By Beth McGuire
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) occupy a unique place in American society. Unlike other minorities, there’s no overarching language, religion or culture that unifies or identifies the group as a whole. This is because the dozens of countries of origin and ethnicities that make up what we refer to as “Asian American” are so vastly different that in some cases have almost no similarities at all.
Despite this, AAPI are usually referred to as if they’re a uniform group, with uniform experiences and uniform success in the U.S.—a mythos known as the Model Minority. This stereotype assumes that all AAPI are highly educated, well-off financially and generally not in need of government assistance and protections. This could not be further from the truth. While some in the AAPI community have experienced tremendous personal success, many more have not. The Model Minority Myth masks the experiences of the less fortunate, and through its prevalence, has created a vacuum of policy and research into the community at large.
The tangible effect of this vacuum could be said to be inclusion of AAPI into the “other” racial category in government, academic and business research and policy papers. The “other” category is typically defined as Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native Alaskans and Hawaiians, and people of two or more races. The AAPI community is currently the fastest-growing population in the U.S., having seen an astounding 46 percent growth rate from 2000-2010. AAPI are projected to more than double their population by 2050, and China and India have replaced Mexico as the largest source of immigrants to the U.S. Because of this, many AAPI advocacy groups feel it’s time to begin disaggregating AAPI data so policymakers, business leaders and academics have the information needed to understand the issues affecting this dynamic community.
The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) is one of these advocacy groups. AREAA’s core mission is to promote homeownership in the AAPI community by both advocating for policies at the national and local levels, and by empowering those who serve the market. Over the last five years, the AAPI community has been the largest and most active minority participant in the U.S. mortgage market, having applied for and secured more loans, in both total number and dollars originated, than any other minority. Despite this, there’s still very little in the way of housing data and research when it comes to the AAPI demographic. As the National Association of REALTORS® Chief Economist Lawrence Yun states, it’s important to have this data because “…one can examine the special obstacles the AAPI community may be facing in realizing the American Dream of ownership. Is it due to high housing costs in regions where many AAPI reside? Or is it due to credit access difficulty that’s unique to the community? A better understanding of the source of the problem means better ways to help address and redress the problem.”
One of the most widely reported and influential reports on homeownership, the U.S. Census Department’s Quarterly Residential Vacancies …read more
From:: Real Estate News