‘ Crazy Rich Asians’ highlights wealthy-poor gap
between 2000 and 2015, from 11.9 million to 20.4 million — the fastest growth rate of any major racial or ethnic group, according to the Pew Research Center.
(Hispanics were, by comparison, the second-fastest growing group, clocking a mere 60 percent increase during the same period.)
But while AsianAmericans have been both buoyed by and saddled with the stereotypical label of “model minority” because of high academic achievement and financial prosperity, the reality is far less sunny. In fact, Asian-Americans recently surpassed blacks as having the most income inequality in the United States.
According to a Pew analysis of government data, the gap in the standard of living between Asians near the top and the bottom of the income ladder nearly doubled from 1970 to 2016.
In the aggregate, Asians rank as the highest-earning racial and ethnic group in the U. S. But when you look at specific nationalities — such as Burmese, Bhutanese, Hmong and Malaysians, who experience poverty at nearly twice the national U. S. average — it’s easy to see that large swaths of a heterogeneous population have been left behind.
The gulf between wealth and need among AsianAmericans has not only mirrored that of other segments of the U. S. population, but it has been even more dramatic.
The earnings of higherincome Asians — those at the 90th percentile — nearly doubled from 1970 to 2016, rising 96 percent, while the income of Asians at the 10th percentile increased only 11 percent over the same period. It’s extraordinary stagnation when you compare that 11 percent to the gains for lower-income blacks (67 percent), whites (45 percent) and Hispanics (37 percent).
Advocacy groups like Asian Americans Advancing Justice, based in Los Angeles, have been at the forefront of reporting on the challenges faced by Asian populations in the U. S. by disaggregating census data to study the various Asiannationality subgroups.
Such data dives uncover eye-opening statistics. For example, while Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women overall are paid an average of 86 cents for every dollar a Caucasian male is paid, disaggregated data shows that Vietnamese-, Laotian- and Samoan-American women earn 61 cents; BurmeseAmerican women 53 cents; and Bhutanese-American women only 38 cents.
These nationality subgroups are the same ones that are likeliest to be comprised of immigrants and, therefore, to be fearful of a census form inquiring about citizenship. This is why Advancing Justice and other immigrant advocacy groups have done so much to ensure that the 2020 census does not include an untested citizenship question, which could potentially discourage Asians from participating in the decennial count.
As a result, the dominoes would continue to topple because when people living in fragile circumstances aren’t counted, they are likelier to lose out on community-based programs and services that could help lift them out of poverty, setting up a vicious cycle of marginalization.
None of this is to say that Kevin Kwan’s escapist, summer fairytale shouldn’t be enjoyed. It is truly a moment to celebrate that “Crazy Rich Asians” was made and is enjoying so much mainstream love at the box office.
However, once the popcorn is eaten and the joy becomes a warm memory, it’s important to understand that pockets of economic inequality can’t come to the fore in a society that incorrectly believes there is a monolithic Asian “community” that is homogeneously upwardly mobile.