Jeremy Lin and Tiger Woods overlooked as LAAUNCH survey finds 42 per cent of US can’t name single Asian-American
- Nine per cent name Bruce Lee as prominent Asian-American despite martial arts star dying in 1973, 11 per cent say Jackie Chan
LAAUNCH describe the survey and resulting report as “a comprehensive, national assessment of attitudes and stereotypes towards Asian Americans” adding that it is “one of the first such studies in the last 20 years”.
They said that the results of the report were based on a survey of 2,766 US residents, aged 18 and over, conducted online between March 29 to April 14 this year. Those polled included Asian-Americans.
The survey took in topics such as the perception of Asian-Americans and their visibility within the media, amid the backdrop of an increase in violence against the community since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Lin and Woods were among a number of notable Asian-Americans mentioned by name in the last aspect of the STAATUS Index Report 2021, which stands for Social Tracking of Asian Americans in the US. The report was published on May 10.
“In our final section, we asked Americans to name prominent Asian-Americans that come to mind,” the report said.
“Despite the high profile of Asian Americans like Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang, Sanjay Gupta, Jeremy Lin, and Tiger Woods, the most commonly cited answer was ‘Don’t know’ (42 per cent), followed by Jackie Chan (11 per cent), a Hong Kong actor and martial artist who appeared in mainstream American films between 1998-2008, and Bruce Lee (9 per cent), an Asian-American actor and martial artist who died in 1973.
“Lucy Liu (5 per cent) was the most frequently mentioned Asian-American woman, followed by Connie Chung (2 per cent). Only 2 per cent of Americans cited Kamala Harris, our country’s first Asian-American, first Black American and first female vice-president.”
LAAUNCH summarised this among their top five takeaways from the report.
“Americans struggle to name prominent Asian-Americans, despite several (eg. Kamala Harris, Andrew Yang) being in the news this year.”
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Lin would be eligible for the play-offs if he is signed by a team before the end of the regular season, which finishes Sunday night in the US.