Oregon’s APA Communities: The Real Story

Sarika D. Mehta » Podcast

Courtesy of APANO

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders are the fastest growing racial group in the United States, and have grown to over 220,000 in Oregon. Despite generations of contributions to our economy, culture and society, and growing political influence, we continue to have much to learn about their diverse communities. So what is the State of Asian & Pacific Islanders in Oregon? The civil rights group, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, just released a groundbreaking demographic report – specific to the west coast – examining who and where our communities are, how are they are doing on a range of social, economic and political indicators, and emerging policies and initiatives to better meet our communities needs.

It’s imperative to talk about these data in an applicable way because the truth is we keep seeing more unsubstantiated opinions on painting Asian Americans as one giant monolithic model minority. (Thankfully, there are also discussions with more complex perspectives and wonderfully written takedowns).

Joseph Santos-Lyons

For more on this issue, I spoke with Joseph Santos-Lyons, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) for the October 15th, 2015 episode of the KBOO Evening News. Check out the podcast!

Air date: 10/15/2015

https://sarikadmehta.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/aaaj_joseph_kboonews.mp3

**I anchor the Evening News every Thursday. You can listen to the rest of the October 15th, 2015 episode here.