As Columbus celebrates 30th anniversary of Asian Festival, AAPI communities call for a seat at the table

Despite being one of the fastest-growing populations in Central Ohio, the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community remains without representation at the state level.

Community leaders say having a voice is imperative to meeting the needs of local AAPI residents, such as addressing economic and health care disparities.

“The Asian community is often overlooked when it comes to receiving state recognition, federal recognition or benefits and support,” said Anna Chen, manager of communications and civil engagement at Asia Services in Action (ASIA).

As local Asian Americans gathered for their annual two-day Columbus Asian Festival in Franklin Park over the weekend, on the minds of many is how they don't have a voice at the state level despite having celebrated their considerable local community for 30 years.

The festival features performances, food and free health screenings with the hope of demonstrating the impact Asian American communities have made in Ohio.

The Ohio Asian Advisory Council, established in 2010 under former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and renewed by former Republican Gov. John Kasich, ended when Gov. Mike DeWine chose not to renew the council after taking office in 2019.

The Council consisted of volunteers through the Office of Global Relations to address issues specific to Asian American communities. Its primary goal was to establish permanent representation through a state commission.

Dr. Yu-Chen Lu, former chair of the advisory board, said the Asian Festival in 2007 is where former Gov. Strickland announced his intention to establish an Asian affairs commission. Due to a lacking budget, the advisory board was created instead without funding.

“We had to raise whatever the expenditure, and all the advisory council members did not get a penny,” he said.

Cora Munoz, a former advisory board member, said that when the council ended, there was an opportunity to advocate for a state-appointed affairs commission. Unlike the advisory council, the commission would receive funding to allow leaders to put plans into action.

“We thought we should not be dependent upon the governor, and so a commission is really imperative for us to have,” she said.

The community has tried to get more representation since 2019.

Former Senator Tina Maharath, the first Asian American in the Ohio Senate, introduced Senate Bill 87 in 2021 to create an AAPI affairs commission. Other legislators reintroduced the measure as House Bill 25 last year.

“I’m disappointed I didn't get to have it passed during my time in the Senate, but I still strongly feel the need for us to have such a commission in order for state government to properly reflect the needs of the Asian American community in Ohio,” said Maharath, whose term ended last year.

Senator Anita Somani, D-Dublin, who proposed HB 25, also shared her disappointment at the lack of progress made from both proposals.

“I think it’s important to look at how we can address issues that are unique to the Asian community through a funded commission.”

Without a centralized commission, community advocates say Central Ohio lacks a medium to provide equitable resources, such as language accommodations­, to AAPI communities, especially refugees.

What does the Asian community look like in Ohio

Ohio has 377,000 Asian Americans, or 3.2% of the population, according to the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau. That’s a major leap from 0.5% in 1980.

Columbus has the largest population in the state with 66,000 Asian Americans. Akron and Cleveland metropolitan areas combined have 98,000 Asian Americans.

Mashiko, Japan, also became Dublin’s friendship city in 2015, with 9,311 Japanese American residents, making up roughly 20% of the city’s population.

Central Ohio is also home to the largest Bhutanese-Nepali community outside of Asia, with over 30,000 estimated to live in Columbus.

What is an affairs commission? How many does Ohio have?

Of the 19 governor-appointed state commissions, Ohio has both a New African Immigrant Commission (NAIC) and an Ohio Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs (OCHLA).

The NAIC was established in 2009 and serves a population of 92,000 sub-Saharan Americans, 16% of whom are foreign born. Until last year, the NAIC was the only state affairs commission without a budget. The commission now receives a $250,000 annual budget.

The OCHLA was established in 1977, serving nearly half a million people with a $604,000 fiscal budget.

Although legislators have said efforts to establish an AAPI affairs commission are stalled for being too costly, Munoz said their budget proposal should be approved because it is patterned after the budget for the OCHLA.

“If their budget was approved, why wouldn't the Asian commission budget be approved?” said Munoz.

Why do AAPI communities want an affairs commission?

Munoz said there are 16 Asian subgroups in Central Ohio that require unique cultural, language and religious accommodations to adequately address perpetual economic disparities and health issues, such as the high risk of diabetes in Asian populations.

“It's so easy to miss if there is no one organized body to be the liaison from the government to our community,” she said.

Chen said because Asian Americans are often labeled as the ‘model minority,’ this stereotype creates the assumption that Asian communities don’t need support.

“The continent of Asia has a ton of different communities within it alone, different ethnicities, different languages and they each face very different challenges when they come to Ohio,” she said.

She also said Asian bigotry tends to fly under the radar. Although discrimination during COVID-19 brought attention to anti-Asian hate, Chen said Asian communities face many forms of microaggressions that remain unaddressed.

“There's still that form of perpetual foreigner assumption with the Asian community that you don't belong here, or your loyalties are somewhere else,” she said.

The vast range within the Asian population also tends to skew data on socioeconomic status. Despite the median household income for Asian Americans being “higher than the average American,” according to the Ohio Poverty report, 12.2% of Asia/Pacific Islanders experience poverty.

“We have to acknowledge those who are really struggling socioeconomically with poverty and housing problems,” Chen said.

This year's Asian Festival is Saturday, May 25 from 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and Sunday, May 26 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at Franklin Park. Information about the festival available on their website.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Asian Ohioans call for state representation as population increases