Every May since the 1970s, the United States government has officially recognized the major role that generations of Asian American and Pacific Islanders have played in American history. With large and longstanding Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in California, AAPI Heritage Month has a unique significance in our state.
There are countless successes, including that of the Asian Real Estate Association of America. AREAA was started in 2003 by a group of real estate professionals that included long-time CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®‘ Board Members Allen Okamoto, John Yen Wong, and Fanny Chu. We are honored to partner with and celebrate AREAA’s success. In just 20 years, AREAA has become the largest Asian organization in North America.
The significance of the business and social contributions of California’s AAPI community is even greater when we remember that pervasive discrimination against these communities was once legal and all too common. In the late 1800s, a number of California cities expelled entire Chinese communities with violence or threats, forcing them to leave behind businesses and homes. A series of California laws in the early 1900s restricted property ownership rights with an expressed purpose of prohibiting Asian Californians from owning land. During WWII, approximately 93,000 Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps and were forced to give up or quickly sell homes at great loss.
Although discrimination is no longer legal, we still have work to do to continue to ensure equal opportunity for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders:
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Lower income newcomers from Asian countries, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders have relatively low homeownership rates and face significant homeownership challenges. |
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Many Asian Americans have “thin credit” and face additional challenges qualifying for mortgages. |
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Bias and discrimination are still big concerns for the AAPI community — stereotypes reminiscent of the past may unfortunately continue to shape policy, business practices and the day-to-day experiences of members of the AAPI community. |
Find out more about homeownership in the AAPI community by reading AREAA’s 2023 State of Asia America Report.