StopAAPIHate.org - More than 11,000 acts of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been reported to the national coalition Stop AAPI Hate since March 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes thousands of parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors who are simply going about their everyday lives — commuting to work on public transit, taking their kids to school, shopping for groceries or running errands — only to suddenly face discrimination, bullying, harassment, shunning, or assault. Some of these acts of discrimination may be violations of civil rights laws.

To better understand these troubling, and at times illegal, experiences with hate, Stop AAPI Hate commissioned the nonpartisan and independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago to conduct a nationally representative survey of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This landmark survey adds to community-generated data at Stop AAPI Hate and existing research to provide a more complete picture of the discrimination that impacts Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the changes needed to uphold the civil rights that protect us all.

Key Findings

1. Nearly half (49%) of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders nationwide have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment that may be illegal. • This discrimination, which is usually based on race or ethnicity, happens when they dine at restaurants, shop for groceries, and ride public transit, as students at school and employees at work, when renting and buying homes, when voting, and when interacting with government employees, including members of law enforcement or staff at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

2. Discrimination negatively affects the mental health and well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. • Half (50%) of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders experiencing discrimination report feeling sad, stressed, anxious, or depressed as a result. • 45% say it negatively changed their sense of belonging to their school, workplace, or other community, and nearly a third (31%) say it negatively changed their behavior, such as switching schools, jobs, or where they shop.

3. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders know they have rights and want accountability for unlawful discrimination, yet few who experienced what they believed to be a civil rights violation report it. • Only one in five (21%) Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who experienced discrimination said they reported it. • A majority (60%) of those who experienced discrimination and reported it say the reporting process was difficult. • Half (52%) of those who experienced discrimination but did not report it thought reporting would not make a difference.

4. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders want a better understanding of how to enforce their rights and want new laws to protect their civil rights. • A majority (60%) of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders want to learn more about their rights and how to enforce them. • Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders trust community, advocacy, and civil rights organizations serving their respective communities (57%) and government agencies responsible for enforcing civil rights (54%) to learn more about their rights. • A majority (67%) believe new civil rights laws are needed.

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