A recent survey found 52% of people couldn’t name a single famous Asian American. Nine percent named the actor Jackie Chan, who is not American.
The actors Bruce Lee, left, and Jackie Chan, right, were the most commonly named figures, while Vice President Kamala Harris was named by just 2% of respondents. NBC News / Getty Images
May 1, 2024, 4:24 PM EDT
The majority of Americans can’t name a single famous Asian American, according to a recent survey. And for the fourth year in a row, the most common answer besides “I can’t think of one” was the actor Jackie Chan, who’s not American.
The report, released Tuesday by the nonprofit Asian American Foundation, surveyed over 6,200 people above the age of 16 across the U.S. on their attitudes toward the Asian American community.
A majority of respondents, 52%, said they couldn’t think of any famous Asian American. Nine percent named Chan, who is from Hong Kong, and 5% named actor Bruce Lee, who is Asian American but who died in 1973. Just 2% named Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of Asian descent.
Asian Americans made up nearly 26% of survey respondents, while 49.5% were white, 12.6% Hispanic and 9.4% Black.
This year’s findings represent a significant change from last year, when 26% of respondents answered “I don’t know” when asked the same question. Researchers said the jump might be attributed to the way the question was framed this year — namely the introduction of the option “none come to mind.”
