AAPI Heritage Month: A reflection

Welcome to the last day of AAPI Heritage month. I want to recognize the richness in diversity coming from?more than 50 distinct cultures, ranging from Japanese to Filipino, Chinese to Indian, Indonesian to Burmese.

More than 25 million strong, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) now represent the fastest growing populations in the US, making up around 7% of the population.?According to Pew Research, Asian Americans are projected to become the largest immigrant group in the U.S. by 2055, surpassing Hispanics.

This represents a big shift in how the US will look. ?As of the 2022 census, white Americans are the majority, with non-Hispanic whites representing 57.8% of the population. Hispanic and Latino Americans are the largest ethnic minority, comprising 18.9% of the population, while Blacks or African Americans are the second largest racial minority, making up 13.6%, and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders account for less than 7% of the US population.

I don’t usually talk much about being Asian American, as I believe that people should be celebrated and recognized on their own merits—who they are and what they’ve done. ?

The reality, however, is that depending on where you live, Asian-Americans have long been treated as minorities in the US. We just don’t talk much about how different we are.

In fact, we’ve had to overcome a lot of adversity in order to “blend in” and embody the “model minority” trope—working hard, keeping our heads down, doing what we are told, ensuring that we can produce what could be considered excellent results by any normative standard.?

Here are just a handful of events that we’ve experienced over the years:

·??????As early as the 17th century, a romantic relationship between Caucasians and people of color was prohibited in America. Interracial marriage was not allowed between white and black people. The anti-miscegenation law later extended to Native Americans, Hindus (South Asians/Indians), and Mongolians (Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans).

·??????In 1854, the California Supreme Court declared Asian voices don’t count in court against white defendants.?

·??????In 1882, Congress passed the?Chinese Exclusion Act,?which prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the U.S. for 10 years. It was extended for another 10 years by the Geary Act, and became permanent in 1902. It wasn't repealed until 1943.

·??????Up until 1885 and the Tape v. Hurley case, Chinese immigrants were denied admission to public education in the State of California because of race.

·??????In 1913, California enacted the?Alien Land Law, barring Asian immigrants from owning land.?

·??????In 1935 and 1937, two anti-miscegenation bills were introduced in the Washington State legislature because white Seattle residents perceived the growing Filipino population in Seattle as an economic and racial threat.

·??????During World War II, more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated in internment camps.

·??????In the 1990s, Asian Americans faced a wave of anti-Asian violence in major U.S. cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta.?

·??????In 2021, Asian hate crimes increased by 339%, fueled by the rapid spread of misinformation and misplaced fear around COVID, and by slurs like “Kung Flu” and “China Virus.”

·??????As recently as 2023, proposed legislation in several US states—including Texas, Florida, Tennessee, New Jersey and others—has considered the restriction of ownership of land by Asian entities and individuals from China.

That said, Asian Americans have made a lot of progress both in the legal profession and mainstream consciousness:

????????1933: You Chung Hong, a son of Chinese immigrants, helped to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that had obstructed Chang’s admission to the bar and in 1933, became the first Chinese American permitted to practice before the Supreme Court.

????????January 3, 1957: Dalip Saund of California was sworn in as a U.S. Representative, becoming the first Asian-American, first Indian American and first Sikh to serve in Congress. His advocacy work represented resulted in Congress passing the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, which permitted more South Asians to immigrate to the US and become US citizens.

????????August 24, 1959: Born in Honolulu the son of poor Chinese immigrants,?Hiram L. Fong?was sworn in as Hawaii’s first US Senator, becoming the first Asian American elected to the chamber.

????????January 4, 1965: US Representative Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii was sworn in as the first Asian American woman, and first woman of color, to serve in Congress.?

????????September 8, 1965:?Filipino farmworkers affiliated with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee ((AWOC) joined forces with Latino farmworkers to advocate for farm workers’ rights.

????????October 3, 1965: President?Lyndon B. Johnson?signed the?Immigration and Nationality Act?into law.

????????June 24, 1982: 20,000 Asian Americans demanded garment workers’ rights and won.

????????July 21, 2000: President Bill Clinton swore in?Norman Mineta?as the US Secretary of Commerce, making him the first Asian American to serve in a presidential cabinet.

????????Most recently, in 2021 Kamala Harris was sworn as the first female and first Asian American vice president.

While we’ve made a lot of progress over the years, underrepresentation of high-ranking Asian Americans in the legal profession persists. Asian Americans are the largest minority group at major law firms, ?but have the lowest ratio of partners to associates—and the highest attrition rate. Just 4.3% of equity partners at major firms in 2020 were Asian American; almost 90% were white. Further, Asian Americans remain underrepresented among law clerks, law professors, state court judges, and state and federal prosecutors. And while the number of Asian American federal judges has increased over the past five years, Asian Americans still comprise only 6% of active federal judges.

More broadly speaking—turning our attention to corporate America—a recent McKinsey study of more than 400 large US organizations found that Asian Americans account for 9 percent of senior vice presidents but just 5 percent of promotions from SVP to the C-suite.?Those who do get the promotion still make only 93 cents for every dollar earned by their white colleagues.?Another McKinsey report shows Asian Americans experience lower inclusion rates, perceive lower levels of fairness, and receive less support and opportunities at work than their white peers.

Given where we currently stand with China and the current social and economic climate, there’s still a lot of work to do to ensure that Asian Americans have a voice and can be seen as equals. Recognition of AAPI Heritage Month and a recognition that Asian Americans are indeed minorities, have been treated as such historically and are still treated as such is just one step. Other steps need to be taken.

Employers need to commit to weeding out bias from every corner of the workplace. They must face and address the minutiae—the micro aggressions—that continue to contribute to a discriminatory workplace for Asian Americans, going beyond performative, brand-based DEI exercises.

Cultural sensitivity training needs to address bias and stereotyping, and polices must be changed to hold employees accountable for discriminatory behavior.

Companies could, and should, be actively collecting and analyzing their data to understand the experiences of their Asian-American employees—their specific contributions, challenges and needs. And then companies need to act on those insights.

Most importantly, organizations should find ways to provide real support and mentorship to Asian-American workers throughout their professional journeys—ensuring that evaluations and decisions about hiring, raises and promotions are not tainted by underlying bias.

But, we Asian Americans have work to do, too. ?Collectively, we need to have the courage to embrace, honor and give voice to the unique value we bring to the table.

We have a voice, and we can create change by educating the legal profession and corporate America. To hear more about this topic, join Joy Murao, Anthony Davis and myself as we discuss these issues today at noon PT by registering for the ACEDS AAPI Heritage Awareness Webinar here.?