A new report released this spring takes a closer look at the diversity of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders in Colorado.
The 84-page report, titled “The Colorado Lotus Project: A statewide look at the strengths and barriers facing Colorado’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander communities,” Rather than grouping all of Colorado’s many groups together, it separates them by country or region of origin. It’s under the label “Asian.”
Much of the data on topics such as employment, length of stay in the U.S., access to health insurance, and physical and mental health reveals differences between groups of people who came to Colorado from countries considered “Asian.” Presented for illustrative purposes.
For example, statistics for Hmong, Indian, and Indonesian Coloradans are displayed in separate categories. While they may technically all be Asian, this study aims to show that their experiences in Colorado are different.
Photo by Kenneth Ho.
For Kenneth Ho, 48, whose parents are Chinese immigrants, this is an effective way to present information. The real estate developer, who grew up in Rhode Island, lives in Denver’s Central Park neighborhood with his half-Korean, half-white wife and two teenage sons. He saw the study at the request of CPR and liked what he saw.
He said in an interview that he grew up with people applying the “model minority” stereotype to him, and that he expects people to be more geeky than they realize.
Athletic, 5 feet 10 inches tall with chiseled cheekbones, he said he didn’t think people expected him to look like him. “I don’t fit into the box that they call Asian American, or the box that they try to classify in a very simplistic way,” he said, referring to when he was a graduate student at North Carolina State. He added that he remembers being asked, “What kind of Chinese are you?”
He has also faced stereotypes about the Chinese community based solely on his appearance.
“Oftentimes, people assume I’m half white, half Asian, mixed heritage, or Korean,” she said, adding that people have certain perceptions of what recent Chinese immigrants look like. He pointed out that
It’s good for him to have research that recognizes his uniqueness not just as an Asian, but as a Chinese American.
“I think you’re measuring things that are important. If you’re not measuring at a level that provides useful data, you’re missing out on a lot of things,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in how about 60% of the world’s population is considered Asian, and when you lump it all together…I think there’s quite a difference, so I was really interested. .”
Ho’s response to the study is consistent with the report’s stated goal of “understanding the unique experiences of the people included in this account across areas such as health, housing, and civic engagement.” .
Provided by: FACC Colorado Filipino American Community (FACC), the oldest Asian nonprofit organization in Colorado, will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a performance at the King Theater on January 27, 2024, featuring performances by PASCO and Famous Filipino dance groups such as Gamelan Tunas performed. Mekar, San Francisco’s Palangal Dance Company and unique Filipino cultural dance and music group.
This study categorizes Colorado’s Asian population into geographic regions and further into country or island groups. East Asia refers to countries including China and the island nation of Taiwan. South Asia includes India, Pakistan, and Nepal, the focus of an exhibit that opened last month at the Aurora History Museum. Famous countries in Southeast Asia include Cambodia and Thailand. The “Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders” category includes Micronesia and Polynesia, as well as lesser-known places such as Yap, an island chain in the western Pacific.
The study found that in 2021, about 260,000 Asians from dozens of countries and islands lived in Colorado, making up about 4% of the population. Approximately 6,700 people are of Nepali descent, which ranks in the middle of Colorado’s Asian population. The smallest groups are Okinawans and Marshallese, both with populations of less than 200 in 2021.
Kevin J. Beatty/Denver Light A new sign installed by Colorado Asian Pacific United at 19th and Lawrence streets is one of three that accurately preserves the history of Denver’s Chinatown. August 8, 2023. Hart Van Denberg/CPR News William Way, Committee Member Colorado Asian Pacific Coalition, Monday, August 8, 2022, removes a plaque from a wall in the LoDo neighborhood on 20th Street across from Coors Field. The sign incorrectly depicted the brutal 1880 assault by whites on Chinese immigrants who lived and worked in Denver as “Chinese.” Riot. “This move was led by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s office and follows a formal apology earlier this year.
The largest Asian group in Colorado is Chinese, with about 47,000 people, followed by Filipinos, Indians, Koreans, and Vietnamese, each with 34,000 to 38,000 people.
According to the report, Native Hawaiian and Thai descendants make up a similar population size to Nepalese descendants, at 8,500 and 6,000, respectively.
In terms of income, some Asian subgroups in Colorado fare better than the Colorado average. The study found that while the median household income of the Nepali population is close to the state average ($75,000 vs. $80,000, respectively), the median household income of two Asian subgroups exceeds the Colorado average by more than 20%. It turned out that
In 2021, the median Indian household income in Colorado was $126,000, and the median Laotian household income was $103,000. Other groups, including Hmong, Filipinos, Indonesians, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese, also have higher incomes than the Colorado average, with median household incomes ranging from $80,000 to $90,000 in 2021, according to the study. It is said to be in the $7,000 range.
“(W)e are disrupting the idea that the AANPI community is monolithic and highlighting how different Colorado’s AANPI diaspora really is,” the report states. “We come from very different places and have very different experiences.”
One difference Ho noticed was the report’s take on homeownership, identifying that some Asians in Colorado tend to own more homes than others, and some It also revealed health disparities in health and showed differences in those areas.
Hart Van Denberg/CPR News On most prep days, former wonton chef Penelope Wong and her staff make about 4,500 wontons using a variety of ingredients and freeze them before cooking. February 13, 2023 Hart Van Denberg/CPR News Ryan Anderson and Alicia Davey own Zomo Asian & American Eatery on Broadway in Inglewood. Ryan begins most workdays shopping around Denver in search of the best fresh produce. His first stop at 7 a.m. on Nov. 10 was Restaurant Depot on 13th Street, just off Interstate 25.
“This report makes that point clear: Asian Americans (and I use this term simply) have the greatest internal disparities in economic health and achievement of any minority group. I think that’s probably because this group is the most diverse.”
Reporting such a diverse population as one group is “like lumping apples, oranges, pineapples and bananas together,” he said.
He also said that it was interesting to see the subtle nuances between groups reflected in the graphics and words. “These differences are important, especially when you talk about the issues that these different communities face. How do you communicate and reach them? Because there are very different cultural norms and obviously There are very different languages and different religions.
And while studies have found that some Asians fare less well than others, this reality can be ignored without nitpicking. “If we lump the entire community together, we may say we are doing well, but that ignores the tremendous challenges facing our community… mental health, substance abuse, Our community is struggling like every other community, including economic issues.”
