Committee of 100 Newsletter

Letter from C-100 Vice Chair for Research Frank H. Wu

April 2009

As the son of immigrants who had come from China to the United States seeking freedom and opportunity, I grew up in the American Midwest in the 1970s. I wanted to be just like my classmates and neighbors, and I worked hard to assimilate. Yet we never forgot, because we were not allowed to, that somehow we were different. You would not have expected to meet people like us on Sunnydale Lane; you would instead have believed we belonged on the other side of the world.

This report captures that complexity: the general perception of Asian Americans turns out to be anything but simple. It’s impossible to reduce to a soundbite – an accurate soundbite anyway. Instead, our experiences reflect the ambiguities of the changing face of our nation. For within our lifetimes, we will become the first society in human history anywhere on the globe to cease to have any clearly identifiable majority group.

Committee Responds to Texas State Legislator’s Remark on Chinese American Names

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

A recent incident illustrates the persistent perception that Asian Americans are foreigners, even when naturalized as U.S. citizens. A number of Asian American groups were upset when Texas State Representative Betty Brown asked Ramey Ko, Organization of Chinese Americans, in an April 7 hearing on revising election laws, “Do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here? . . . “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier both for you and for people who are poll workers, if there were some means by which you could adopt a name just for your poll identification purposes that was easier for the Americans to deal with?” Although Brown thought she was making helpful suggestions, her questions opened a wound felt by Asian Americans as her words were quickly passed around the web via YouTube.

American Public Perceptions of Chinese and Asian Americans Show Many Positive Changes since 2001

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

Eight years have brought many changes in views of Chinese and Asian Americans by the general public, mostly positive. The changes are especially clear when it comes to how the general public say they would act in real situations. Perhaps due to the momentous 2008 Presidential election of an African American candidate, only 9% say they would be uncomfortable voting for an Asian American president, compared to 23% in 2001. In 2009, those who would disapprove of a family member marrying an Asian American fell to 11% from 24% in 2001.

How Chinese Americans See Themselves and Their Place in American Society

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

A contrasting picture of optimism, disappointment and feelings of vulnerability emerges from the 2009 C-100 survey of Chinese Americans. The 206 self-identified Chinese Americans surveyed expressed optimism about their opportunities in the U.S. (85%) while at the same time revealing experiences of discriminatory treatment (58%), dissatisfaction that Chinese Americans are not getting equal opportunities in government, education, and corporate America, and feelings that they are looked on unfavorably by many Americans. The Chinese Americans answered many of the same questions as those put to the general public in this survey of attitudes toward Chinese Americans and Asian Americans, but also other questions that explore different dimensions of being Chinese American.

Comments on the 2009 Survey by C100 Members and Survey Advisors

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

The Committee of 100 Research Committee and a special Survey Advisory Committee made up of independent experts were instrumental in overseeing the 2009 C-100 opinion survey of Public Attitudes Toward Chinese and Asian Americans. The comments that follow represent a sampling of responses and analysis from members of both committees.

Late-Breaking Conference News

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

There is a constant flow of updates from the Committee of 100 18th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. This conference should be one of our most exciting, with the release of the new C-100 opinion survey and at a time of dramatic change in Washington and the world. We expect some surprise appearances at the Gala and last-minute speakers, who can’t confirm now because of their responsibilities. You’ll find soon conference coverage online, including links to YouTube video, at http://conference.committee100.org/2009/ and a mid-June Committee Bridges with recaps of the whole event.

2009 National Survey: Public Attitudes Toward Chinese and Asian Americans

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

As an update to the 2001 report, the Committee of 100’s survey—conducted by Harris Interactive among both the U.S. general population and Chinese Americans by telephone from January 5-30, 2009—reveals the current perspectives and obstacles for Chinese and Asian Americans in the U.S.

Please go to the following link for the official release of the 2009 survey. You’ll find the press release issued April 20, fact sheet, key findings, full report, and topline results.
http://survey.committee100.org/2009/

Conference Highlight: Experts on Race and Politics Answer the Question: Are Chinese and Asian Americans Still the “Other”?

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

A diverse panel of experts at the April 30 session of the 18th Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. will take on a range of questions about race, ethnicity, discrimination, and politics that arise from the Committee’s survey of public attitudes toward Chinese and Asian Americans. The C-100 member most involved in overseeing the survey, author and law professor Frank H. Wu, moderates the panel. A frequent speaker on race issues, he wrote Yellow: Race Beyond Black and White.

Still the “Other”? Are Chinese and Asian Americans Still Seen as Perpetual Foreigners by the General Public?

April 2009 | By Jane Leung Larson

The Committee of 100’s landmark 2001 survey of public attitudes toward Chinese and Asian Americans revealed, in the words of then C-100 Chairman Henry Tang, “the common perception of Asian Americans as ‘permanent foreigners.’ Asian Americans are seen to be disinterested in engaging fully in American society, and Chinese Americans in particular are suspected of being more loyal to China than the U.S.” One of the results, according to the Asian American focus groups held in conjunction with the 2001 survey, was that Asian Americans held back from full political participation in American society.

The 2009 survey polled the general public and an oversample (an additional sample of a sub-population) of Chinese Americans, so we can see the perceptions and experiences of both groups.

April Table of contents

OPINION SURVEY

• 2009 National Survey: Public Attitudes Toward Chinese and Asian Americans
• Still the “Other”? Are Chinese and Asian Americans Still Seen as Perpetual Foreigners by the General Public?
• American Public Perceptions of Chinese and Asian Americans Show Many Positive Changes since 2001
• How Chinese Americans See Themselves and Their Place in American Society
• Comments on the 2009 Survey by C100 Members and Survey Advisors

CONFERENCE COVERAGE

• Late-Breaking Conference News
• Conference Highlight: Experts on Race and Politics Answer the Question: Are Chinese and Asian Americans Still the “Other”?

C-100 IN ACTION

• Committee Responds to Texas State Legislator’s Remark on Chinese American Names

FROM A COMMITTEE OF 100 BOARD MEMBER

• Letter from C-100 Vice Chair for Research Frank H. Wu