Ways to improve AA & NH/PI representation

Anna Lee  | 

Anna Lee

Anna Lee shares how to better represent often overlooked members of the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community. (Courtesy of Anna Lee)

Anna Lee shares how to better represent often overlooked members of the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community.

Too often, representations of the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AA & NH/PI) community don’t represent all of the AA & NH/PI. According to Nielsen's Inclusion Analytics from 2020-2021, South Asian Americans were the least represented group among the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in American media, making up only 0.5% share of the screen in all broadcasts and 1.1% in all cable television. Within the South Asian American community, Nielsen discovered that women have an even lower screen time and representation — just 0.3%. We see a similar problem in healthcare. While COVID-19 affects AA & NH/PI subgroups to varying degrees, most data collection lumps these groups together as nationally representative. And in leadership positions across the U.S., AA & NH/PI individuals remain severely underrepresented. A study of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed that although Asian Americans had considerable representation in the NIH workforce, they only made up about 6% of senior leadership positions. 

Creating collective AA & NH/PI representation means considering various factors like generational differences, language barriers and religious affiliation. It also requires input from community members, leaders and individuals. Here are some ways we can improve our representation and support for all members of the AA & NH/PI community.

Creating collective AA & NH/PI representation means considering various factors like generational differences, language barriers and religious affiliation.
— Anna Lee

Diversifying #AANHPIHeritageMonth

Each May, celebrations of AANHPI Heritage Month (still largely referred to as AAPI Heritage Month) promote cultural insight, educational videos and community content creators. However, there remains a huge disparity between East Asian cultural representation and all other Asian American and NH/PI subgroups every year. 

AANHPI Heritage Month social media videos or posts that get shared the most and have the most visibility often only feature individuals of East Asian descent. This disparity is especially noticeable under #aapiheritagemonth on TikTok. Several creators on TikTok have commented on this — including @nilelaters, @badgalriyriy and @drvarunasrinivasan — and have reminded viewers that the term “Asian American” does not just encompass East Asians. 

The same issue emerges across other social media platforms. #AAPIHeritageMonth on Facebook yields search results of primarily East Asian cultures, movies, celebrities and celebrations. However, considering the sheer diversity of the AA & NH/PI term, which consists of “over 50 distinct ethnic identities,” this is a skewed representation of the overall community. 

This May, there will be ample opportunities to engage with various cultures, many of which are not as publicized or as well-known as their East Asian counterparts. For example, you can support local and national Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned brands or businesses. Kuhikuhi is a website you can use to find and support Native Hawaiian-owned businesses. To engage with diverse AA & NH/PI cultures, you can also learn about and respect different customs and holidays. For example, Hinduism — a central religion in South Asian communities, particularly of Indian descent — celebrates holidays like Diwali and Holi that schools and workplaces in the U.S. do not always observe. Taking the time to educate yourself on these important holidays, as well as advocating for observed time off, is an integral part of constructive allyship.

There remains a huge disparity between East Asian cultural representation and all other Asian American and NH/PI subgroups every year. 
— Anna Lee

This May, there will be ample opportunities to engage with various cultures, many of which are not as publicized or as well-known as their East Asian counterparts. For example, you can support local and national Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned brands or businesses. Kuhikuhi is a website you can use to find and support Native Hawaiian-owned businesses. To engage with diverse AA & NH/PI cultures, you can also learn about and respect different customs and holidays. For example, Hinduism — a central religion in South Asian communities, particularly of Indian descent — celebrates holidays like Diwali and Holi that schools and workplaces in the U.S. do not always observe. Taking the time to educate yourself on these important holidays, as well as advocating for observed time off, is an integral part of constructive allyship.

Leaving behind the term “AAPI”

The term “AAPI” has been a contentious one, particularly in the past few years. As mentioned above, most social media posts still use the #AAPIHeritageMonth hashtag. However, the term AAPI is deeply problematic as it lumps together different cultures, social problems and political relations within the U.S. Using of the AAPI term not only fuses Pacific Islander cultures to Asian American ones, but also erases the presence and contributions of Native Hawaiians. 

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face unique challenges, such as the U.S.’s colonization of the Pacific Islands and current impacts of the tourism industry on Hawaii’s infrastructure. Generalizing NH/PI communities as Asian Americans results in the erasure of these issues. The term becomes a catch-all for expressing diversity and communal progress, though it does more harm than good for NH/PI subgroups. Just as the term “Asian American” lumps all regional groups together, while leaving out South Asian and NH/PI subgroups, the same can be said of AAPI.

Anna Lee

“While the term AA & NH/PI accounts for various regional and ethnic identities, we should pay equal attention to each person’s individual experiences,” Anna shares. (Courtesy of Anna Lee)

Discontinuing the AAPI term and creating terms that recognise NH/PI communities as an autonomous and independent community is integral to targeted social progress. A letter from the National NH/PI Policy Council on June 23, 2021 offers some preferable alternatives to the AAPI or API terms. Most importantly is the use of AA & NH/PI, which creates distinction between Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. However, the term AANHPI should not be used as it still lumps the communities together. The Council also pushes for the autonomous representation and data collection of Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders to better address the unique issues pertaining to each community. 

Embracing intersectionality

While the term AA & NH/PI accounts for various regional and ethnic identities, we should pay equal attention to each person’s individual experiences. Accounting for factors like race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and religion draws attention to overlapping identities. It also allows a more complex understanding of the different issues and struggles each person faces based on their overall presentation. Importantly, an intersectional lens also moves beyond presenting AA & NH/PI as a monolith and instead acknowledges each person’s unique experiences.

Organizations and businesses must also begin embracing AA & NH/PI intersectionality. The Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF), whose panel “Celebrating Asian American & Pasifika Joy in Storytelling” drew considerable criticism from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. Since the organization had not fostered meaningful relationships with the communities in the past, the panel title proved to be misleading. Taking this criticism into account, SAAFF issued an apology, citing their mistakes, illuminating methods for improvement, and offering educational resources. As SAAFF learned, it is important to acknowledge that people in the AA & NH/PI community navigate their environments differently due to specific prejudices, issues and privileges they face. Like all other things, embracing AA & NH/PI intersectionality will be a collective project. It will require large-scale effort from individuals to communities to policymakers, ensuring each community moves forward at equal and collective pacing. 

Starting difficult discussions

To create better representation across all AA & NH/PI subgroups, there must be transparent discussions within the community itself. While some factors lie outside the community’s control, there are deeply rooted issues of colorism, racism and profiling. Oftentimes, AA & NH/PI individuals avoid these discussions, especially on a public scale. While there is no one reason as to why so many subgroups refuse to address these problems, it threatens the integrity of communal empowerment. 

On an individual level, there may be some important self-reflection to do. For example, you can start paying closer attention to your social media interactions and what sorts of AA & NH/PI cultures you choose to interact with; is there an even distribution of interest across diverse cultures, or are there recognizable patterns? You can also explore ways to learn more about this AA & NH/PI representation from activists on social media, like Thenmozhi Soundararajan, Kapulei Flores, and Farihah Choudhury.

To create better representation across all AA & NH/PI subgroups, there must be transparent discussions within the community itself. While some factors lie outside the community’s control, there are deeply rooted issues of colorism, racism and profiling.
— Anna Lee

There is also plenty of room for improvement in schools. Many “AAPI” or “AA & NH/PI”- identifying student societies are not as diverse as their title suggests. Oftentimes, these groups are primarily made up of East Asian students, possibly because they are most often associated with the AA & NH/PI term. If student societies wish to welcome all AA & NH/PI students, they should make an effort to do so, not just for the sake of diversity, but for collective unity and cross-cultural understanding. 

National organizations and our elected representatives should also do more to advocate for the AA & NH/PI community. There have been strides in our governmental representation, such as the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI), which aims to institute legal policies or protections for communities. There were also a record number of 346 AA & NH/PI candidates in the 2022 election cycle, indicating rising levels of political participation. However, simply creating organizations or winning elections are only the first steps in national progress. These national organizations and representatives have a duty to start these difficult discussions with other policymakers, groups and legislation. 

It will take enormous effort from all levels of the AA & NH/PI community to create collective representation. While these suggestions only cover some of the work that must be done, they should hopefully create an overview of some of the issues we must address. By mitigating these problems to the best of our ability, we might be able to remove some of the barriers that block our potential for progress, not just for one subgroup or community, but for us all.

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Meet the Author
Meet the Author
Anna Lee

(she/her/hers) is an English literature major at the College of the Holy Cross. She has worked for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander nonprofit organisations and student societies.