How represented are Indian Americans in U.S. television?
November 11, 2015 6:23 AM Subscribe
The recent FPP on Aziz Ansari, made me wonder exactly how much Indian Americans are under represented on television. According to the 2010 census, Indian Americans are roughly 0.9% of the U.S. population, but what percentage of TV actors are Indian American? The only statistics I was able to find on representation of minority groups lumped all minorities together. Can anyone point me to a good source for this type of information?
Best answer: In 2010, Nina Rastogi on Slate counted “about a dozen South Asians in regular or recurring roles” in U.S. primetime TV.
In 2015, Sona Charaipotra at vulture.com listed 12 South-Asian actors with recurring roles in current TV shows, and nine others from recent years. (These lists include people of non-Indian descent, like Pakistani American Kumail Nanjiani, but they are short enough that you can sort through them yourself if you want to count only the Indian Americans.)
GLAAD’s 2015 Where We Are on TV Report found that out of “881 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast primetime programming in the coming year,” 53 characters (6.0%) are of Asian or Pacific Islander race/ethnicity. Unfortunately it doesn't contain more detailed data, but these numbers might help provide context for other figures you find. For example, if all 12 of the actors from the Vulture list are included in GLAAD’s data, then they account for 1.4% of GLAAD’s total list.
( You can also look at the GLAAD reports from previous years. Via Etrigan's Metafilter post.)
Wikipedia’s List of Indian-American actors and actresses is almost certainly incomplete, but it might help you raise the lower bound.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:25 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
In 2015, Sona Charaipotra at vulture.com listed 12 South-Asian actors with recurring roles in current TV shows, and nine others from recent years. (These lists include people of non-Indian descent, like Pakistani American Kumail Nanjiani, but they are short enough that you can sort through them yourself if you want to count only the Indian Americans.)
GLAAD’s 2015 Where We Are on TV Report found that out of “881 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast primetime programming in the coming year,” 53 characters (6.0%) are of Asian or Pacific Islander race/ethnicity. Unfortunately it doesn't contain more detailed data, but these numbers might help provide context for other figures you find. For example, if all 12 of the actors from the Vulture list are included in GLAAD’s data, then they account for 1.4% of GLAAD’s total list.
( You can also look at the GLAAD reports from previous years. Via Etrigan's Metafilter post.)
Wikipedia’s List of Indian-American actors and actresses is almost certainly incomplete, but it might help you raise the lower bound.
posted by mbrubeck at 11:25 AM on November 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by taz (staff) at 6:45 AM on November 11, 2015