenfranchisement.

Volunteers Needed On Election Day, Nov. 4, 2014

They're looking for volunteers in to work 3-hour shifts on Election Day at polls in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC. There will be a 90-minute training session for all volunteers.

Here's schedule of AALDEF's poll monitoring trainings: