State of Asian America: Trajectory of Civic and Political Engagement

Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), a public policy institute, has just published a free report / electronic book titled, “State of Asian America: Trajectory of Civic and Political Engagement.”

There are a series of round table discussions in major cities on this publication, including:
Boston | October 2
Los Angeles | October 7
San Francisco | October 8

Here are some interesting findings from the report:

• Voting among Asian American adult citizens is comparable to that of Latino adults, and about 40% lower than voting among eligible African Americans and whites.
• Just 35% of Asian American voters in this age group cast a ballot in the 2004 national election, compared to 47% of the overall 18-24 population.
• 61% of Asian Americans are foreign born, the highest rate of any minority group in the country.
• By a margin of two-to-one, Asian Americans identify as Democrats.
• Asian Americans nationalize at the highest rate of any immigrant population
• Asian Americans flex political muscle in states including California, where one-third of Asian Americans live, and in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, and other areas.

It’s pretty sad that Asian Americans are not into voting if you ask me…

61% of Asian Americans as foreign born – that seems kind of high to me, but maybe that is one of the reasons why Asian Americans are perpetually seen as “foreigners” – and not “real” Americans given the fact a majority have been born overseas.

And I am kind of surprised by the Asian Americans identify as Democrats by a margin of two-to-one. I would imagine that this would be more even. Maybe there are a lot of Asian Americans who are independents. I have to imagine that recent immigrants tends to be a little bit more on the economically and socially conservative side.

Well, if any of you happen to download and read the complete (or part of the report), let us know what you think!