Writer: Siena Iwasaki Milbauer
It can be hard to feel part of community when you can’t physically be in community. However, organizations are stepping up to provide opportunities to connect virtually. To celebrate the wealth of online events out there, and to make content from these events accessible to folks who may not be able to virtually attend, AAOP is recapping 1-3 online opportunities each month! You can see our past and future recaps at http://aaopmn.org/tag/virtual-event-recap/
On January 20, CAAL MN officially launched their report “Redefining Wealth Through Communal Assets”, which examines the economic health and wealth building practices of Minnesotan Asian communities. The launch event included an overview of the report’s findings, presented by lead research consultant Leona Thao, as well as commentary on the report’s relevance and potential uses from special guests CEO of the Center for Economic Inclusion Tawanna Black, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank’s Alene Tchourumoff, and Professor Bruce Corrie.
CAAL MN Executive Director Bo Thao-Urabe kicked the event off by noting that “We are a nation whose wealth is possible because we are on stolen land. Our nation’s wealth was built on the backs of slaves. And our nation’s infrastructure was built with cheap labor.” Still, Thao-Urabe expressed hope that the report, which is groundbreaking in its culturally sensitive examination of the economic health of Minnesotan Asian communities, will provide data that can help folks to “move towards a more just, inclusive, and prosperous future for all of us.”
Leona Thao then came forward to offer some key takeaways from the report. Thao first explained that “Redefining Wealth Through Communal Assets” is made up of a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, numbers and community story sharing. The report proves the importance of viewing Asian communities in all their complexity, rather than trying to clump all Asian Americans into a single data group. Indeed, there is huge diversity in economic circumstances between different ethnic Asian American groups. For example, Asian communities have the widest income gap in the U.S, with folks in the top 10% of wealth distribution earning more than 11 times as much as folks in the lowest 10%.
Thao also brought forward the fact that Minnesota Asian Americans are a very young community.
The average age of Minnesotan Asians is 28.8, compared to 40.8 for Minnesotan whites, and 37.7 for all Minnesotans. That means that Asian Americans are the workforce of Minnesota’s future, a true power to be reckoned with.
Thao ended their part of the presentation on an optimistic note. “Minnesota is in a position to model to other states an equitable way of not only talking about, but working with Asian communities in the state.”
In their commentary, Tawanna Black, Alene Tchourumoff, and Bruce Corrie all praised the report’s disaggregated data. In order to present culturally sensitive and accurate information, it is so important that researchers look at the specific intersections of class, race, ethnicity, geography, age, etc. that affect individuals and communities. “Redefining Wealth Through Communal Assets” does this by highlighting the differences between the experiences of Minnesota’s various ethnic Asian populations, like Hmong-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans, Chinese-Americans, Indian-Americans, and the many other vibrant Minnesotan Asian communities that exist.
Professor Corrie also noted the importance of the way the report seeks to broaden our conventional definitions of what wealth and assets are to include “not just financial [assets], but the strength of family, the importance of sharing, how people share either through circles of lending or circles of buying.”
Towards the end of the event, CAAL MN Director of Programs and Partnerships KaYing Yang summarized the goals of the “Redefining Wealth Through Communal Assets” report. Firstly, the data should be used to “dispel the model minority myth” by demonstrating the incredibly varied and complex economic circumstances individual Asian American communities experience. Secondly, the report could encourage Minnesotan Asian communities “to come together with other communities in solidarity”, working towards a more just economic future for all. Finally, the hope is that the report will help ensure that Asians are included in every conversation about equity, and that people in power “stop talking about diversity and start acting, start [actually] implementing policies that embrace diversity and inclusion.”
A recording of the full research launch event will be available on CAAL MN’s website in the coming weeks. Additionally, you can download and read the entire “Redefining Wealth Through Communal Assets” report at bit.ly/RedefiningWealthResearch
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Photo Credits: CAAL MN
Special thanks to CAAL MN for allowing AAOP to attend and recap this event!
If you are interested in learning more about how racism and economic opportunity intersect, we recommend checking out the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank’s ongoing series “Racism and the Economy”