New Data Shows Higher-Than-Average Rates of Discrimination, Hate Crimes in AAPI Communities

A new Tableau dashboard with data from over 16,000 SurveyMonkey and AAPI DATA surveys suggests millions of Asians, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians in the United States have experienced hate incidents since the onset of COVID-19. 

The dashboard is designed for viewers to explore this data, which highlights experiences across the AAPI community and includes differences in education, income, foreign versus U.S. born status, and more.

What’s the Impact: According to the data, about one in four Asian Americans (27%) and Pacific Islanders (24%) indicated experience with hate crimes or hate incidents in 2020, compared to the national average of 22%.

These numbers come from questions in which respondents were asked, “Have you ever been a victim of a hate crime? That is, have you ever had someone verbally or physically abuse you, or damage your property specifically because of your race or ethnicity?” Those who responded “Yes” were asked three additional questions about whether they experienced hate crimes or hate incidents, “before the coronavirus pandemic in 2020,” “last year, in 2020,” and “this year, in 2021.” 

Key Insights: The data also shows that,

• Having people ask “where [are] you from, assuming it’s not from the U.S.” was reported at a much higher rate for Asians or Asian Americans (64%) and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders (51%) than the national average (20%), and among non-Hispanic Whites (7%).
• Being “encouraged to Americanize or whiten one’s name” was also reported significantly higher for Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders (27%) and Asians or Asian Americans (20%) than the national average (7%).
• Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders (41%) and Asians or Asian Americans (31%) are also more likely than the national average (22%) and non-Hispanic Whites (17%) to say people have “intentionally mispronounced” their name.

The Salesforce Perspective: Salesforce and the Tableau Foundation are committed to taking action and helping address the ongoing violence and racism against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. To that end, the companies recently announced a collective donation of $600,000 in software, services and financial support to the organization Stop AAPI Hate.

Salesforce also invited Gary Locke, former governor of Washington State, the former secretary of commerce, and the former ambassador to China, and Dr. Russell Jeung, university professor and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, for a discussion of ways the broader community can take action to address anti-Asian racism and violence. Read more here.

Visit the AAPI Data website to learn more about the findings and explore the Tableau dashboard here.