Statistics often cover up Pacific Islanders' plight

On such measures of prosperity as education, health and income, Pacific Islanders — when combined with Asians — appear to do quite well.

But pry the groups apart, and a different picture emerges.

Those who trace their roots to the thousands of islands that dot the Pacific Ocean are more likely to live in poverty, lack post-high-school education, and experience higher incidences of teen pregnancy than any other racial group in the state.

The findings are part of a report unveiled Friday by the Pacific Island Women's Association at a community celebration in the Central Area.

"The majority of the Asian community is doing well," said Maile Taualii, author of the report. "But those of us not doing as well ... are silenced and completely invisible. And no one notices... ."

According to the 2000 census, an estimated 588,853 Pacific Islanders live in the continental United States — people from the islands that stretch from Hawaii and Palau to French Polynesia and New Zealand.

About 43,000 are in Washington state, the third-highest concentration in any state, and constitute 4 percent of the overall Asian/Pacific Islander racial category.

At a colorful and festive communitywide celebration at Mount Zion Baptist Church on Friday, about 150 Pacific Islanders gathered for the release of the report, "Voices of Pacific Island Women Residing in the Pacific Northwest."

It points out that Asians and Pacific Islanders rank differently according to many health and socio-economic indicators. Yet they are usually grouped together in many governmental and other reports, masking the smaller group's weaknesses.

In 1997, the federal government called for agencies to collect and report information separately on the two groups. But Taualii, associate director of the Urban Indian Health Institute, said Washington and only a few other states have complied.

But even when the data are collected separately, she said, they are often not reported that way. And "in vital statistics, things like births and deaths, our race simply disappears," she said.

At a community forum a year ago, about 200 women met to discuss some of those disparities and identified key areas of concern in health, education and economics. In every category where data can be separated, the Pacific Islander population lags.

Samoan children in the Seattle School district, for example, were lower than any other racial group in overall performance, as well as on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL).

During the 2004-05 school year, Samoan high-school students reported a mean grade-point average of 2.36, while Chinese students, the most successful within the Asian category, reported a mean GPA of 3.27.

Information from the University of Washington's Office of Minority Affairs shows Pacific Islanders with the highest drop-out rate of any ethnic group — primarily for financial reasons.

"We're at the 'now what' stage," Taualii said. "How do we take this to the next level to change policy and affect the community and create wellness for our people?"

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com