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U.S. Satisfaction With Treatment of Asian People Tumbles
Social & Policy Issues

U.S. Satisfaction With Treatment of Asian People Tumbles

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Story Highlights

  • 46% of Americans satisfied with the way Asian people are treated
  • 33% satisfied with treatment of immigrants, the lowest Â鶹´«Ã½AV has found
  • Majorities dissatisfied with treatment of Hispanic, Arab and Black people

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' satisfaction with the way society treats Asian people has fallen sharply this year, from 60% to 46%, after a series of violent attacks on Asian Americans in recent months. This 14-percentage-point drop follows a 15-point decline between 2016 and 2020. Before 2016, Â鶹´«Ã½AV typically found more than seven in 10 Americans satisfied with the way society treated Asian people.

Line graph. Americans' satisfaction with the treatment of Asian people in society. Currently, 46% are very or somewhat satisfied, a record low and down from 60% in 2020.

These findings, from a Â鶹´«Ã½AV poll conducted June 1-July 5, come after a year in which violence against Asian Americans spiked in several major cities and garnered significant media attention.

White (50%) and Hispanic (44%) adults are more likely than Black adults (30%) to be satisfied with the way Asian people are treated, but satisfaction has declined to a similar degree among all three groups.

At the same time, U.S. adults perceive that relations between Asian and White people, as well as Asian and Black people, have deteriorated. Double-digit drops are seen among those who say relations are "very" or "somewhat" good between White and Asian people (67%) and Black and Asian people (58%).

While majorities of Americans still view relations between these groups positively, the latest figures represent new lows in their respective trends.

Line graph. Americans' perceptions of relations between White and Asian People and Black and Asian People. Currently 67% of Americans say that relations between White and Asian people are very or somewhat good, while 58% say the same of relations between Black and Asian people.

Satisfaction With Treatment of Immigrants the Lowest Â鶹´«Ã½AV Has Measured

Â鶹´«Ã½AV has polled on the treatment of additional groups since 2001. Satisfaction with the treatment of immigrants has waned over the past 20 years, with the current 33% marking the lowest total percentage of those who are very or somewhat satisfied that Â鶹´«Ã½AV has recorded for any group in this time. The prior low was 35% for the treatment of Black people in last year's survey.

Small majorities were satisfied with the way immigrants were treated in the early 2000s, but this figure gradually declined over the course of the three previous U.S. presidencies, during which no major legislation on immigration issues was passed. Since President Joe Biden took office in January, legislation to provide pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants has stalled, as well as other bills to protect farm workers and young immigrants.

Line graph. Americans' satisfaction with the way immigrants are treated in society. Currently, 33% of Americans are satisfied with the way immigrants are treated, a record low in Â鶹´«Ã½AV's trend since 2001.

Despite the new low in satisfaction with the treatment of immigrants in the U.S., Americans' acceptance of immigrants has remained relatively stable for years in Â鶹´«Ã½AV's Migrant Acceptance Index.

On a relative basis, Americans are less satisfied with the way society treats immigrants and Black people than the way Asian people are treated. The 15% of Black Americans and 37% of Hispanic Americans satisfied with the treatment of Black people are the lowest Â鶹´«Ã½AV has measured to date within those subgroups, though not meaningfully different from the 2018 or 2020 readings.

Less than half of Americans are satisfied with how Hispanic (46%) and Arab people (43%) are treated in society, with both figures similar to recent measurements.

Views on Treatment of Groups in Society, by Race/Ethnicity
% Very/Somewhat satisfied
U.S. adults White adults Black adults Hispanic adults
% % % %
White people 68 69 62 64
Women 53 57 39 46
Jewish people 51 53 45 45
Asian people 46 50 30 44
Hispanic people 46 52 25 40
Arab people 43 46 30 41
Black people 38 44 15 37
Immigrants 33 37 16 30
GALLUP, JUNE 1-JULY 5, 2021

In contrast, slim majorities are satisfied with the treatment of women (53%) and Jewish people (51%), while a larger majority of Americans are satisfied with how White people are treated (68%). The public was more satisfied with how women were treated earlier in the trend, ranging from 63% to 72% satisfied from 2001 to 2016. After the "Me Too" movement took hold in 2017, figures have been lower -- between 53% and 54% since 2018.

This is the first time Â鶹´«Ã½AV has asked about the treatment of Jewish people and White people. The new measure for Jewish people comes after a spate of antisemitic attacks and hostility following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year in Gaza.

Across all groups, White Americans are slightly more satisfied than the national average with the way people are treated in society, while Black and Hispanic adults are less satisfied than the U.S. average. On several measures, Black adults are far less satisfied with the treatment of groups than both White and Hispanic adults.

Bottom Line

Views on the treatment of Asian people have taken a sharp turn amid high-profile incidents of violence since the COVID-19 pandemic began. And while small majorities were content with the treatment of immigrants in the early 2000s, Americans are now the least satisfied with how this group is treated out of any group polled in the 20-year trend.

Americans are not fully satisfied with how most groups are treated in society, and Â鶹´«Ã½AV has recorded a larger decline in satisfaction with these groups' treatment in recent years. Levels of satisfaction with the treatment of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Arab people, as well as immigrants and women, have reached their lowest points in this latest poll or in recent ones.

Â鶹´«Ã½AV's trends spanning two decades have not found any improvements over time in how Americans perceive various groups are treated, only stable or declining ratings. Thus, it is unclear if the 2020-2021 polls represent rock bottom for views on the societal treatment of different people or if these perceptions will continue to deteriorate.

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