The majority of Americans can’t name a single famous Asian American, according to a recent survey. And for the fourth year in a row, the most common answer besides "I can't think of one" was the actor Jackie Chan, who's not American.
The report, released Tuesday by the nonprofit Asian American Foundation, surveyed over 6,200 people above the age of 16 across the U.S. on their attitudes toward the Asian American community.
A majority of respondents, 52%, said they couldn’t think of any famous Asian American. Nine percent named Chan, who is from Hong Kong, and 5% named actor Bruce Lee, who is Asian American but who died in 1973. Just 2% named Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Asian descent.
Asian Americans made up nearly 26% of survey respondents, while 49.5% were white, 12.6% Hispanic and 9.4% Black.
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This year's findings represent a significant change from last year, when 26% of respondents answered “I don’t know” when asked the same question. Researchers said the jump might be attributed to the way the question was framed this year — namely the introduction of the option “none come to mind.”
“The main takeaway is that many continue to be unable to name a famous Asian American, pointing to the invisibility of our communities,” said Sruthi Chandrasekaran, director of data and research at TAAF.
Americans often confused Asian nationals with Asian Americans, the study notes, and when they did name someone, it was rarely a woman.
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“I think it reflects our invisibility in American society for hundreds of years,” said Norman Chen, TAAF's CEO. “It’s been four years in a row now that Jackie Chan has been the number one answer. … Our question is, who’s going to be the first person to replace Jackie Chan as a famous AANHPI? When is that going to happen? Is that going to happen in five years, 10 years, 20 years, or longer?”
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