The Tokens, The Invisible and The Stereotyped: AAPIs on TV!

Comprehensive new report details the state of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on television.



If you've watched any amount of television, I don't think you really needed a study to figure this one out, but it certainly helps to back it up with the numbers. A new study, Tokens on the Small Screen, reports on the ongoing representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on prime time television and streaming television. The report concludes that while AAPI actors have increasing opportunities today, AAPIs are still underrepresented on television and their characters remain marginalized and tokenized on screen.

"With successful shows like Master of None and Fresh Off The Boat on the air, it may seem like Asian Americans are making greater strides on television," says report co-author Christina B. Chin, Assistant Professor at CSU Fullerton. "Yet, when we take a deeper look at the larger TV landscape, we start to see that these shows are the exception rather than the rule; Asian American and Pacific Islander actors and their stories are still tokenized or missing."

Following up and expanding on their 2005 and 2006 studies of AAPIs in prime time television, scholars from six California universities painstakingly evaluated broadcast, cable and streaming televising scripted shows airing between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016. (That is a lot of television.) In the most comprehensive report on this topic to date, the authors detail how AAPI series regulars fare in numbers settings, screen time, relationships, stereotypes and storylines.

Here are some key findings of the report:

Surprise! Hollywood is a Straight White Boys Club.

New report on diversity in the entertainment industry tells us all the things we already knew.



Surprise: Hollywood is a "straight white boys club," according to a new study of the entertainment industry. File this one under shit we've known forever, but it's certainly always nice to have the numbers to back it up.

From C-Suite to Characters on Screen: How inclusive is the entertainment industry?

A new report from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism takes an exhaustive look at the state of diversity in Hollywood, and determines that films and television produced by major media companies are "whitewashed" and that there is an "epidemic of invisibility" in the industry when nit comes to women, minorities and LGBT people. Again: shit we already knew, but thank you for confirming.

The study, entitled The Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity, includes an "inclusivity index" based on 414 stories produced by ten companies through movies, television and digital platforms. It involved more than 11,000 speaking characters as well as 10,000 behind-the-scenes creators and 1,500 executives.

The report paints a portrait of pervasive underrepresentation.

New report examines Asian American & NHPIs in the West

Asian American Advancing Justice releases final report in 'Community of Contrasts' demographic series.



This week, Asian American Advancing Justice released the final report in its A Community of Contrasts demographic report series, examining the growing Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations in the Western U.S., including Arizona, Hawaii, Las Vegas, the Seattle metro area and Oregon.

These demographic reports showcase the contributions and needs of Asian Americans nationwide. The report's disaggregated data illuminates income and educational disparities across Asian ethnicities, highlights Asian American business and economic contributions and underscores the future political power of our rapidly growing demographic. Props to Asian Americans Advancing Justice for always slinging that demographic data.

Here are some highlights from the West report:

Asian American electorate to double in the next 25 years

New report projects 12.2 million Asian American registered voters by 2040.



A new study, The Future of Asian America in 2040, released today by the UCLA Study for the Center for Inequality and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), projects that the number of Asian American registered voters will double over the next quarter century.

The study, the first of a series of reports on the future of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, focuses on the growing Asian American electorate, and shows that while the Asian American population will grow by 74% between 2015 and 2040, the Asian American electorate will more than double, and grow by 107%.

'Under Suspicion, Under Attack': New SAALT report documents hate violence and xenophobic rhetoric

Hate violence 'hot spots' include New York City, New Jersey, Chicago, Southern and Northern California



This week, as the nation observes the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together), released Under Suspicion, Under Attack, a report that documents over 150 incidents of hate violence and xenophobic political rhetoric aimed at South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Middle Eastern and Arab communities over the last three years.

SAALT's analysis, spanning incidents from January 2011 through April 2014, found that these communities are increasingly depicted as un-American, unwelcome and disloyal -- and community members and institutions are too often targeted with violence, vandalism and harassment. Many continue to face a post-9/11 backlash, including racial and religious profiling, unwarranted surveillance, and the threat of violence and intimidation.

According to the report, over 80% of documented hate violence incidents were motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment. Similarly, an overwhelming majority -- over 90% -- of xenophobic political comments were characterized by anti-Muslim bias. Hate violence 'hot spots' included the New York City/New Jersey metropolitan area; Chicago and its outlying suburbs; and Southern and Northern California.

Here are some of the report's key findings:

Sorry we ignored you while you almost died in that DEA cell

Justice Department report says several employees saw or heard Daniel Chong during his ordeal



Remember that guy who was locked up and abandoned in a Drug Enforcement Administration holding cell for five days? According to a Department of Justice investigation, several DEA employees saw or heard Daniel Chong in his cell, but did nothing because they assumed someone else was responsible for him.

Four DEA Agents Saw Or Heard Daniel Chong, Student Abandoned For Days In Cell

Chong, then 23, was taken into custody during a DEA raid in April 2012, placed in a cell, then promptly forgotten. He was handcuffed behind his back, locked up for five days without food or water (or access to a toilet), and later found delirious, dehydrated and suicidal. He was never charged with a crime.

Chong later won $4.1 million in a legal claim against DEA. The report from the Department of Justice, released this week, says that four employees encountered Chong -- probably in various stages of desperation and shitting himself -- and basically said, "not my problem."

More than half of Sikh school children are bullied

"Go Home, Terrorist": A Report on the Bullying of Sikh American School Children



Last week, the Sikh Coalition released a groundbreaking national report on the endemic bullying of Sikh school children in America. The report was released at a briefing in the U.S. Capitol Building organized by the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, the American Sikh Congressional Caucus, and the Sikh Coalition.

"Go Home, Terrorist": A Report on the Bullying of Sikh American School Children

The report found that the majority of Sikh children, just over 50%, endure school bullying. Even worse, over two-thirds of Sikh children report that they are bullied in school. The report is based on surveys and focus groups of over 700 Sikh school children and interviews of over 50 Sikh students in four metropolitan areas: Seattle, Indianapolis, Boston, and Fresno during 2012 and 2013.

The report cites the need for federal data on the bullying of Sikh school children to better target efforts to solve the issue. In addition, the absence of or negative representation of Sikhs in school textbooks nationwide is cited by the report as an opportunity to better combat or mitigate school bullying.

Here's video from the briefing, which included remarks from Rep. Mike Honda:

Are Chinatowns disappearing?

Join AALDEF for a briefing on gentrification in Philadelphia, Boston and New York Chinatowns.



For more than a century, Chinatowns have been home to immigrant families, and an essential part of our Asian American heritage and history. But Chinatowns on the East Coast are on the verge of disappearing.

In the first-ever study of its kind, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund embarked on a three-city land-use study of Chinatowns in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, and found that in each city, city governments accelerated gentrification in these neighborhoods. Government policies were directly tied to the fact that White populations are growing faster in Chinatowns than they are overall in all three cities.

On Wednesday, October 9, join AALDEF for a webinar presenting its findings with the report authors, community organizers, and affected citizens. Here are some more details:

New report reveals half of Asian American students in New York City schools have been bullied

AALDEF and Sikh Coalition release "snapshot" study of Asian American public school students.

A new report on bullying of Asian American students in New York City reveals that half of all students surveyed have been the target of bias-based bullying and harassment: New Report: Back to School Includes Bias-Based Harassment of Asian and Sikh Students in NYC.

The report, "One Step Forward, Half a Step Back," released by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and The Sikh Coalition -- their third bullying study in five years -- reveals that the city's 2008 bias-based harassment measure, Chancellor's Regulation A-832, has done little to substantially diminish harassment faced by Asian American students in city public schools.

Of the 163 Asian American middle school and high school students surveyed, 50% reported incidents of harassment. Since the last survey of Asian American students in 2009, bullying incidents have increased over 20%. The study also found significant, unsatisfactory shortfalls in school measures in the prevention and follow-up to bullying incidents.

Language assistance is a key issue for Asian American voters

It's no secret that low voter turnout is a problem for our community. We suck at getting out to the polls. It doesn't help that many Asian Americans have to deal with hurdles like language assistance at the polls: New Report on 2012 Election Finds Language Assistance a Key Issue for Asian American Voters.

Last week, Asian American Advancing Justice released a report examining whether counties complied with their obligations to provide language assistance to Asian American voters during the 2012 presidential election. In short, access to translated materials and bilingual poll workers are still significant issues.

The report is based on advocacy with election officials and poll monitoring to ensure compliance with language assistance laws at nearly 900 election precincts across 14 jurisdictions in seven states, including California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington state.

New report highlights dramatic rise in AAPI poverty

Asian American and Pacific Islander poverty is on the rise. And it can't be ignored. According to a new study by the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, the AAPI poor population grew faster than most other ethnic groups from 2007 to 2011, increasing by 38% to over 2 million.

The demographic study, "Spotlight: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poverty," brings attention to communities in need, busts harmful model minority stereotypes and broadens the conversation about what it means to be AAPI in America. Here are some key highlights from the study:

New Report: Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact on American Muslims

This week, American Muslim civil liberties groups released a new report documenting the devastating impact of the New York Police Department's extensive surveillance programs targeting American Muslims throughout the Northeast -- surveillance efforts that ultimately failed to generate a single lead over the course of six years: New Report: "Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and its Impact on American Muslims."

Mapping Muslims: NYPD Spying and Its Impact on American Muslims is a collection of voices from affected community members reflecting how the NYPD's spying and infiltration creates a pervasive climate of fear and suspicion that encroaches upon every aspect of their religious, political, and community lives.

From AALDEF's press release:

Asian American teens bullied more than any other group

This probably won't come as a surprise, but it still sucks to hear... It's official: Asian Americans endure far more bullying at U.S. schools than members of any other ethnic group. When it comes to Asian Americans targeted for racial abuse and harassment, compared to other teens, the numbers aren't even close: Asian Americans most bullied in US schools: study.

According to new survey data release over the weekend for the Bullying Prevention Summit, 54 percent of Asian American teenagers said they were bullied in the classroom -- a figure waaaaay above the percentages of other groups. And Asian Americans teens are apparently three times as likely to face bullying on the internet: