THE TIMES POLL : Asians Say They Fare Better Than Other Minorities

By large margins, Asians in Southern California view most aspects of their lives positively and say they fare better than other minorities when it comes to financial security, social acceptance, and availability of housing and jobs, according to a new Los Angeles Times Poll.

Likewise, non-Asians generally speak well of Asians, citing a disposition for hard work and strong family ties as top attributes.

Although the responses paint a generally bright picture of Asians’ relations with other groups, they also reveal pockets of ambivalence toward Asian residents, with many non-Asians faulting the group for being too clannish and for wielding too much economic clout.

And the poll exposes a vein of heated opinion surrounding the fractious issue of immigration, whether from Asian or non-Asian countries. Fifty-five percent of residents--including majorities of Anglo, African-American and Latino respondents--favored blocking all immigration to the United States for three years.

A large number of Southern California residents--46%--also think that new Asian immigrants are a burden rather than a boost to the local economy. And more residents than not believe that new Asian immigrants exhibit inferior job skills and educational goals compared to Asian-Americans who have lived here a generation or more. This belief held true for Anglo, African-American, Latino and Asian respondents.

Perhaps most disturbing, the poll reveals a growing well of animosity toward Asians by African-American residents, with 45% of blacks singling out Asians as the most prejudiced ethnic group. Still, more African-Americans (36%) have a positive view of Asians than a poor one (26%).

Far more respondents (41%) believe that the Asian contribution to Southern California is positive, compared to 16% who say it is negative. Many others, however, are circumspect in considering the overall impact that Asians have had on Southern California, with 37% judging their presence equally positive and negative.

Asian immigrants have “excited the economy by buying houses, clothes and food,” said one of those surveyed, Nancy Ng, 28, a Temple City entrepreneur who immigrated from Hong Kong as a child. “But it has also been somewhat negative because maybe they have taken up jobs and made it more competitive for Americans. And if Asians and Americans can’t cope with each other, it creates discrimination, which is also a negative.”

The Times Poll surveyed 1,232 adults in Southern California from Aug. 7-10 and interviewed Anglos, Latinos and African-Americans as well as Asians. Both citizens and non-citizens were included, and some questions referred to “Asians,” while others specified “Asian-Americans” when the issue dealt solely with Americans of Asian descent. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points overall and somewhat higher among subgroups.

The survey of residents in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties tapped attitudes on a wide range of issues relating to Asians, among them racial discrimination, perceptions of Asian characters in movies and television, political participation, and knowledge of Asian history and culture.

Emerging most strongly from the hodgepodge of responses is a picture of Asians at ease within their communities, although like other residents, they are concerned with social and economic problems.

The vast majority of Asians (77%) say they are satisfied with their community. The only group reporting higher satisfaction was Latinos, at 81%. In contrast, 69% of Anglos and 58% of African-Americans expressed satisfaction.

Although shakier now than two years ago, 73% of Asians say their personal finances remain secure and 83% rate their ability to get housing, education and jobs as “good.” This contrasts with 77% of Anglos, 55% of Latinos and 33% of African-Americans who rate social conditions for their groups as favorable.

“I’m generally satisfied with my community,” said survey participant B. Heng, a 37-year-old Buena Park father of two who immigrated from Taiwan eight years ago. “There are good schools, we find the recreational opportunities and entertain good as well. I have no problems with my neighbors, although there are not a lot of other Chinese around.”

Asian residents list crime, gangs, unemployment and inadequate schools as priority concerns. The percentage who say that their quality of life is getting worse has climbed to 34%, from 12% in a Times poll conducted two years ago. Other groups cited a declining standard of living as well, with the percentage of Anglos saying community life is worse climbing from 30% to 43%, and Latinos from 26% to 36%. The figure for African-Americans remained virtually unchanged, with 33% saying things are worse, compared with 32% two years ago.

Thirty-six percent of Asians rate discrimination as a sizable problem in their community, with 14% saying they have been discriminated against and 21% saying they have been the victim of a hate crime in Southern California. Twenty-nine percent say they hear anti-Asian racial slurs frequently.

Fifty-three percent of Asians who say they have been discriminated against said it came from strangers in public places. Only 29% believe that they have been discriminated against in jobs or promotions--the most common arenas for discrimination reported by Anglos, African-Americans and Latinos.

Poll results delivered a mixed message on the fairness of viewing Asian-Americans as a so-called model minority, supposedly immune from the kinds of social ills that beset other families.

Forty-one percent say they believe that Asian-Americans use government services such as welfare and Medi-Cal less often than do other Americans, with 9% saying they use such services more and 32% believing that their use is about the same as other Americans. On the other hand, a clear majority--62%--think that Asian-Americans endure just about the same level of social problems as other American families.

When asked what they admired about Asian-Americans, 51% of the respondents mentioned industriousness, followed by 15% who cited intelligence and 11% who praised the tendency to maintain strong families.

Clannishness was the top criticism of Asian-Americans, mentioned by 18% of those surveyed. Asians cited generally the same positive and negative attributes as the survey group as a whole, with 56% identifying the propensity for hard work as a good trait and 20% agreeing that Asians tend to stick to their own kind too much.

African-Americans, however, were far more likely than any other group to mention prejudice as a negative trait, with 15% identifying that as their biggest criticism. Only 3% of the total respondents cited prejudice as a particular trait of Asians.

Overall, African-Americans still rate Anglos as most prejudiced. But the percentage of African-Americans calling Asians prejudiced has increased to 45%--from 19% in a January, 1989, Times survey that also included Jews and Catholics as options, unlike the recent poll.

Notably, only 24% of Asians thought African-Americans were most prejudiced, a percentage point above those who viewed other Asians as most bigoted (23%).

The attitude of African-American residents toward Asians was not, however, consistently negative: 89% of black respondents said they would not be very upset if substantial numbers of Asians were to move into their neighborhood. But the share who said their neighbors would be upset shot up to 40%--from 25% four years ago.

“Black views of Asians in the Southland are by no means all negative,” said Times Poll Director John Brennan, adding that more African-Americans approve of Asians’ contribution to life in Southern California than disapprove of it. “Still, there are some ominous findings in the poll, which confirm the particularly sensitive nature of black/Asian interactions.”

One recurring criticism of Asian residents was a perceived lack of desire to integrate into mainstream American life. Although 44% of respondents thought Asians were doing an adequate job of integrating, 39% thought they should do more. Interestingly, Asians more than any other group were as critical of themselves on that count, with 41% saying they should try harder to mix with other Americans.

“Even though culture is important, I think (Asians) are held back because they don’t try hard enough to break away from it,” said Roy of Diamond Bar, a survey participant of Japanese descent who asked that his last name not be used.

“I see more and more Asians out here, but there’s still not a lot. It’s one of the reasons I moved here. I wouldn’t want this place to turn into another Garden Grove (a heavily Asian community in Orange County). I think the same holds true for blacks and Latinos as well; we have to try to merge with the general community better.”

The relative insularity of Asians as a group was borne out in the finding that three in five Southern California residents report that few or no Asians live in their neighborhoods. Only 14% of the respondents said a large number live nearby.

Nevertheless, just 17% of Asians said they had no close personal friends of other races. Fifty-four percent said they had close African-American or Latino friends, while 65% named an Anglo friend.

Most Southern California residents acknowledge that improving relations with their Asian neighbors requires a mutual effort. Fifty-two percent said they should do more to learn about the history and culture of Asian-Americans.

Although only 27% felt satisfied with their current level of knowledge, most residents seemed to know a fair amount about the recent history of Asians in America.

A 53% majority correctly reports that the first Asians settled in California more than 100 years ago, while 82% are aware that Japanese-Americans were interned by the U.S government during World War II. Almost two-thirds (64%) support the policy of providing reparations to internees and their families.

The poll also surveyed residents on their impressions of Japan--popularly seen as an economic rival to the United States.

Southern Californians do not seem to be overly critical of Japan, despite some portrayals of Americans as willing participants in so-called Japan-bashing. Most residents--53%--say they have a favorable impression of Japan; 33% say they view that nation unfavorably. Despite heavy criticism by the U.S government of Japanese trade practices, for instance, only 8% said they have a very unfavorable opinion of Japan.

But the question of new immigration is far more problematic for most Southern California residents. Only 15% think that new immigrants from Asia help the local economy, while 46% think they harm it and about 30% believe that their impact is neither good nor bad.

“If they are coming here, they are going to pay taxes, they are going to work, so they will help the economy,” said respondent Lamont Donerson, a 42-year-old Los Angeles resident. “The Asians coming in have their own network, they are not likely to fall off the turnip truck, so to speak.”

But opinions like Donerson’s were in the minority.

“We have people in the middle of the country treading water, without a roof over their heads, yet we are going to extend ourselves to others?” said 46-year-old Los Angeles resident Bernardine Harris. “I understand the principles that our country was built on, but our house is pretty raggedy and we need to take care of our own first.”

Such opinions are a telling clue as to why 64% of residents, including 53% of Asians surveyed, say they approve of the government’s policy of intercepting asylum-seekers on the high seas. Recently, the Coast Guard, working with the Mexican government, has stopped boats with hundreds of Chinese nationals attempting to flee to the United States.

Fifty percent of Southern Californians said they supported the policy strongly, while 19% expressed strong sentiments that the asylum-seekers should have been allowed in and their cases heard.

Assistant Times Poll Director Susan Pinkus contributed to this report.

* RELATED STORIES: B1, B3

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Poll interviewed 1,232 adult residents in the Southern California counties of Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino from Aug. 7 to 10. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the region. Random-digit dialing techniques were used to ensure that listed and non-listed numbers had an opportunity to be contacted. Results were weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age, education and labor force participation. Asians and African-Americans were oversampled to ensure large enough samples for analysis; these groups are weighted to their proper proportions in the overall, region-wide results. The margin of sampling error for percentages based on the entire sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points; for subgroups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Interviewing was conducted in English and Spanish; only those conversant in those languages were interviewed.

THE TIMES POLL: Asians in the Southland

Most Southland residents, both Asian and non-Asian, say living conditions for Asian-Americans in Southern California are generally good. Few believe that new Asian immigrants are helping the economy; far more say they are a detriment.

* How would you rate conditions for Asians in Southern California and their ability to get adequate housing, education, job opportunities, social acceptance by whites and things like that?

% All % Asian Very good 19 9 Good 58 74 Bad 12 12 Very bad 3 1 Don’t know 8 4

* When it comes to their general outlook and mentality, do you think most Asian-Americans have more in common with Asians who live in Asia or do they have more in common with other types of Americans?

% All % Asian More with Asians in Asia 33 30 More with other Americans 46 58 Varies by group/individual* 9 7 Don’t know 12 5

* Do you think Asian ethnic groups such as the Japanese, Koreans, Chinese and Vietnamese tend to have a similar mentality or does each of those groups tend to have its own distinctive mentality?

% All % Asian Similar 17 17 Distinctive 75 76 Don’t know 8 7

* Generally speaking, do you think new immigrants coming to Southern California from Asia are an overall boost for the economy, a burden on the economy, or are they neither a boost nor a burden?

% All % Asian Boost 15 17 Burden 46 33 Neither 30 39 Don’t know 9 11

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times Poll of Southern California, taken Aug. 7-10. Margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

* Given as a volunteered response