Asians in US most well off immigrants

WASHINGTON - Filipinos and other Asian immigrants in the United States have substantially higher incomes and are better educated than Hispanics  and blacks,  according to a recent poll.

The three groups also underscore racial tensions among them as a serious problem demanding attention.

Yet these same groups also believe that race relations will improve significantly over the next 10 years, said the poll of 1,105 black, Hispanic and Asian-American adults sponsored by New America Media, a grouping of over 700 ethnic news organizations across the country. 

Asians and Hispanics express great optimism about their lives in the United States and believe that hard work will be rewarded and “the system” works.

Among Asian respondents, Vietnamese have the highest majority (81 percent) who believe that if you work hard you will succeed in the United States, followed by Filipinos (71 percent), Koreans (55 percent) and Chinese (50 percent).

In contrast, over 60 percent of blacks polled do not believe the “American dream” works for them. They also describe themselves as feeling more segregated from the rest of America compared to Asian and Hispanic immigrants.

The findings also show that Hispanics are significantly younger than their African-American and Asian counterparts .

Over half of all Hispanics and four-fifths of all Asians residing in the United States are immigrants.  In contrast, 90 percent of blacks are US-born.

Hispanic respondents were interviewed in English or Spanish and Asian-American respondents were interviewed in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese or Tagalog.

Almost half of Asians have a college degree. In contrast, less than one-fifth of Hispanics and African-Americans have college diplomas.

While an overwhelming majority of blacks believe the criminal justice system favors the rich and the powerful, a majority of Hispanics and an even larger majority of Asians disagree.

On the question of how important religion or spirituality is to them, 88 percent of blacks rate it as “very important” compared with 77 percent of Hispanics and 62 percent of Asians.

 “While the study shows divisions among the various racial and ethnic communities, it simultaneously reflects optimism among the Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American communities regarding the future of inter-racial relations in the next decade,” Rep. Mike Honda of California, chairman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said in a statement last Wednesday.