Developing and validating an anti-Asian area racism index at the county level in the contiguous United States 2020 - 2021
Year: 2024
Type: preprint
Abstract: Historical narratives and the "model minority" myth have obscured the realities of anti-Asian racism in the United States. The escalation of prejudice and hate crimes against Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the need for robust measures to quantify this phenomenon. This study proposes a novel county-level index specifically designed to capture the multifaceted nature of anti-Asian racism. The index integrates a diverse data set including geotagged Twitter data assessing public attitudes and potential hate speech directed toward Asian Americans, anti-Asian hate crime records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform Crime Reporting System, Google Search Trends data about anti-Asian stereotypes and narratives, and alien land bills denoting context for discriminatory policies against Asian immigrants at the state level. We employed Principal Component Analysis to combine these data sources into a single, composite index. A validation of the index using nationally representative survey data indicates that two of the three identified principal components significantly predict area racism against Asian respondents. This study offers a nuanced understanding of anti-Asian racism and has the potential to inform targeted interventions, the allocation of resources for community support and educational initiatives, and can be instrumental for policymakers in identifying areas with heightened anti-Asian bias. Additionally, the index serves as a foundation for future research, facilitating the exploration of correlations between anti-Asian racism and various health and social outcomes. While limitations exist regarding data subjectivity and availability, this index represents a significant advancement in measuring anti-Asian racism at the county level. It paves the way for a more comprehensive understanding of this critical issue and the development of effective strategies to combat racial injustice and address related geographic disparities.
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4401326836