The Biden Presidency & The Continued Omission of Asian Americans

By Hyepin Im

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n inauguration day, many of us sighed a breath of relief with the promise of a new day with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the helm. We joined with others to celebrate Harris on her historic election as the first woman, first African American, and first Asian American to be vice president in the United States—a great sign of progress and hope in our country. Yet, in light of the recent insurrection and takeover of our Capitol; the blatant display of white supremacy; the abuse of faith in the public arena; the increasing divisiveness during these past four years; and the Covid-19-related deaths, racism, and harassment, we have learned that we need to safeguard our hope with vigilance, to ensure our country’s future and our own safety. As Asian Americans who are often victimized or demonized in our nation’s race wars and national crisis, this vigilance is even more critical as President Biden starts his administration. 

In his inaugural speech, President Biden promised “The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer” and that his Cabinet would represent the diversity of America. Yet, as he starts his administration, his failure to appoint an AAPI at a Cabinet secretary level out of 15 positions, when all previous administrations in the last 20 years have done so, is glaring. President Obama had three. President Bush had two, and President Trump one. During this past presidential election, Asian Americans from all walks of life, including religious leaders, came out in droves to create a margin of victory for Biden, especially in the battleground states and the significant Georgia senate race. We have as much stake in claiming President Biden’s victory and leadership but have yet to be fully recognized for our contributions. The president’s promise is one that we should hold him to, and that “all” should also mean AAPIs. 

Racial Inequality 

Certainly, racial equity is part of the Biden Harris administration’s top priorities. Yet, it is to be seen if the Biden administration will address the specific ways Asians face racial inequities and discrimination in all areas of life. Asian Americans find ourselves in an unenviable no-man’s land, facing all the discrimination and burden of being a minority while enjoying little—if any—of white privilege. Because of the model minority myth that masks the suffering and discrimination of many Asian Americans, we are alienated from solidarity with other minority groups while also being invisible or excluded from investments and invitations that help advance minority communities. Until President Biden’s January 26 memorandum combating AAPI discrimination, Asian Americans had been, by and large, also missing from talking points of policy makers and media coverage. As a result, our community’s pains have often been overlooked, including during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Workplace Discrimination

It is commonly understood that education is a way to bypass some racism and a pathway out of poverty. Thus, if you were to look at the educational attainment of Asian Americans, one would conclude that Asian Americans are case study for success. At all levels of education, Asians have the highest attainment rate of any group—whether it is bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, or professional degrees. Yet, when you look closer at their probability of promotion to management, Asians have the lowest rates of any group, whether in the private sector, universities, or government. If you were to define discrimination based on lowest return on investments, Asians would be at the top of the list—at least in education. If this country is to fully realize its full potential of “all” its people, then Biden’s policies need to address the inequities that Asians face in the workplace.

Disproportionate Covid-19 Impact on Asians

The Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged the country with over 420,000 deaths and over 25 million infections to date. Much attention has been given to accurately highlight the disproportionate Covid-19 impact on Black and brown communities. Yet, very little attention continues to be given to highlight the disproportionate Covid-19 impact on Asian communities when so many work in industries that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and shelter-in-place mandates. 

Highest Rates of Healthcare Workers and Frontline Workers

Nearly 25 percent of Asian Americans work in the categories that have been heavily impacted by Covid-19 including hospitality and leisure, retail, and other services (such as repair shops), and personal services such as hair-cutting and laundries. Asians make up 7 percent of the US population, yet make up significant percentages of healthcare workers including 26 percent of healthcare workers in California, 12 percent in New York, and 72 percent in Hawaii. Nationally, Asians make up 20 percent of all physicians and surgeons and over 9 percent of nurses. 

Highest Death Rates

With such high rates of Asians in high-risk frontline and essential jobs, it is no surprise that Asian American Covid-19-related death rates have kept an alarming pace. Latest data points show that nationally, Asians had the second highest death rates of 36.6 percent after Hispanics at 53.6 percent. In May 2020, Asians had the highest death rate due to Covid-19 in California at 16.7 percent. In Los Angeles County, Asians had the highest death rate of any group at 13.7 percent. In six cities and six states where Asians have large populations, Asian death rates were higher than the overall population. When you also disaggregate data, in New York, Chinese Americans had the highest death rate of any group at 35.7 percent.

Highest Increase in Unemployment Rates

In addition, in New York, where the pandemic first hit the hardest, unemployment filings in April 2020 increased to 10,210 percent for Asian Americans—the highest of any ethnic group. As of January 2021, Asians still had the highest rate of long-term unemployment due to the pandemic. AAPI Businesses were also disproportionately impacted—a UCLA study reported over 233,000 Asian American-owned small business closures across the country during the early stage of the pandemic from February to April 2020. 

Covid-19 Hate Crimes and Incidents against Asians

During this Covid pandemic, with President Trump calling the pandemic the “kung flu virus,” there has been a rising number of hate crimes against AAPIs. According to Stop AAPI Hate, more than 2800 hate incidents against AAPIs have been reported to date with the start of the pandemic. A recent McKinsey report indicates that people believe that Asians had the highest rates of experiencing racism during the pandemic. Such racism has had various impacts, including business closures and unemployment with fear of pandemic associated with Asians.

Omission of Asians—A Common, Consistent Reality for Asians

Recently, Susan Rice, who is leading Biden’s Domestic Policy Council and responsible for ensuring that the new administration incorporates racial equity into everything it does, did not include Asians in her statement and advocacy about the disproportionate Covid-19 impact on minority communities. She states, "Look at the COVID crisis, which disproportionately sickened and killed Black and brown people who are the front-line workers, the essential workers." In light of so many examples of the disproportionate Covid-19 impact on the Asian community, especially as front line and essential workers, Rice’s blatant omission of Asians with the lack of awareness or sensitivity is a common reality and burden Asians face. Our pains, presence, and contributions continue to be invisible to our policy makers and absent in their talking points. Rice goes on to state, “We are all poorer when those among us who are most vulnerable, most disadvantaged, are suffering.” It is to be seen if the Biden administration will fully recognize that Asians can also be “vulnerable,” “among the most disadvantaged,” and “suffering,” and include AAPIs in all their talking points, but more importantly, in their respective policies that address racial and economic inequities.

Conclusion

Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” As Asian Americans, we should not be discouraged by the persistent omission and invisibility of our community. A positive sign of hope is President Biden’s recent executive order to combat xenophobia, racism, and hate crimes against the AAPI community. The order acknowledges “long-standing and unacceptable” bullying and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as well as a dramatic increase in violence and harassment since the beginning of the pandemic. The Biden administration has charged the Department of Health and Human Services to work with the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force—to consider providing guidance for best practices in the areas of  cultural competency, language access, and sensitivity toward the AAPI community in the federal government’s COVID-19 response. The US Department of Justice also will be charged to work with AAPI communities in preventing hate crimes and harassment.

 In his inauguration speech, President Biden expressed his commitment to unity and importance for each of us to engage. “But the American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us, we the people who seek a more perfect union...And I ask every American to join me in this cause…And over the centuries, through storm and strife, in peace and in war, we've come so far. But we still have far to go.” Indeed, we still have far to go as a country. However, as Asian American believers, we are people of light. Light shines the brightest in the darkest moments.  Let us ever be vigilant in shining our light and making that light visible and recognizable by “all.” 

Photo by ali abiyar on Unsplash

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Ms. Hyepin Im (CPA, MBA, Master of Divinity) is a former U.S. Presidential Appointee on the Board of the Americorps and serves as President and Founder of Faith and Community Empowerment (formerly KCCD), a national nonprofit involved in empowering churches and nonprofits to leverage their resources by building capacity, leadership, and partnerships in economic development and serving as a bridge between the Asian American community and the greater community at large.