There are two million South Asian Americans – at least those were the numbers we had to use and were derived from the 2000 Census. But as we’ve written before, the numbers of the community were suspected as being underestimated in the previous Censuses. The data from the 2010 Census has been slowly release this year and last month the Asian Pacific American Legal Center released their latest report “A Community of Contrasts; Asian Americans in the United States: 2011” (download PDF here) which has a comprehensive national community analysis.
The report covers a wide range of topics such immigration, employment, housing and health. I would like to address in particular the population and civic engagement components that the report discovered in the South Asian community. One of the largest findings is that South Asians are the fastest growing Asian American community; the Indian population is at 3,183,063; the Pakistani population is at 409,163; Bangladeshi population at 147,300; Nepalese population at 59,490; Sri Lankan population at 45,381; and Bhutanese population at 19,439. That brings the South Asian American population close to 4 million with an exact total of 3,863,836 people. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani population literally doubled between 2000 and 2010.
The citizenship rate of foreign-born Asian Americans has also increased, from 50% in 2000 to 57% now. India has one of the greatest number of legal permanent residents eligible to become citizens and 57% of foreign-born Pakistanis have been naturalized. Yet, there are still language and cost barriers associated with citizenship and this remains a hurdle to full civic engagement.
These results and more can be found in the report. But as an electoral advocate, these findings are the most fascinating in how they pertain to civic engagement. As part of the federal Voting Rights Act, Section 203 requires bilingual voting assistance to be required to particular populations, based on Census data. 2002 was the last time an assessment was determined. Due to the results of the 2010 Census, Section 203 now covers Asian American populations located in 22 counties, boroughs, census areas or cities, including 17 new population areas. For the first time South Asian languages are included as a mandatory language for particular counties. The South Asian jurisdictions covered by Section 203 now include:
- Los Angeles County, California – Asian-Indian
- Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) – Asian-Indian
- Queens County, New York – Asian-Indian
- Hamtramck City, Michigan – Bangladeshi
As can be inferred from the above charts, the increase in South Asian populations as well as the higher proportion of naturalized South Asians means that more South Asian Americans are eligible to vote. Providing bilingual assistance will allow the South Asian community to get fully engaged in a process which they wouldn’t have otherwise.
As we know, “Asian-Indian” isn’t a language. So what language will be chosen in these three counties? In all likelihood, the language will be Hindi though it will be up to the local governing body (such as the Registrar of Voters office) to make the final decision. I’m sure there will also be local community organizations that will be advocating on language preferences for the community. What I was intrigued by was how the largely Punjabi city of Yuba City, CA (13.7% of total population is Asian-Indian) or the silicon-ed Fremont, CA (18.1% of total population is Asian-Indian) were not included in Section 203. For more on California specific Asian Indian population, you can check out the google map here. Though I know Section 203 is focused around “limited English proficiency” which is slightly different than straight “race/ethnic population”, I wonder how accurate people report their language capabilities in Census surveys.
There’s a lot more in the report that I’ve yet to dig into – but being the nerd that I am, I can’t wait. I’m really interested to see how else these results will potentially influence policy affecting South Asian Americans (such as with redistricting). Mutineers, what are your thoughts on the ethnic/race specific data pulled from the 2010 Census?
* All chart images are from A Community of Contrasts; Asian Americans in the United States: 2011 report.
tx. the new census interface sux IMO, so i haven’t even tried to pull anything down.
The census figure of 3 million + Indian Americans includes multiracial Indians. The number of Americans of purely Indian origin is more like 2,850,000.
does it really matter in this context if someone is “pure” Indian or not?
Fascinating. But why does it not surprise us?
I have spent a couple of hours on the pdf, and the results are truly fascinating. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are relatively new immigrants, unlike Indians who have been coming here since the late 60s, and in terms of education and employment, they are on par with Indians. Their numbers are still very small compared to that of Indians, though, which is probably why there is so much Indian visibility in media and wall street and academia, but that should change in the next 10-20. With high academic achievement and cultural emphasis on profession and family, Asians as a block could be game changing. However, with the infighting you see between Hindus and Muslims, Indians and Pakistanis, Chinese and Taiwanese as well as war-torn psyches of Cambodians and Vietnamese, I don’t see Asians coming together as a block. Which is real pity.
Thanks for this post, taz.
From the above document, the college rate for Indians is 68%, for Pakistanis 55% and Bangladeshis is 47%
The per-capita income for Indians is $36k, for Pakistanis $24k, and for Bangladeshis, $16k
Just as in UK, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis currently lag and will in future also lag Indians and are headed to under-class
Pakistanis in the US are different from the Pakistanis in Britain (who include a very large segment of Mirpuri Kashmiris, who came with low literacy, got generous welfare and got into “true Islam” in a state where multicultralism was being seriously attempted…none of this is true of Pakistani immigrants to the US). My guess is that per capita income for Pakistani-Americans will rise though the gap with Indians will probably increase a little. I dont think the Pakistani American community is headed for the kind of underclass status you imply. That said, I do think there will be a dramatic difference in other areas. In academic achievement, cultural achievement and civic engagement within America, Indians will continue to pull ahead and the gap will widen. e.g.,I have read somewhere (I wish I had the link handy, but someone may find it and post it) that if you look at National honors society finalists, the gap between Indians and Pakistanis is MUCH larger than the gap between their respective populations. In my own field (academic medicine) the gap is not narrowing, its growing. There are many Pakistani doctors, but not as many Pakistanis in academics and research.
This guy rec1man is a notorious Internet troll tirelessly spreading BS about south indian brahmins having the highest IQs in the whole world, despite zero evidence! He has no love for low caste hindu desis either.
Unfortunately for him Pakistani and Bangladeshi Americans have been more in the news lately than Tamil Brahmin Americans, as exemplars of the American dream. There is the innovative pakistani-american engineer Shahid Khan a self-made billionaire who just became the first minority to own an NFL franchise, as elite as you can get in American sports. There is Bangladeshi-American Salman Khan who is in the news for innovating in the education sector with his Khan Academy which is extolled and financed by Bill Gates, the Google guys and other such luminaries. Two Pakistani-Americans Osman Rashid and Babur Habib are also leading edge innovators in the education sector with their Kno project. Then there is Pakistani-American Hosain Rahman who is in the news for his innovative wrist band the Jawbone Up. He is the man behind the king of Bluetooth headsets, the Jawbone line and the best of breed Bluetooth speakers the Jawbone Jambox.
Considering that Pakistanis and Bangladeshis combined are fewer than half a million, a small fraction of the Indian-American population, it looks like they are making quite an impact in America.
but all this, including my comment, is anecdotal. There are many Pakistani achievers and Indian achievers but what are the aggregate figures? Does someone have data about enrollment in PhD programs, National merit scholars, something else quantitative? What does the data say? I was trying to point out that the pakistani american population is NOT likely to become an economic underclass or a ghettoized population like a faction of the British Pakistani community..the two populations are very different. But at the same time, the average academic/research achievement and penetration in mainstream cultural fields and politics is likely to be higher for the Indian population and (anecdotally) this gap seems to be growing, not shrinking. But again, that does not mean Pakistanis are headed for some kind of underclass status. BOTH Pakistanis and Indians (and Bangladeshis for that matter) are likely to be relatively successful minorities. But within these groups, Indians seem on track to continue to outperform the other two, at least in the next 10 years.
so broken down by percent of total population, south asians americans account for ~1.3% of the population? i’m actually surprised the number’s that small.
Thanks a lot for improve knowledge about this. really appreciation for this. Thanks again!
You’re a troll, but I’ll play. Indians have been coming to the US since the 1960s, and only professionals were allowed in. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have been coming to US in noticeable numbers since 1980s and especially the 1990s, at a time when immigration rules were more relaxed. That is, many of the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis arriving here, unlike the Indians, are often of lower income and come here drive taxis or work in menial jobs. Regardless, it is clear that within 20 years, they are already on par with the more elite Indians that got to come here in the 60s and 70s.
“The per-capita income for Indians is $36k, for Pakistanis $24k, and for Bangladeshis, $16k” Your inability to understand how context defines statistics says a lot about your lack of critical thinking skills. Your predictions of who will or will not be underclass is as valid as those nuts who routinely predict the end of the world.
Wishful thinking doesn’t equal reality.
Deshi,
My friend from across the border, I m with you. Contrary to popular notions, available data and a good sample set in British Pakistanis I agree that Pakistanis are model immigrants.If only those pesky Americans were like the British and allowed people from Pakistan their rightful place which is only at the top above everyone else.
deepal, Asian Americans(including Indians, Pakistanis,etc.) as a whole barely amount to 5% of the US population.. They just have increased visibility because of their concentration in major metros and higher average levels of education.
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Anyone know why the Sri Lankan community in the US is so small? The UK, Canada, Australia and even France have considerably larger numbers of them, so I’m wondering why the Sri Lankan American population is considerably lower than one might expect.
Why are we happy about the uncontrolled population growth back home. India is a mess on a brink of disaster due to scarcity of resources.
Key today is low population and high productivity. Take Scandinavian countries for example.
Yes this is true and its a great thing. But recent developments have it so most of us are, for some reason or another, turning up GOP. Its something that is not only counter intuitive, but also unprecedented. No other minority supports the GOP in a greater way than “Desis.” It is scary.
I wrote about this in light of the 2010 Congressional Elections. http://thecafeaulait.blogspot.com/2010/11/gop-la-brown.html
I really liked your blog! Nice Posts!….