Claire Jean Kim | Essay on Asian Americans and Affirmative Action In her essay “Better Asians than Blacks,” published in the American Scholar on July 20, 2023, author Claire Jean Kim examines the lead up to the SCOTUS decision on conscious admissions with the lens of historic and present racial dynamics in the United States. This essay provides a useful entry point in discussing the weaponization of Asian Americans against the Black struggle and in previous legal cases/rulings.
A4 and MoCADA | Bandung Residency Program During the COVID-19 pandemic, a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes and renewed attention on the state-sanctioned violence against the Black community gave a renewed urgency to the legacy of Black and Asian American solidarity. Asian American Arts Alliance (A4) and The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) launched the Bandung Residency Program, the first NYC-based residency intended to foster understanding and allyship between the Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) and Black communities. This four-month long residency is an opportunity to cultivate a dynamic safe space for changemakers interested in engaging in social justice discourse, restorative healing, location-based cultural activities, and expanding the narrative between communities. Click here to see projects from their inaugural cohort.
AAAJ-Atlanta | Report on Linguistic Diversity in GA More than 1.4 million (14.3%) Georgia residents speak a language other than English at home. This report published by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta seeks to highlight the state’s linguistic diversity for community organizations, advocates, legislators, county and state administrators, and the media. This data can be used to identify policy priorities around language access and equity, advocacy efforts, and community needs for translation and interpretation. Additionally, this is published with the hope that this report serve as a roadmap for those seeking to address linguistic barriers faced by those with a non-English language preference so that every Georgian can access healthcare, educational opportunities and the democratic process regardless of which language they speak and read. AAAJ-Atlanta_LinguisticDiversityReport_March2023
Catalist | Analysis of AAPI Voters in the 2022 Midterms On May 18, 2023, Catalist published a comprehensive voter file analysis of the 2022 midterm with demographic breakdowns and a comparison of heavily contested and less contested elections. This was the first in a series of reports on What Happened in the 2022 general election from the perspective of the Catalist voter database, the longest-running outside the two major political parties. Building on its national What Happened analysis, Catalist produced 2022 Constituency Reports on October 19, 2023, to offer deep dives on specific constituency groups, including Black, Latino, AAPI, youth and women voters. As with Catalist’s 2022 What Happened report, these reports focus on the national House vote, different voting patterns in states with highly contested versus less contested statewide elections, and state-level performance. The reports also explore registration, primary voting, and ongoing shifts in which methods people use to vote. On AAPI voters, Catalist found: “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) are a rapidly growing and diversifying group in the United States and their voter engagement and participation have kept pace with this extraordinary growth. AAPI communities comprise a rapidly expanding share of registrants and voters and continue to support Democratic candidates at high rates. In a warning sign, however, Democratic support among AAPI voters declined between the 2020 Presidential election and the 2022 midterms nationally and in states with highly contested Senate and Gubernatorial races. Although our estimates suggest the decline was considerably smaller in highly contested states than nationally, there is greater uncertainty around shifts in highly contested 2022 states because of the relatively small share of the electorate in these states comprised of AAPI voters. AAPI registered voters have grown sharply as a share of all registered voters from 2014 to 2022, mirroring their population growth. These changes also reflect relatively high registration and turnout rates in recent elections, with AAPI turnout in 2022 notably remaining stable even when compared to the high-salience midterm of 2018. Their vote share nationally was 4 percent in both of the last two midterms. In states with highly contested 2022 Senate and Gubernatorial contests, where there is a relatively lower concentration of AAPI residents, their vote share also remained stable over this period, at 2 percent. AAPI voters continued to support Democrats at high rates. Both nationally and in highly contested states, about 6 in 10 AAPI voters are estimated to have voted Democratic. Despite being a relatively smaller share of Democrats’ multi-racial coalition than Black, Latino or white voters, in multiple close battleground races, the number of AAPI Democratic voters exceeded the win margins, underscoring the pivotal nature of this constituency. Nationally, however, Democratic support among AAPI voters declined by 7 percentage points between the 2020 Presidential election and 2022 House contests. Support declines in highly contested states were considerably smaller at an estimated 2 points. Our estimates also suggest that decreases in Democratic support were smaller among young AAPI voters and among AAPI voters in states with highly contested Senate and Gubernatorial elections. Finally, the composition of the AAPI electorate shifted along some demographic dimensions and remained stable along others across the last three midterm elections. Relative to 2014 and 2018, the 2022 AAPI electorate included slightly higher shares of Gen Z and Millennial voters, non-married voters, and suburban voters. Over this same period the composition of the AAPI electorate remained stable by gender and educational attainment. This report examines in close detail levels and trends across recent election cycles in registration, vote share, support, and vote method among AAPI voters, breaking out these topics by state and sub-constituency as relevant to illuminate key findings.” Click this link read the details and access graphics and charts from Catalist’s 2022 Constituency Report on AAPI Voters.
STOP AAPI HATE | Report on Civil Rights Protections Against Racism To better understand AAPI experiences with discrimination and civil rights violations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stop AAPI Hate commissioned NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct a nationally representative survey of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This landmark survey adds to community-generated data at Stop AAPI Hate and existing research to provide a more complete picture of the discrimination that impacts Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the changes needed to uphold the civil rights that protect us all. The report, Righting Wrongs: How Civil Rights Can Protect Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Against Racism, examines the survey findings, highlights current federal laws that protect our rights, and recommends new laws to strengthen these protections. 23-SAH-CivilRightsReport
USC CID | Report on CA Automated Voter Registration In spring 2018, the California New Motor Voter (CNMV) program, California’s automatic voter registration, was implemented across the state. Under CNMV, applicants at the DMV must answer voter registration questions in order to complete their transaction. Voter registration proceeds automatically for all eligible applicants unless they choose to decline registration at the point of service. CNMV and online voter registration together account for the vast majority of registrations in recent years. In contrast to CNMV, which presses a registration decision only on DMV customers, online registration is available to all eligible-to-vote Californians but leaves it up to the user to take initiative. CNMV’s active approach is likely to reach more users at the periphery of the political system. To better understand the effects of CNMV, the Center for Inclusive Democracy conducted a statewide analysis of registration and voting behavior in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 general elections. We compared new registrations and reregistrations by registration method, age, and race/ethnicity to examine how CNMV has changed the voter registration landscape and whether it shows evidence of increasing voter participation, particularly among underrepresented groups. Watch the webinar on their report at this link. CIDCNMVResearchReportFINALDownload
FWD.us Education Fund | Interactive Report This report is the result of months of qualitative and quantitative research on the effect of five years of reforms, the ongoing drivers of Oklahoma’s stubbornly high incarceration rates, and the personal stories of people who have been impacted by the criminal justice system. FWD.us and its partners in Oklahoma conducted interviews and focus groups with nearly 100 practitioners, experts, advocates, and directly impacted people, reviewed dozens of written submissions from currently incarcerated people, and analyzed several years of local and state corrections data as part of this research. Please view this interactive report here.
Densho | Map of Japanese Incarceration Sites In 2005, Densho launched Sites of Shame, which immediately became one of the most visited sections of its website. But after a decade or so, due to both changes in the technology and new information about the sites, it became clear that the original website had become increasingly outdated. In 2017, Densho received a federal Japanese American Confinement Sites grant through the National Park Service to update the site. This was followed by grants from California Civil Liberties Public Education Program and the Kip Tokuda Memorial Washington Civil Liberties Public Education Program. This new version of Sites of Shame launched in 2021. The interactive map contains information, locations, and ephemera pertaining to sites of incarceration. Users can also trace the journeys of specific families. For more information on the map and data sources, visit this link. Learn more about the history of the incarceration at Densho.org
Act to Change | Data and Resources on Bullying Published by Act to Change, ADMERASIA, and NextShark, this report measures teh impact of bullying, awareness, and prevention measures in the Asian American Community. It was released on the third annual National AAPI Day Against Bullying and Hate, bringing together more than 40 cities and states, 300 community organizations, and dozens of elected officials to stand against bullying and hate in the AAPI community. Included are recommendations and resource for families on what to do when their child is bullied. Data was collected from over 300 Asian Americans on their experiences with bullying and reporting it to an adult. Click on this link to learn more at their website, and to access an anti-bullying fridge page as well as downloadable graphics, qualitative and quantitative snapshots, and recommendations. 20210506-Asian-American-Bullying-Report-v5_A.pptx
Rising Voices | Lessons from In-Language Digital Organizing In 2019, Rising Voices of Asian American Families saw the need to build out organizing capacity for APIA in Michigan. They also knew AAPI communities were often overlooked by national campaigns with little attention given around the language divide between these campaigns and mainstream electoral messaging. Through the Digital Innovation Fund, Rising Voices of Asian American Families received a $55,000 grant, and digital strategy coaching to support their digital organizing experiments. This piece by Marium Navid on behalf of the Cooperative Impact Lab details Rising Voice’s accomplishments and lessons learned in their pursuit of answering two key questions: Does translating GOTV materials to other languages increase turn out rates? How much in language work is required to make an impact in engaging with AAPI communities?