Click here for the Congressional districts with the most Asian- Americans.

Click here for statistics on Asian-Americans in California.


3/27/09 The Straits Times (Singapore): "Asians least hit by crime in US"
   AFP (Washington) - Asian-Americans suffer less from violent crime than other racial groups in the United States, Justice Department figures have
shown.
    Some 11 out of 1,000 Asian-Americans aged 12 or older are the victims of non-fatal violent crimes each year, compared with 24 out of every 1,000 non-Asian Americans, according to statistics released on Wednesday.
    In 2006, 360 Asian-Americans were murdered. They were victims of two per cent of all US homicides, while accounting for about four per cent of the population, the study found.
    In one of the more striking differences among racial groups, strangers were responsible for most crime against Asian-Americans.
    Seventy-seven per cent of violent crimes against Asian-American men was committed by strangers, compared with 59 per cent for non-Asians.  Half of crimes against Asian-American women was by people they did not know, compared with 34 per cent for other women.
    The government study did not delve into analysis. It defined Asian-Americans as those tracing their ethnicity to the Far East or the Indian subcontinent, as well as Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
    Some Asian-American leaders have cautioned against the 'model minority' image, noting that the community is diverse and some of its members are struggling.
    Asians-American tend to have higher education and income than the national average, according to the latest statistical profile by the Asian-American Studies Center at the University of California - Los Angeles
(UCLA).
    The average Asian-American household earns US$66,103 (S$99,436) a year, against a national average of US$50,233, it said. But there were
major differences within the community, with Americans of Indian origin the wealthiest. -- AFP


1/26/09 Kansas City Infozine (www.infozine.com): “Chinese Americans Face Glass Ceiling,”
    Chinese Americans, one of the most highly educated groups in the nation, are confronted by a “glass ceiling,” unable to realize full occupational stature and success to match their efforts, concludes a study from the University of Maryland.
    Kansas City , MO - The returns on Chinese Americans’ investment in education and “sweat equity” are “generally lower than those in the general and non-Hispanic White population,” says the report, “A Chinese American Portrait.” It adds that, on average, Chinese American professionals in the legal and medical fields earn as much as 44 percent less than their White counterparts.
    Based on extensive U.S. Census data and independent interviews, the study offers the most comprehensive and current portrait of the highly diverse Chinese American population. The research was conducted by the University of Maryland’s Asian American Studies Program with support from OCA, a national community-based organization of Asian Pacific Americans. The data in the report go through 2006, the latest available.
    “Contrary to popular beliefs, Chinese Americans often face extra barriers to economic success, despite their educational achievements,” says principal investigator Larry H. Shinagawa, a demographer and Americans Studies professor who directs the University of Maryland Asian American Studies Program .
    “Time and hard work simply haven’t been enough for Chinese Americans to fully enter into mainstream social and professional circles,” Shinagawa adds. “I suspect there are many reasons such as language barriers or simply the difficulties that go along with being identified as an ‘outsider.’ In the long run, increasing mentoring efforts and leadership opportunities can enhance the Chinese American community. You need a pipeline, a network to help young professionals rise to their potential, and increase Chinese American participation in top positions. Success begets success.”
    An Extremely Diverse Chinese American Community
    Yet this is only half the story. As Shinagawa points out, the Chinese American community is characterized by extreme diversity. It is split nearly 50-50 between poorly educated recent immigrants from China and a more settled, acculturated, educated and prosperous group of older immigrants and second generation Americans. These earlier arrivals came mainly from Taiwan and Hong Kong .
    “It makes for a rather bi-polar picture of wealth and poverty, high and low education levels, white and blue collars,” Shinagawa says. “It’s a pattern you expect to see after a wave of immigration. But in this case, the long-term settled population has yet to achieve full equal treatment.”
    Among the Studies’ Findings:
    Fastest Growing Immigrant Group: Chinese Americans represent the fastest growing immigrant group in the nation (up 30 percent between
2000 and 2006, the most recent figures);
    Largest Asian Ethnic Group: Chinese Americans represent the largest ethnic group among Asian Americans (about 25 percent)
    Higher Education Clustering: Chinese Americans cluster in a small number of colleges and universities (roughly 85 percent of all Chinese Americans who got to colleges or universities attend just three percent of all higher education institutions);
    High Levels of Higher Education: Twice as many Chinese American adults have college degrees than the general population;
    Lacking High School Education: Conversely, recently arrived Chinese Americans represent the largest number of U.S. adults without the equivalent of a high school education;
    Occupations: Chinese Americans are more heavily represented in professional and managerial occupations than the general population (53 percent vs. 34 percent);
    Industries: Chinese Americans cluster in industries associated with healthcare, food services, manufacturing and professional/scientific fields;
    Pay Equity: Chinese American men earn less in salaries than majority Whites for the same level of education;
    Geographic Clustering: 60 percent of all Chinese Americans live in a handful of cities beginning with New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles , Chicago , Philadelphia , as well as the Washington , D.C. metropolitan area, the Boston metro area and the Dallas metro area.
    Suburban Migration: In the past 20 years, Chinese Americans have settled increasingly away from traditional ethnic enclaves characterized as Chinatowns . Many of the more affluent Chinese Americans now reside in suburban communities commonly known as “ethnoburbs” or mixed “Asiatowns;”
    Citizenship: Three out of four Chinese Americans are U.S. citizens and exhibit very high rates of naturalization. However, this is less true among the recent immigrants who have been slower to seek citizenship;
    Multiethnic/Multiracial: One in ten Chinese Americans are multiethnic and/or multiracial;
    Divorce: Once they marry, Chinese Americans tend to stay married – with a divorce rate less than half that of the general population (4.4 percent vs. 10 percent);
    Recommendation
    “This study marks the progress of Chinese Americans entering the mainstream fabric of American life as well as the challenges that remain,” Shinagawa says. “It surely demonstrates the need to stop treating Chinese Americans as a monolithic group. Different segments of the population have very different needs. ‘One size fits all’ simply won’t work. We hope recognition of this diversity will serve as a guide for policy makers so that their decisions will improve the lives of all Chinese Americans and Asian Americans.”
    Related links
    The full text of “A Portrait of Chinese Americans” (including a brief executive summary and conclusions) is available online as a downloadable pdf: www.aast.umd.edu/mapsportrait.html
    The Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland - www.aast.umd.edu/
    Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) - www.ocanational.org/
    Source: University of Maryland , College Park

12/19/08 http://higley1000.com: Top 25 Asian Neighborhoods 
(ranked by percentage of total households that are Asian in the 
neighborhood or suburb)
1: Mission Peak Foothills - 74.6% (Higley #627) (Fremont, San Francisco) 
2: Mission San Jose-Pine Street - 63.9% (Higley #524) 
(Fremont, San Francisco)
3: Fremont Place - 54.2% (Higley #28) (Los Angeles, Los Angeles)
4: Avalon Heights-Rancho Higuera Park - 54.2% (Higley #595) 
(Fremont, San Francisco)
5: Cupertino South-Regnart Canyon - 46.1% (Higley #835) 
(Cupertino, San Francisco)
6: The Midwest Club - 40.1% (Higley #114) (Oak Brook, Chicago)
7: Trinity Lakes - 37.4% (Higley #243) (Oak Brook, Chicago) 
8: Summitpointe Golf Club - 36.9% (Higley #842) (Milpitas, San Francisco) 
9: Kahala - 33.2% (Higley #411) (Honolulu, Honolulu) 
10: San Marino Central - 30.1% (Higley #317) (San Marino, Los Angeles) 
11: Portuguese Bend - 29.8% (Higley #399) 
(Rancho Palos Verde, Los Angeles)
12: Russian Hill - 27.1% (Higley #754) (San Francisco, San Francisco)
13: Hillsborough Park-Carolands - 24.8% (Higley #188) 
(Hillsborough, San Francisco)
14: Tustin Ranch - 24.1% (Higley #607) (Tustin, Los Angeles)
15: Saddle Brook - 23.8% (Higley #193) (Oak Brook, Chicago) 
16: Esperanza - 22.8% (Higley #341) (Yorba Linda, Los Angeles)
17: Sprain Brook-Boulder Ridge - 22.8% (Higley #616) 
(Town of Greenburgh, New York City) 
18: Edinburg Park-Cranbury Golf Club - 22.7% (Higley #804) 
(West Windsor Township, New York City) 
19: Brook Forest - 22.4% (Higley #644) (Oak Brook, Chicago) 
20: La Canada Flintridge Northwest - 21.5% (Higley #896) 
(La Canada Flintridge, Los Angeles) 
21: Crawford Corners - 21.4% (Higley #929) 
(Holmdel Township, New York City)
22: Hillsborough - 20.6% (Higley #163) (Hillsborough, San Francisco)
23: Austin Meadows-Cypress on the Greens - 20.3% (Higley #927) 
(Sugar Land, Houston)
24: Englewood Cliffs West Central - 19.9% (Higley #855)
(Englewood Cliffs, New York City)
25: Turtle Rock - 19.8% (Higley #779) (Irvine, Los Angeles)

12/15/08 80-20 PAC www.80-20.us: Why so few AsAm College 
Presidents?
    The following is from 80-20's newest Board Member, Roy Saigo, who has just retired as the President of St. Cloud Univ., the largest of the Minnesota state colleges. On 9/28/08, he published an article in "The Chronicle Of Higher Education" entitled: Why There Still Aren't
Enough Asian-American College Presidents". Roy's first paragraphs was: "At age 5, my grandson understood fair play. If he didn't get his turn, he'd cry, "No fair!" As caring adults, we intercede when we see 
children ignore or gang up on another child -- we tell them, "No fair!"
    Roy gave us these facts: In 2005, the proportion of Asian Pacific Islander professors in the United States who held full-time positions was 7.6 percent. In comparison, a 2006 survey by the American Council on
Education showed that only 0.9% of the president's job is held by Asian Americans.  In the fall of 2007, 18.3 percent of California State's undergraduate students identified themselves as being of Asian/Filipino/
Pacific Island ethnicity. In the California State University system in the fall of 2006, 13.8 percent of the faculty was identified as Asians. So where are the provosts and academic vice presidents?
    Roy's last paragraphs was: "The issue I have raised needs more than task forces, surveys, and recommendations -- there have been plenty of 
those over the years.  There must be actions that can be monitored for quantifiable results. I hope someone won't have to write this commentary again in 10 years. Fair?"
[Dear Roy, Bigots for the Left run universities.  They discriminate against Asian Americans in favor of blacks and Hispanics.  It is known as affirmative action which 80-20 supports.  They reduce the number of Asian Americans in order to increase the number of blacks and Hispanics, but they do not reduce the number of Jews in order to increase the number of blacks and Hispanics.  All animals are equal but some are more equal than others. See Statistics on reverse discrimination.  If you don't like it, you need to sue.  As long as Bigots for the Left think they can get away with it,
they will continue to discriminate against Asian Americans.]


12/9/08 San Jose Mercury News: “Census shows Cupertino , Milpitas have Asian-majority populations,”
by Mike Swift
    Cupertino has joined Milpitas as the second city in the South Bay where a majority of residents is now Asian, a rare cultural phenomenon that sets the two communities apart — even in one of the most diverse counties in the country.
    Its Chinese population was already well established, but Cupertino's rapidly growing Indian community has pushed its overall Asian population to 56 percent of residents, according new census data released today — making it one of just 18 cities of 20,000 or more people in the country where Asians are more than half of all residents. All of those cities are in California or Hawaii .
    Asians already were a narrow majority in Milpitas in 2000, but with a growing population of Chinese, Indians, Filipinos and Vietnamese, Asians now make up nearly 60 percent of Milpitas ' population.
    What is happening this decade in cities like Milpitas and Cupertino , demographers say, is partly the culmination of years of immigration, as growing immigrant communities act as a powerful magnet, drawing relatives and others lured by cultural comforts and good schools. The economic downturn after 2007 may well put the brakes on that growth, however.
    While Asians are close to being the largest racial group in several Silicon Valley cities, the real story in the new demographic portrait of California 's mid-size cities is that no single group commands the majority, demographers say. San Jose is one example: Whites, Latinos and Asians were all about 30 percent of the population for the three-year period of 2005 through 2007, the new census data shows.
    Cities like Cupertino and Milpitas are "really the exception. More typically what we have in the state is a mix," said Hans Johnson, a demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California. "And it's not the East Coast, white-black mix. It's the West Coast, Asian-Latino-White, and to a lesser extent black, mix."
    Some things in Silicon Valley didn't change. Much of the valley defended its crème de la crème status in wealth and education, despite the economic roller-coaster the region has endured since the Census Bureau last plumbed smaller cities' social and economic status.
    Los Altos and Palo Alto, respectively, were among the top three places among U.S. cities with 20,000 people or more with the highest median household income and with the largest share of adults with a master's or doctoral degree.
    Both cities were among a handful of Bay Area cities that saw their incomes grow faster than inflation through the down-and-up economic cycle since 1999. Palo Alto , Saratoga , Los Gatos , Los Altos and Menlo Park were among the only 19 places in America — all but three in California — where the median-price home was more than $1 million.
    There were some surprises in the first new data since the 2000 Census for cities and counties between 20,000 and 65,000 people. Among the surprises was the city with the fastest-growing white population in Silicon Valley .
    The distinction belongs to East Palo Alto, a once a predominantly African-American city that is now 55 percent Latino, and includes a small but growing white and Asian population, as new retail and residential developments have come to town.
    Meanwhile, Palo Alto, historically a city that was predominantly white and has recently been roiled by racial tension over remarks by the police chief, had one of the valley's biggest percentage increases in both its Asian and Latino population.
    Milpitas ranked fifth and Cupertino 11th in the United States among places where Asians made up the largest share of the population, according to the new census data.
    When Taiwanese immigrant Ignatius Ding first moved to Cupertino in 1978, he and his family had to travel to Redwood City or San Francisco for good Chinese food. But the quality of the city's schools soon became so well known in Taiwan that Cupertino 's 95014 ZIP code became common knowledge there, said Bernard P. Wong, an anthropologist at San Francisco State University and the author of "The Chinese in Silicon Valley ."
    Now there are so many Chinese restaurants and stores in Cupertino that a visitor from Shanghai , Taipei or Hong Kong would feel right at home. In the parking lots of some Asian-dominated shopping areas such as Cupertino Village , "it's almost impossible to find a parking spot at lunch," said Ding, a retired Hewlett-Packard engineer.
    While people from Taiwan and Hong Kong were the first Chinese in Cupertino , the growth more recently has come from mainland Chinese. Meanwhile, the Indian population more than doubled since 2000 to nearly 10,000. The main reason: Cupertino schools.
    For Patricia Rod, a 17-year Cupertino resident who is white, most of the changes that have come from having "lovely neighbors" who are Chinese, Indian and Vietnamese have been positive — including her property values.
    Rod, a cardiac sonographer, also feels her kids are "so much more worldly" because of Cupertino 's diversity. But while two of her daughters flourished in the increasingly competitive schools, Rod had to enroll another of her children in private school.
    "It has raised the bar educationally for the kids to the extent that those kids who are high achievers do very well," Rod said. "But those kids who cannot achieve that much tend to fall in a class that is less than desirable, and don't succeed."


9/14/07 Hindustan Times: Asian-Americans cross the 10 million mark, 
By Pramit Pal Chaudhuri
    Asian-American immigrant population broke the 10 million barrier in the US for 
the first time, says data released by the US Census Bureau. These immigrants, 
especially those from India and China , are also the most highly educated in the country.
    Asians represent roughly one-fourth of the total 37.5 million immigrants in the US  
in 2006.
    Nearly half of Asian immigrants hold at least a bachelor's degree. Indian immigrants 
are among the best educated immigrant populations in the US , matched only by Japanese-Americans. According to the 2000 US Census, 64 per cent of Indian-
Americans held a college degree and 40 per cent held a master's or professional degree. 
    The percentage of native-born Americans holding a bachelor's degree is 27 per cent. 
Latin American immigrants, the largest migrant population, were the least educated. 
Only 11 per cent held a bachelor's degree. 
    Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau was quoted as saying, "Driving this 
are people coming from China and India . They are either coming with a bachelor's 
degree, or they are coming with visas and getting degrees once they arrive."
    Indians represent the largest foreign student population in the US . Massachusetts , 
helped by the concentration of educational institutions in Boston , was the state with the 
highest number of college-educated (37 per cent) adults.
    Jeanne Batalova of the Migration Policy Institute says this largely reflects the windows 
provided by US immigration law. Indians who migrated to the US in the late 19th century 
worked on farms and mines. When the US allowed employment-based visas in 1965 the 
door was opened for educated Indian migrants. "In the 1970s, as many as 90 per cent of Indian-Americans migrants had professional degrees. But their absolute numbers were 
small."
    A further shift happened when the US liberalised student visas and the software boom 
brought in tech workers in the 1990s. This again biased immigration in favour of educated 
Indians. But, says Batalova, a balance was provided in the increasing number by immigrants being sponsored by relatives already in the US . Though family reunification normally brings 
in people of the same class, it also leads to greater diversity in terms of educational levels. 
    Whether this represents a "brain drain" on developing countries is less of a debate than 
it once was. Says Vivek Wadhwa, an expert on immigrant entrepreneurship at Harvard  
University : "The sad thing here is that with US's flawed immigration policies, the country is 
driving away some of the best and brightest." He suspects Asian countries may be 
contributing more to the US in intellectual capital than they get in foreign aid. 
    The triple flow of students, skilled workers and relative sponsorship are determining the educational profile of Indian-Americans. The peak of educational attainment for the Indian-American community as a whole was the 1970s, but the present figure is likely to 
stay more or less the same in the coming years.  


9/6/07 www.mediabuyerplanner.com: "Hispanic, Asian, African-American TV Households 
Grow Faster than US Average,"
    Hispanics and Asians remain the fastest-growing national segments of the population, with television households increasing 4.4 percent among Hispanics and 3.9 percent among Asians compared with the previous year, according to The Nielsen Company, writes MarketingCharts.
    Nielsen estimates that in local markets
    Los Angeles remains the number-one Hispanic market, followed by New York , Miami , 
Houston and Chicago .
    Los Angeles also has the country's largest Asian community, followed by New York , San Francisco , Honolulu and Chicago .
    New York is the largest African-American TV market, followed by Atlanta , Chicago , 
Washington , DC and Philadelphia .
    National Changes Atlanta moved up from third to second in rank, due to a 6.3 percent increase in its Black or African-American TV household population.
    New Orleans climbed two ranks to 23, indicating the strong recovery of Black or African-American populations in the market.
    Other notable increases include Minneapolis-St. Paul's moving up two ranks, into the Top 50, and Syracuse 's moving up one rank, into the top 100. 
    Within the Hispanic household estimates, there was a change in the top 10 DMAs, with Phoenix moving up to rank eight. Nielsen said changes in the Hispanic market ranks reflect the emergence of new Hispanic gateway areas over previous historic immigration destinations; for example, as an indication of recent trends in Hispanic immigration, Charlotte moved up three ranks, to 40.
    Within the Asian household estimates, there was also a change in the top 10 DMAs, with Houston moving up to rank nine. Las Vegas moved up one rank, to 16, and New Orleans increased four ranks, to 47, a further indication of population recovery in that market.



8/30/07 Sacramento Bee: Latina and Asian American women live the longest, 
by Stephen Magagnini
    Maria Guzman, who celebrated her 82nd birthday last week with about 40 
relatives, is preparing for her next cruise -- to the Greek islands.
    Guzman, who lives by herself in Elk Grove when she's not touring the world, is 
one of the unsung heroines of a new study showing that Latinas and Asian 
American women live longer than anyone else in California .
    The state's 6.5 million Latinas enjoy an average life expectancy of 83, while 
the nearly 2.3 million Asian American females can expect to live past 85, 
according to the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California. 
    Guzman, who loves to go to Europe and the Holy Land , attributes her healthy
life to "no bad habits such as drinking or smoking and ... a lot of home-cooked 
meals."
    She says she sticks to chicken, fish and vegetables, "and beans and tortillas
are my favorite food."
    Guzman, who was born in the town of San Juan De Los Lagos in Jalisco , 
Mexico , married at 17 and had 14 children. "We emigrated in 1966, when she
was 40," said daughter Alicia Guzman-Folster.
    California 's women live longer than men -- an average of 80.7 years 
compared with 75.9, with white women seeing 80.1 years and African 
American women 75. Asian American and Latino men live longer (80.4 
and 77.5, respectively) than white men (75.5 years) and black men (68.6),
according to the study released Wednesday.
    Asian women and Latinas -- especially immigrants -- have very low lung 
cancer death rates in particular, while African American males have very 
high lung cancer rates, said Dr. Bruce Leistikow, professor of public health
sciences at UC Davis.
    Aside from low smoke exposure, immigrants may tend to live longer 
because only healthy people can make it to the United States , said Leistikow.
    Helen Lee, who co-authored the study, agreed that survival of the fittest may
come in to play among immigrants.
    Lee said that the better educated you are, the longer you tend to live, and that
less-educated groups tend to smoke more, are more prone to obesity and often
get less access to health care.
    Asian American women smoke less, are less overweight and drink less than
any other ethnic group, Lee said.
    Latinas also smoke and drink less than other groups, though they're twice as
likely to be obese as white women, the study showed.
    Dr. Sergio Aguilar-Gaxiola, a Mexican immigrant who's director of the Center
for Reducing Health Disparities at UC Davis, wasn't surprised by the results, 
given the high percentage of immigrants among Latinos and Asian Americans.
    About a third of California 's 12 million Latinos are immigrants, and "it appears
that immigrants tend to have better health than the second and third generations,"
Aguilar-Gaxiola said.
    He calls it the "Latino paradox -- in spite of being poorer in general, and with
less education and fewer regular medical visits, Latinas tend to have better 
mortality rates than other groups. For example, Mexican women who immigrate 
to California tend to have good pregnancy outcomes in spite of the lack of 
prenatal care," Aguilar-Gaxiola said.
    "Poverty doesn't necessarily coincide with unhealthy lifestyles," he said. 
"There are cultural values and protective health behaviors that exist in immigrant
Latinos. The first generation tends to have better marriages, the families stay 
more intact. They tend to respect their elders; they don't place their parents in a 
home; they take care of their own."
    The same holds true for many Asian Americans, Aguilar-Gaxiola said.
    What's troubling, Lee said, is that African Americans haven't closed the 
mortality gap with other ethnic groups. She said the average African American
man in California can't expect to live as long as the average North Korean.
    "Black men in California are 10 times more likely to to die from homicide than
white men," Lee said.
    "Homicide is very correlated with living in racially segregated communities 
with a high poverty level and little opportunity for educational and economic 
mobility."
    Some other key findings:
    Latino men and women are twice as likely to die from diabetes as whites,
and black women are three times more likely to die of diabetes than white women.
    Death rates from heart disease are about 50 percent higher for black women
and 40 percent higher for black men than they are for whites.
    Asian men have slightly higher death rates from stroke and stomach cancer.
    Whites are more likely than other groups to die of Alzheimer's disease and 
suicide.

8/9/07 New York Times: Minorities Now Form Majority in One-Third of Most-
Populous Counties, 
By Sam Roberts 
    In a further sign of the United States growing diversity, nonwhites now make up 
a majority in almost one-third of the most-populous counties in the country and in 
nearly one in 10 of all 3,100 counties, according to an analysis of census results 
to be released today. 
    The shift reflects the growing dispersal of immigrants and the suburbanization 
of blacks and Hispanics pursuing jobs generated by whites moving to the fringes 
of metropolitan areas. 
    From July 1, 2005, to July 1, 2006, metropolitan Chicago edged out Honolulu  
in Asian population, and Washington inched ahead of El Paso in the number of 
Hispanic residents. In black population, Houston overtook Los Angeles .
    The new wave of immigration, along with its continued dispersal to the suburbs
and Sun Belt, is transforming the places which are now being classified as 
multiethnic and majority minority, said William H. Frey, a demographer with the 
Brookings Institution. 
    The new melting pots are not large international gateways, Professor Frey 
said, adding, Rather, many are fast-growing suburbs themselves.
    In 36 counties with more than 500,000 residents each, non-Hispanic whites 
are now a minority, up from 29 counties of that size in 2000. 
    From 2005 to 2006 alone, eight other mostly less-populous counties shifted 
to a majority of minorities, the Census Bureau said. They were Denver, Colo.; 
East Baton Rouge Parish, La.; Winkler, Waller and Wharton in Texas; Blaine, Mont.;
Colfax, N.M.; and Manassas Park, Va., an independent city that is considered the 
equivalent of a county. 
    In a new study for the Population Reference Bureau, Mark Mather and Kelvin 
Pollard found that Hispanic people were increasingly attracted to job opportunities
and lower costs outside major metropolitan areas. 
    Between 2000 and 2006, the total population in small towns and rural areas 
increased by 3 percent, but the Hispanic population in these counties grew from 
2.6 million to 3.2 million, a 22 percent increase, the authors of the study wrote. 
    So far this decade, they added, there are also new areas of growth, including
exurban counties in the Atlanta , Chicago , New York , and Washington , D.C. , 
metropolitan areas, plus parts of Texas , central Florida , and a few other states. 
    Since 2000, the Hispanic population more than doubled in metropolitan 
Winchester , Va. ; Scranton , Pa. ; Cape Coral , Fla. ; and Hagerstown , Md. . 
The largest numerical increases were in metropolitan Los Angeles (576,630); 
Riverside , Calif. , (545,152); Dallas (472,222); Houston (470,157); and 
New York (418,720).
    Black populations declined in metropolitan New Orleans , San Francisco , 
Los Angeles , San Diego and New York . The biggest numerical gains were in 
Atlanta (370,470), Houston (142,364), Dallas (130,367), Miami (126,819) 
and Washington (114,915). 
    The growth in Atlanta , Houston and Dallas was attributed in part to survivors 
of Hurricane Katrina moving to those cities. 
    The highest growth rates among Asian populations were in metropolitan 
Napa , Calif. , and Ocala , Naples , Cape Coral and Port St. Lucie , Fla.
    The greatest numerical increases were in New York (309,773), Los Angeles  
(216,987), Washington (105,390), San Francisco (103,073) and 
Chicago (93,237).
    Metropolitan Phoenix; Atlanta; Dallas; Houston; Las Vegas; Austin, Tex.; 
Charlotte; Portland, Ore.; and Raleigh, N.C., each recorded gains in non-Hispanic
whites of more than 100,000 since 2000. The largest losses were registered by
metropolitan New York (248,422), Los Angeles (193,109), San Francisco 
(127,151) and New Orleans (111,162).
    Harris County, Tex., home to Houston , gained 121,400 minority residents 
from 2005 to 2006, the most of any county. Sixty-three percent of its residents 
were members of minorities. 
    Maricopa County , Ariz. , home to Phoenix , recorded the biggest numerical 
increase in Hispanic residents (71,000) and also the biggest increase in 
non-Hispanic whites (35,500).
    Harris County and East Baton Rouge Parish registered the biggest 
increases in black residents, 52,000 and 19,000, respectively.

8/3/07

    Researchers also visited eight colleges with high numbers of Asian students,
including Cupertino 's DeAnza College .
    Many of the differences were attributed to the number of years that an ethnic
group had been in the United States - or whether immigrants had arrived to 
escape war and persecution or seek high-tech jobs. 
    The report, released July 27 before the education committee of the U.S. 
House of Representatives, found wide differences in: 
    Adult education. A high percentage of adult Asian Indians (68 percent) and 
Chinese (53 percent) had at least a college degree. In contrast, only 25 percent
of Vietnamese, 17 percent of Pacific Islanders and 13 percent of other 
Indochinese - Cambodians, Laotians and Hmong - had a college degree. 
    English fluency. More than 90 percent of Filipinos, Indians and Japanese 
identified themselves as fluent in English. Only 70 percent of Koreans, 62 percent
of Vietnamese and 60 percent of the other Indochinese groups identified 
themselves as fluent. 
    Funding. About 80 percent of Vietnamese students reported that their parents
paid none of their tuition. And large percentages of Southeast Asian and Pacific
Islander groups lived at home. 
    In contrast, many Chinese, Indian and Korean undergraduates reported that
they worked to gain job experience or earn spending money. 
    Simply put, poverty creates barriers to education, whether one is Asian-
American, Latino or African-American, said Paul Fong, a political science 
professor at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. 
    "There's an achievement gap among Filipino-Americans, Cambodian-
Americans and Vietnamese-Americans - the haves and have-nots," said Fong,
noting that it can be difficult to dream about higher education when one is worried
about earning money to pay the bills. 
    For a copy of the report, see www.gao.gov/new.items/d07925.pdf.

5/28/07 www.politico.com: Pay attention to Asian-American voters
by: James G. Gimpel and Wendy K. Tam Cho
    With Republicans making little progress in winning over Latino voters and Democrats in little danger of losing many, it may be time for the political parties to consider an ethnic constituency that really is up for grabs, the Asian Pacific American population.
    Consisting of several large nationality groups and a number of smaller ones, Asian-Americans have been mostly ignored, even as they move out of traditional areas of ethnic concentration and vote in higher proportions than Latinos.
    While less numerous than Latinos, the Asian Pacific American population is the fastest-growing minority population, and it is an important electoral presence in a number of states -- not only California and Hawaii but also Arizona, Nevada, Alaska, Utah and Washington in the West; Missouri and Illinois in the Midwest; New Jersey, Maryland, New York and Massachusetts in the Northeast; and Florida, Texas and Virginia in the South. Without question, the Asian-American population is consequential in many additional locations in races for local offices.
    The 2006 national exit poll shows Asians to be much more equally divided in their party identification (35 percent Democratic, 27 percent Republican) than Latinos, with a substantial share reporting to be independents. While only 15 percent of Latino voters reported they were independent in national exit polling, 33 percent of Asian-Americans did.
    Latinos voted 2-to-1 in favor of Democratic gubernatorial candidates in the 2006 elections, but Asians split their support evenly, 48 percent Democratic, 46 percent Republican. In the 2006 U.S.
    House contests, due to incumbency advantages, Asians went more Democratic (59 percent), but nothing like Latinos (71 percent). Given an objective examination of the data, then, this population looks like it could be a genuine swing constituency, and not just in California .
    Of course, referring to Asian-Americans as a "group" is an imperfect definition. After all, they are more likely to identify in nationality terms -- as Korean, Vietnamese or Chinese -- than as a pan-ethnic bloc. It makes the most sense to think of them as local blocs, rather than as a nationally cohesive group that can be characterized as monolithic.
    A smart campaign will approach differences between local Asian voting blocs by accumulating extensive knowledge about the resident population, relying upon volunteers, local operatives and a higher-than-usual amount of shoe leather to assemble a proper understanding. Today's overly professionalized and centralized campaigns are unaccustomed to thinking this way about outreach, and that accounts for both parties' poor performance among Asian-Americans in locations outside California and Hawaii.
    In recent weeks, we have examined two locations where the Asian-American population is worth special note: Nevada , sure to be a presidential battleground state in 2008, and Oregon , where a highly targeted U.S. Senate election in 2008 looms. Could the margins of victory in these contests come down to Asian-Americans? Surely they could, as they might in Florida and a large number of other states.
    Nevada is a fast-growing state, and Californians are spilling into Clark County (which encompasses Las Vegas) and Washoe County (encompassing Reno ) in search of a lower cost of living. As of fall 2006, Nevada was home to 14,000 Chinese-American registered voters, 6,000 Vietnamese, 7,600 Koreans and nearly 7,000 of Japanese ancestry -- surely consequential numbers in any close election. Voter registration records suggest that Asians in Nevada lean toward the Republican Party more than they do nationally, but not by much.
    Notably, in 2006, turnout was lower than it could have been for all of these nationality groups except for those of Japanese ancestry, who happen to have the deepest roots in the United States. For the Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese, however, turnout in Nevada 's midterm elections hovered between 31 percent and 36 percent -- a clear sign that these voters were not being activated by the two major political parties.
    And Oregon is home to extraordinarily large Asian populations that remain unaffiliated with either political party. Twenty-five percent of metropolitan Portland 's Japanese population remains politically unattached, but this percentage jumps to 31 percent for Vietnamese, 33 percent for Koreans and 37 percent for Chinese. That such large shares of these populations have no certain party identification is arguably a sign of political party neglect and widespread campaign ignorance.
    Bearing these numbers in mind, the two political parties and their campaign committees would do well to build an effective outreach strategy to the Asian-Americans living on hotly contested terrain.
    James G. Gimpel is a professor of government at the University of Maryland . He consults with parties, interest groups and candidates on mapping and get-out-the-vote strategies. Wendy K. Tam Cho is an associate professor of political science and statistics and senior research scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

5/1/07 2000 Census: Metropolitan Areas with the Highest Proportion of Asian Americans  
Metropolitan Area     Total population         % of Asian Americans
Honolulu, HI MSA      876,156          46.0%
San Francisco Bay Area      7,039,362      18.4%
Greater Los Angeles Area   16,373,645    10.4%
Sacramento/Yolo, CA CMSA          1,796,857      9.0%
San Diego , CA MSA            2,813,833      8.9 %
Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area 3,554,760      7.9%
New York metropolitan area            21,199,865    6.8% 
Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area  7,608,070      5.3%
Greater Houston         4,669,571      4.9%
Las Vegas , NV/AZ MSA      1,563,282      4.7%

2/7/07 press release from Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15), Chair of the 
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC): 
    The rate of uninsured in the Asian American community in the United States  
increased to 17.9% in 2005 from 16.5% in 2004, and 21.8% of Pacific Islanders 
are currently uninsured. Over 2.3 million AAPIs are without health insurance, 
and millions more can barely afford to pay their premiums.  
    According to the 2000 Census, over 370,000 AAPI children live below the 
poverty level, that is, 14.3% of Asian American children, and 22.7% of Pacific 
Islander children. 
    There are approximately 328,000 veterans of AAPI descent, and 62,378 
AAPIs who are currently on active duty in the military. 
    Over 220,000 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are looking for work.
    The Census reported 1.1 million small businesses owned by Asian 
Americans that employed over 2.2 million individuals in the U.S. in 2002. 
    AAPIs tend to have higher life expectancies than the majority of the 
population. In 2004, Social Security constituted 90% or more of total income 
for 31% of elderly married couples and 50% of elderly unmarried persons of 
AAPI descent.

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