December 15, 2007

Survey shows discrimination among US-based Pinoys

WASHINGTON D.C. A first-ever survey of how minorities in the United States perceive each other, reveals that Filipinos tend to be more discriminatory against non-White groups, especially people they see as under-achievers or those resorting to illegal short-cuts to gain advantage.

"Filipinos have the strongest level of belief in the American dream, strongest level of belief for equal opportunity, about the fairness of the justice system and that makes them more likely to see African-Americans and Hispanics in a negative light," explained Sergio Bendixen, CEO of Bendixen & Associates and one of the top Hispanic pollsters in the US.

The New America Media reveals results of a first-ever nationwide survey on how ethnic minorities in the United States perceive each other, at the National Press Club in Washington DC

"They perceive the two other groups as basically not playing by the rules, that they are not doing things in a fair way, and they resent the illegal immigrants more than any other group," Bendixen added.

"Because the Filipinos have been so successful in the United States they do tend to look at groups that are not too successful, maybe not as inferior, but as groups that have not achieved as much as they could have," he tells ABS-CBN News.

The nationwide survey was conducted from August to September this year on 1,105 respondents living in areas that had more than 10% African-American or Asian or Hispanic populations. The questions were asked in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog.

It was commissioned by New America Media, a San Francisco-based umbrella of various ethnic media companies, which released the findings Wednesday (Dec. 13) at the National Press Club here. The survey had a 3% margin of error.

"There are serious problems, no doubt about it," NAM Executive Director Sandy Close tells ABS-CBN News.

The survey showed that 93% of Hispanics, 92% of African-Americans and 73% of Asians are strongly to moderately concerned with the problem of racial tension.

"We felt that rather than keeping it under the rug, it’s better to know than not know about how each group thought about the other. And that helps define the problem. Once you know the problem you can figure out to go beyond it," Close explained.

The survey also offered a profile of the three major ethnic groups in America today. Asians are more likely to be foreign-born (80% vs Hispanics-55% and Blacks-10%); Hispanics tend to have a younger population (68% in the 18-44 age bracket compared to 58% for Asians and 57% for African-Americans); and Asians tend to earn more (61% make $50,000 or more compared to 38% for Hispanics and 32% for Blacks), perhaps because a greater portion of its population have college degrees or higher (49% compared to 17% for African-Americans and 12% for Hispanics).

A preference for "white"

Perhaps indicative of the schism among the three groups, the survey revealed that all of them prefer to do business with Whites than with each other.

Asked "Who do you feel more comfortable doing business with?", 61% of Hispanics, 47% of African-Americans and 53% of Asians said they’d rather do business with Whites (curiously, the same pattern of preference for Whites emerged when they were asked about dating habits). More Blacks (52%) than Hispanics (46%) said most Asian business owners do not treat them with respect. Asians tend to be scared of Blacks because they think they’re responsible for crimes; African-Americans are likely to see Hispanics as threats because they take away jobs and housing.

But all three groups are optimistic that these biases and stereotyping against each other can be overcome. "Each group talked about serious problems but each group also had great optimism that things would work out; and each group by an overwhelming majority felt that the ethnic media was the most trusted source to address and improve communications among these communities," Close said.

More Hispanics were likely to trust more ethnic media while more Asians tend to trust more the mainstream media. Only the African-American group registered skepticism about both ethnic and mainstream media.

Pinoys more sophisticated

Sergio Bendixen helps analyzes the significance of the survey results for reporters belonging to the ethnic media in Washington DC

Bendixen noted that "Filipinos are more sophisticated on how they analyze the future."

"They do understand that problems that Filipinos and other Asians face can be more easily solved if they work closely with Hispanics and African-Americans.

They also believe that if Hispanics or African Americans do better in business or government or media then Filipinos can profit by that because they will be given more opportunity" Bendixen added.

Close said the process can be aided by focusing on the common problems that these ethnic groups face. For instance, the majority of Hispanics (85%), African-Americans (92%) and Asians (57%) said "there is a lot of discrimination against my community".

Another common ground is their belief that religion plays a very important role in life (88% among African-Americans, 77% for Hispanics and 62% for Asians). The survey showed this sentiment was highest among Filipinos.

They also shared the view that the US would be a better country if more Blacks, Latinos and Asians are in positions of authority in universities, business, media and government.

"Viewed in historical perspective, the poll is a benchmark for America’s evolution as a global society. Unlike earlier European immigrants who often advanced by setting themselves apart from African-Americans, today’s Hispanics and Asians see themselves as belonging to the same country as the Blacks and Whites preceding them," the report concluded.

"All three groups believe that advances by each will benefit the other, and describe their futures as interdependent," it stressed.