Why are Pacific Islanders part of AAPI?
Inspired by Hawaiian poi
Hello and welcome back to the second newsletter of 2021! We have an update on a week chock full of new policy actions and an interesting piece about why Pacific Islanders are often lumped under AAPI. If you learned something new from this today, share with your friends and follow us on Twitter @around_thetable or Insta @around_thetable_
💌 Melinda and Jamie
News
⚕️Led by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) as part of COVID relief aid, Congress added Medicare coverage for the Marshall Islands and other Pacific Island like the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. Home to many essential workers, they were former US territories that achieved sovereignty with the Compact of Free Association, an agreement that also extends access to US-based agencies.
📺 Sony and 88rising, an Asian American arts and media label, sign a deal to develop a "scripted TV series angled around Asian and Asian-American culture". Can't wait for more stuff to binge...
😬 Asian American women, many of which who work in service sector jobs, are found to have the highest jobless rates in the last 6 months. 44% of unemployed AA women have been out of work for 6+ months, and among all NYC racial and ethnic groups, Asian Americans had the largest increase in unemployment from 3.4% last February to 25.6% in May.
👴🏻 This week in your regular Joe Biden Update:
The administration revoked Trump's ban on these predominately Muslim nations (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). The ban previously also included a hold on Syrian refugees coming into the US, and while the policy is no longer in place, many still worry that it furthered Islamophobia in the US.
Issued a **memo on combating anti-AAPI hate** incidents amid the pandemic. The measures include collecting data, assisting with reporting, changing the wording of the previous administration, and HHS guidance on cultural health equity.
Increase protections under DACA and works towards including non-citizens in the Census count (source)
👨🏻🌾 📽️ "Minari" wins Best Picture from the New York Film Critics Online
TIL - why are Pacific Islanders grouped with Asian Americans in the U.S.?
To be honest with you all, sometimes I feel hesitant to call Around the Table an "AAPI newsletter," given that we don't talk about Pacific Islander news/experiences in the U.S. enough. But, we want to change that, starting with this piece! First, let's revisit a part of one of our first newsletters:
What does Pacific Islander mean?
Pacific Islander refers to "(in the U.S. Jurisdictions & Territories) Carolinian, Chamorro, Chuukese, Fijian, Guamanian, Kosraean, Marshallese, Niuean, Palauan, Pohnpeian, Papua New Guinean, Samoan, Tokelauan, Tongan, Yapese". Often also included are Native Hawaiians. (Note: according to AAJA, we should really only use the term "Hawaiian" to refer to those of Polynesian descent).
Words from two Pacific Islanders from Saipan
At exactly 32:41 of this podcast that I listened to for this piece, the hosts and their guest wondered the same thing - why are Pacific Islanders grouped with Asian Americans? The guest, a Chamorro comedian who grew up on the U.S. Commonwealth/Pacific Island of Saipan, said that she felt 0% Asian, even though at first glance Americans see her as "Asian." In the U.S., she's often invited to spaces that highlight Asian American comedians, and while she really appreciates those spaces, she feels quite different from them.
When learning about the AAPI term, a Penn student also from Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, said "It’s [AAPIs] just not something you see as part of one group." I remember that the umbrella group at Penn was APSC: Asian Pacific Student Coalition... I didn't reflect then that I only knew one person who identified with the "Pacific" part.
Quick History
To delve into why AAPI might be linked, here's a timeline of terminology/classification in the U.S.:
In 1968, around the time of the civil rights movement, the term "Asian American" was coined by activists to "unify political identity for Asian ethnic groups." To a good extent, this collective sense of agency helped with advocating for systemic change.
Some think "Pacific Islander" was added to make "AAPI" in the hopes of pan-ethnic coalition when advocating for issues shared among them (this isn't easy though!). Another view is that AAPIs might share common roots or experiences, but we know that our experiences can be very different (more on this later)
In 1978, Congress established a resolution for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week (below pic is from 1979). Then, in 1992, legislation was signed to permanently designate May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Source: The University of Hawaii at Manoa Archives
For the 1980 and 1990 census, the U.S. Census Bureau grouped people of Asian ancestry into one racial category of "Asian Pacific Islander." (And, in the 1980 census, "Native Hawaiian" was the only option available for the Pacific Islander subgroup. In 1990, more options were added)
Only in 2000 did the census separate "Asian" and "Pacific Islander" into two racial categories.
According to the U.S. 2010 census, there are 17.3 million people of Asian descent and 1.7 million people of Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent. That was about ~5.3% and ~0.1% of the total U.S. population, respectively
Definitely check out this interactive visualization to look into the different groups of Pacific Islanders in the U.S.
Now, sometimes I more often see "Asian Americans" and "Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander" (NHPI) separately, but of course, both groups do a lot of work together still.
Last things to note...
It's undeniable that there are clear differences among the lives and outcomes of different Asian Americans, and of course, between Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. For example, the percentages of each U.S. Pacific Islander population surveyed here (Guamanian or Chamorro, Hawaiian, Tongan, Samoan, Fijian, other PI, and other Micronesian) that had a bachelor's degree or higher was below the overall U.S. average (30%), and much less than the AAPI average (~50%). The discrepancy is big.
Regarding income, all the U.S. Pacific Islander groups had a median household income less than the AAPI median. Samoans and Tongans have a median household income less than that of the U.S. median of ~$55,000. For context, the median Samoan/Tongan household income is around the same level as Bangladeshi and Hmong families.
Source (U.S. marines handing out relief after a typhoon hit Saipan in 2015)
The history of the U.S. military's presence and engagement in the Pacific Islands is also something I remember or know little about (not that high school history class went to the depths of the lasting effects the U.S. military had). As someone from Saipan recalls, Chamorros have participated and been exposed to a "complex colonial intimacy" that has "many ironies." This intimacy systemically limits the Chamorro people from having equal decision-making power, even though Chamorro PIs have dedicated a lot to the armed forces, intelligence, and support for the "American empire during war and peace."
To end, I'm remembering how in the podcast episode, the Chamorro comedian recalled how most of the teachers who taught at her private, Protestant high school (which was by the beach btw) were white people from Iowa, who emanated white racial supremacy...while teaching mostly non-white people. Oi...
➕ An Addendum to Last Week's TIL Piece
"In 1965 and the Delano Grape Strike, Larry Itliong was incredibly central to the success of the strike. His initiation in negotiation and teamwork with Chavez led to the force/unity of the movement, because both sides (Filipino and Mexican) were initially very hesitant to make moves on their own but they knew that together it would be a power move. I’m sure there are a bunch more sources to find that focus on his influence on the movement, but I learned a most of it thru the PBS documentary “Asian Americans” (released in 2020) — not sure which episode!
Here are two articles (1 and 2) about Larry Itliong’s contribution to the UFW Delano Grape Strike that highlight more of his work! Many people in the Fil-Am community have been pushing for Larry Itliong’s story to be pulled out from under the shadow of Chavez, because Chavez was the “face” of the movement, because of how well we spoke English and kept his composure."
✨ S P O T L I G H T ✨
Chef's Specials
⛳ "Why the defunct South Vietnam flag was flown at the Capitol riot" (NBC)
🖼️ Check out the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) digital exhibition
🌝 "‘Over the Moon’ turns Chinese legend into a musical animated feature" (LA Times)
Events
Tomorrow, January 28: "Keep Saray Home" Film Screening & Discussion ("ICE doesn’t just separate families at the border. In the outskirts of Boston, three families face the impending threat of deportation. But as refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam, they know they’ll have to fight together to stay together")
Saturday, January 30: #TransformAsian by the Asian Mental Health Collective - register for the free conference (“growing beyond our mental health struggles” - ft AJ Rafael!)