Not all in the AAPI community agree that data should be disaggregated. When Massachusetts tried to pass a law to disaggregate data in 2018, the Coalition Against Profiling decried the bill as racist because it only targeted Asian communities. They worried that data collected could be used to discriminate during school or job applications, but neither their Facebook page nor their petition against the bill cited any data to support this argument.

Without disaggregated data, policymakers, community organizers and service providers will lack the facts necessary to develop programs, launch non-profits, and train activists to better respond to the needs of diverse communities. In the absence of an organized government effort to disaggregate data about Asian communities in the U.S., organizations like AAPI Data are trying to fill the gaps.

As we approach Asian American Pacific Island Month, let’s remember that we can’t solve problems we cannot see. Until our data better captures the full range of Asian experiences in America, too many in our community will continue to fall through the cracks.

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