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Anderson: Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders,
also known as AAPI, are a highly diverse group of communities
with their own complex migration and settlement histories;
they represent over 50 ethnic groups
and speak over 100 different languages.
Hello, and welcome to "Comcast Newsmakers."
I'm Tetiana Anderson.
According to the CDC,
the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations
are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,
but you wouldn't necessarily know it from looking
at most of the federal data that's out there.
And that leads to further challenges for communities
whose experiences and needs are being obscured.
Joining me to bring some clarity to all this is Gregg Orton.
He is the national director
of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans.
And, Gregg, thanks for being here.
Orton: Thank you for having me.
Anderson: So Pacific Islanders
are being hit pretty hard by COVID,
but I understand that you guys are having a challenge
when it comes to getting decision makers
to take notice of this --
what's the biggest barrier here?
Orton: I think it starts with just awareness.
Honestly, it has been a challenge
to get decision makers and folks in Congress in D.C.
to recognize that.
In the conversation about health disparities
and the impact of COVID-19,
Pacific Islanders certainly rate amongst the worst
as far as case rates and death rates.
And largely speaking, that's been ignored
in the national discourse around COVID-19.
Anderson: So Pacific Islanders are often sort of just
lumped in with other Asian groups.
And I know that you say when agencies at the federal level,
for example, maybe the CDC do this, it's pretty dangerous.
It pushes this sort of model minority myth.
Explain what's going on here and why that's so problematic.
Orton: Sure -- the model minority myth
is the idea that Asian-American/ Pacific Islanders
are defined by overwhelming success,
and as an immigrant community,
should be looked to as an example
for other communities of color.
And this is incredibly harmful for two reasons.
One is, for AAPIs ourselves,
it invisibilizes the experiences of millions of Asian-Americans,
Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islanders
who actually struggle with economic disparities,
education gaps, health disparities as well.
The second point is that it actually drives a wedge,
and it's been used as a wedge historically to drive
in between Asian-American Pacific Islanders
and other communities of color, and in reality,
we all need to be together in this push for racial justice.
Anderson: So not all federal agencies are getting this wrong.
There are some agencies that are models
for how you would like to see categorization happen --
who's doing a particularly good job,
and why is it so important?
Orton: Sure -- I think
the Health and Human Services Department
has certainly taken some significant steps
towards modeling what good data collection
for all of our diverse communities could look like.
And this really started under President Obama's administration
and work they started unfortunately,
that work obviously stalled
after President Obama left office.
And our hope is that President Biden
and his administration will take seriously
this opportunity to reform the way in which
the federal government collects data on our communities
and really propels forward real progress for us.
Anderson: So this whole idea of disaggregating data,
of not lumping in minority groups all together,
is something that isn't just an issue that AAPI groups face.
This is something that impacts other minority groups.
Is it important that all of these groups
really pay attention to what's happening to the other?
Orton: Absolutely -- I think everyone stands to benefit
from our government collecting better data
and understanding how its programs reach
or don't reach all communities of color
and all minority communities.
And so if we improve the way
the government collects its information
and has a better understanding of how to improve programs
and perform them, I think we all stand to benefit.
Anderson: Quickly, I want to ask you about the campaign hashtag,
#whoweare -- how receptive have folks been to that,
and explain what the purpose of it is.
Orton: Sure. So this started actually last year,
and we decided, with 2020 being as important as it is
with the census and the election,
we wanted there to be a central rallying cry
for the AAPI community.
And so it started with this idea of #AAPI2020.
Obviously that becomes less useful in 2021.
And so we spent some time with our coalition members
thinking through what do we really want
to be that centering call for action for the community?
And we landed on "Who we are."
And the idea was really, it is time
and it's long overdue for the AAPI community
to really reestablish what the narrative is
about our community, and really for folks to understand
who we are, our diversity, our challenges.
Certainly within the context of COVID-19,
the experiences there were important to uplift.
And so #whoweare is what we landed on.
We encourage everybody to use it
when talking about our communities.
And really the idea is,
it belongs to the entire community.
And so the hope is we continue to sort of
cultivate content on social media
and other spaces around this idea.
Anderson: And, Gregg, if people want to find out more about
your work, where can they go, what's the website?
Orton: Sure, it's https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.ncapaonline.org__;!!CQl3mcHX2A!SrnMETeXKC5Le30VG2e6S9jW-4aw46SnnEMUY9c3Prn7APsuiN1DTBhZdCjZedk2wls$
Anderson: Gregg Orton with the National Council
of Asian Pacific Americans -- thanks for joining us.
Orton: Thanks for having me.
Anderson: And thanks to our viewers
as well for watching, as always,
for more great conversations with leaders
in your own community and across the country,
Log on to comcastnewsmakers.com.
I'm Tetiana Anderson.