Asian American

An Asian American is generally defined as a person of Asian ancestry^[2] who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. The term Asian American was used informally by activists in the 1960s who sought an alternative to the term Oriental, arguing that the term was derogatory, and colonialist. Formal usage was introduced by academics in the early 1970s, notably by historian Yuji Ichioka, who is credited with popularizing the term. Today, Asian American is the accepted term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research, although the term is often shortened to Asian in common usage.

As with other racial and ethnic groups, formal and common usage have changed markedly through the short history of this term. The most significant change occurred when the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 eliminated highly restrictive "national origins" quotas. The new country-specific quotas enabled significant immigration from every country in Asia, which led to dramatic and ongoing changes in the Asian American population. As a result of these population changes, the formal and common understandings of what defines Asian American have expanded to include progressively more of the people with ancestry from various parts of Asia.

Terminology

The most commonly-used definition of Asian American is the Census Bureau definition of Asian, largely because the Census definitions determine many government classifications, notably for equal opportunity programs and measurements. East Asia, Southeastern Asia, and most of Southern Asia are included in the Census definition of Asia. Ethnic groups with very small populations in the U.S. (e.g., Afghans, Uzbeks, and Siberians) are not counted separately, and currently are not included in the Asian category, while people with origins from the Asian Middle East are included in the white Census group. The use of a separate "Asian" category in the Census is a recent addition, beginning in 1990. Since then, the Census definitions have varied over time. Most notably with the 2000 census separated Asian/Pacific Islander and moved Pacific Islander ethnicities into a separate racial group.

Earlier Census forms from 1980 and before listed particular Asian ancestries as separate groups along with White and Black or Negro.^[3] But the 1980 census marked the first general analyses of Asians as a group, combining several individual ancestry groups into "Asian or Pacific Islander." By the 1990 census, Asian or Pacific Islander (API) was included as an explicit category, although respondents had to select one particular ancestry.^[4][5] People of Middle Eastern ancestry are categorized in the white census category rather than Asian.^[6]

Finally, the definition of Asian American also has variations that derive from the use of the word American in different contexts. Immigration status, citizenship, acculturation, and language ability are some variables that are used to define American for various purposes and may vary in formal and everyday usage.^[7] For example, restricting American to include only U.S. citizens conflicts with discussions of Asian American businesses, which generally refer both to citizens and non-citizens. In other cases, American refers to people either born, raised, or currently living in the United States. The census is a notable--if implicit--example of this definition of American, since the census counts all people regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Asian Americans

The demographics of Asian Americans describe a heterogeneous group of people in the United States who can trace their ancestry to one or more countries in Asia. Because Asian Americans total less than 5% of the entire U.S. population, the diversity of the group is often disregarded in media and news discussions of "Asians" or of "Asian Americans." While there are some commonalities across ethnic sub-groups, there are significant differences among different Asian ethnicities that are related to each group's history.

The 2000 U.S. census recorded 11.9 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.2% of the U.S. population. The largest ethnic subgroups were Chinese (3.4 million), Filipinos (2.9M), Asian Indians (1.9M), Vietnamese (1.2M), Koreans (1.2M), and Japanese (1.1M). Other sizable groups are Cambodians (206,000), Pakistanis (204,000), Laotians (198,000), Hmong (186,000), and Thais (150,000).^[8] The Asian American population is heavily urbanized, with nearly three-quarters of Asian Americans living in metropolitan areas with population greater than 2.5 million. Asian Americans are concentrated in the largest U.S. cities, with 40% of all Asian Americans living in the metropolitan areas around Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Half of all Asian Americans (5.4M) live in Hawaii or the West Coast, mostly in California (4.2M). Census data shows that Asian American populations are developing in major metropolitan areas off of the West Coast, with visible communities in areas such as Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and Greater Houston, to name the largest examples.

In regions with large numbers of Asian Americans, suburban communities have developed that are heavily or predominantly Asian. The schools in these areas may offer languages such as Mandarin as a second language. Since the 1970s "Koreatowns" and "Little Saigons" have appeared in several cities in addition to Chinatowns. Large Japantowns once existed up and down the West Coast of the United States, but the ones that remain are mere vestiges of once vibrant pre-World War II communities.

Asian Americans are visible and growing, but "underrepresented" (against the national aggregate) in several of the largest areas, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, although sizable concentrations (double the national percentage) can be found in urban neighborhoods of these cities such as Albany Park in Chicago and Olney in Philadelphia. Additionally, similar Asian populations are found in suburbs of these cities such as Naperville near Chicago; Millbourne, King of Prussia, and Cherry Hill near Philadelphia; Lowell and Lexington near Boston.

Asian American history

Further information: Category:Chinese American history,  Category:Japanese American history,  Category:Filipino American history, and Category:Indian American history

Early history

In 1763, Filipinos established the small settlement of Saint Malo in the bayous of current-day Louisiana, after fleeing mistreatment aboard Spanish ships. Since there were no Filipino women with them at the time, the Manilamen, as they were known, married Cajun women and Indians.^[9]

In Hawaii, Chinese sailors came to Hawaii in 1778, the same year that Captain James Cook stumbled upon the island. Many settled and intermarried with Hawaiian women. Some Island-born Chinese could be well into the 7th generation. A smaller proportion of Chinese, Korean and Japanese laborers were brought in during the 19th century to work on sugar plantations. Later, Filipinos were also brought in as laborers.

A large number of Chinese and Japanese began immigrating to the U.S. in the mid 19th century. Many of these immigrants worked as laborers on the transcontinental railroad. A surge in Asian immigration in the late 19th century caused some to fear the growing number of Asians. This fear was referred to as the "yellow peril." Laws that were adopted in the United States included Asian Exclusion Act, Chinese Exclusion Act, etc.

Effects of war

Asian participants in the American Civil War were not given citizenship, voting rights, or access to public schools because they were legally declared "neither black nor white."^{[citation needed]}

During World War II, the United States government declared Japanese Americans a risk to national security and undertook the Japanese American Internment, authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt with United States Executive Order 9066. This controversial action forced the relocation of approximately 112,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, taking them from the west coast of the United States to hastily constructed War Relocation Centers in remote portions of the nation's interior. 62% of those forced to relocate were United States citizens. Starting in 1990, the government paid some reparations to the surviving internees.

Despite the internment, many Japanese American men served in World War II in the American forces. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team/100th Infantry Battalion, composed of Japanese Americans, is the most highly decorated unit in U.S. military history. The 442nd/100th fought valiantly in the European Theater even as many of their families remained in the detention camps stateside. The 100th was one of the first units to liberate the Nazi extermination camp at Dachau.

Immigration trends

Immigration trends of recent decades have dramatically altered the statistical composition and popular understanding of who is an Asian American. This transformation of Asian America, and of America itself, is the result of legislation such as the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 and the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965. The McCarran-Walter Act repealed the "free white persons" restriction of the Naturalization Act of 1790, but it retained the quota system that effectively banned nearly all immigration from Asia (for example, its annual quota of Chinese was only fifty). Asian immigration increased significantly after the 1965 Immigration Act altered the quota system. The preference for relatives, initially designed to reduce the number of Asian immigrants, eventually acted to accelerate their numbers.

Historically, before 1965, Asian Americans were largely perceived as members of the two most numerous Asian ethnic groups, specifically Chinese and Japanese, as well as Filipinos, who became colonial subjects of the US in 1898 due to the Spanish-American War (also see Philippine-American War).

After the enactment of the 1965 Immigration Act, Asian American demographics changed rapidly. This act replaced exclusionary immigration rules of the Chinese Exclusion Act and its successors, such as the 1924 Immigration Act, which effectively excluded "undesirable" immigrants, including Asians. The 1965 rules set across-the-board immigration quotas for each country, opening the borders to immigration from Asia for the first time in nearly half a century.

Immigration of Asian Americans were also affected by U.S. war involvement from the 1940s to the 1970s. In the wake of World War II, immigration preferences favored family reunification. This may have helped attract highly skilled workers to meet American workforce deficiencies. Another instance related to World War II was the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, which helped immigrants from India and the Philippines. The end of the Korean War and Vietnam War and the so-called "Secret Wars" in Southeast Asia brought a new wave of Asian American immigration, as people from Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia arrived. Some of the new immigrants were war brides, who were soon joined by their families. Others, like the Southeast Asians, were either highly skilled and educated, or part of subsequent waves of refugees seeking asylum. Some factors contributing to the growth of sub-groups such as South Asians and mainland Chinese were higher family sizes, higher use of family-reunification visas, and higher numbers of technically skilled workers entering on H-1 and H-1b visas.

Japanese Americans and South Asians are emblematic of the dramatic changes since the immigration reforms of the mid-20th century. Japanese Americans are among the most widely recognized of Asian American sub-groups. In 1970, there were nearly 600,000 Japanese Americans, making it the largest sub-group. Today, Japanese Americans are the sixth-largest group, with relatively low rates of births and immigration. In 2000, there were between 800,000 and 1.2 million Japanese Americans (depending on whether multi-ethnic responses are included). The Japanese Americans have the highest rates of native-born, citizenship, and assimilation into American values and customs.

In 1990, there were slightly fewer South Asians in the U.S. than Japanese Americans. By 2000, Indian Americans nearly doubled in population to become the third largest group, with increasing visibility in high-tech communities such as Silicon Valley and Redmond, Washington. High rates of immigration from across Asia will make Asian Americans increasingly representative of the continent itself. Indian Americans have some of the highest rates of academic achievement among American ethnic and religious groups, with most immigrants speaking English. South Asians are increasingly accepted by most Asian organizations as another significant Asian group.

Asian Americans today

See also: List of notable Asian Americans

In government

Asian Americans have followed the traditional paths from local political offices to higher positions. The first known Asian American participation in American politics was in the 1800s through coalition building.^[10] With a majority Asian-Pacific American population for most of its history, Hawaii has a long history of Asian political participation at all levels of government, and its Congressional delegation has been held by Asian Americans for most of its history. However, the first Asian American elected to the House of Representatives was Dalip Singh Saund, from Imperial County, California. Saund served as chair of the local Democratic party and Justice of the Peace before winning the House election in 1956. This pattern has been successful for mainland U.S. politicians such as Norman Mineta and Mike Honda who began their political careers in local offices, then developed organizations that eventually supported their election to Congress. More recently, Elaine Chao was selected as a White House Fellow, and then served in a series of appointed posts prior to becoming the Secretary of Labor. Similarly, Bobby Jindal served in statewide (Louisiana) and federal appointed offices before running for governor (2003), and winning election to Congress in 2004.

In business

When Asians were largely excluded from labor markets in the 19th century, they started their own businesses. Some started laundries, which are now rare. Others started Chinese restaurants, which still can be found across the USA. Since the mid-20th century, Asians have expanded their involvement across the American economy.

In 2002, Asian American businesses amounted to over 1.1 million. Asian-owned businesses employ more than 2.2 million persons and earn more than $326 billion in business revenues. Asian firms also account for 5% of nonfarm businesses, 2.0 percent of employment and 1.4 percent of receipts in the United States. Asian firms are highest in terms of revenues, employment, and receipts in the United States compared to their Hispanic and African American counterparts.^[11][12][13]

Compared to their population base, Asian Americans today are well represented in the professional sector and tend to earn higher wages, especially in technology and business.^[14] However, much has been written about the glass ceiling in regards to Asians, for they have been far less represented in higher levels of management compared with other ethnic groups.

Some Asian Americans have made major contributions to the American economy. An Wang founded Wang Laboratories in June 1951. Jen-Hsun Huang co-founded the NVIDIA corporation in 1993. Jerry Yang co-founded Yahoo! Inc. in 1994. Andrea Jung serves as Chairman and CEO of Avon Products. Vinod Khosla was a founding CEO of Sun Microsystems and is a successful general partner of the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. Sabeer Bhatia co-founded Hotmail, which was acquired by Microsoft.

In sports

See also: Category:Asian American sportspeople

Wataru Misaka became the first Asian American player in the NBA when he played for the New York Knicks in the 1947–48 season.

Asian Americans first made an impact in Olympic sports in the late 1940s and in the 1950s. Sammy Lee became the first Asian American to earn an Olympic Gold Medal, winning in platform diving in both 1948 and 1952. Amy Chow was a member of the gold medal women's gymnastics team at the 1996 Olympics; she also won an individual silver medal on the uneven bars. Gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj won a team silver medal in the 2004 Olympics.

Since Tiffany Chin won the women's US Figure Skating Championship in 1985, Asian Americans have been prominent in that sport. Kristi Yamaguchi won three national championships, two world titles, and the 1992 Olympic Gold medal. Michelle Kwan has won nine national championships and five world titles, as well as two Olympic medals (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002).

In football, Asian Americans' contributions are also gaining notice. Norm Chow is offensive coordinator for an NFL team, after 23 years coaching college teams, including four successful years as offensive coordinator at USC. Hines Ward is an NFL wide receiver who was the MVP of Super Bowl XL.

Michael Chang was a top-ranked tennis player for most of his career. He won the French Open in 1989.

In arts and entertainment

Asian Americans have been involved in the entertainment industry since the first half of the 19th century, when Chang and Eng Bunker (the original "Siamese Twins") became naturalized citizens. Acting roles in television, cinema, and theater have been relatively few, and many available roles are for narrow, stereotypical characters. Early Asian American actors such as Sessue Hayakawa, Anna May Wong, and Bruce Lee encountered a movie-making culture that wanted to typecast them as caricatures. Lee abandoned Hollywood, and achieved world-wide fame in Hong Kong. Through the 1960s and 1970s, George Takei and Pat Morita became well-known from secondary roles in Star Trek and Happy Days, two of the most well-known series of the period. Haing Ngor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985. Margaret Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian in 1994.

Notable works of architecture were designed by Asian Americans, such as the Louvre Pyramid (by IM Pei, the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) (by Minoru Yamasaki, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Maya Lin) . In commercial architecture, Gyo Obata is a founding partner of HOK.

Across genres of music, Asian Americans have gained respect and celebrity. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and conductor Zubin Mehta are significant figures in classical music. In popular music, Amerie, a well-known Korean American R&B singer, has won numerous awards. Others have become well-known in genres such as Rock musician James Iha is known for his guitar work with The Smashing Pumpkins. Mike Shinoda and Joseph Hahn are members of the popular rap rock band Linkin Park. Jin Au-Yeung is a notable hip-hop artist. Asian American jazz is a musical movement in the United States begun in the 20th century by Asian American jazz musicians.

Asians continue to be underrepresented in both film and television. Flower Drum Song was a novel written in the 1950s based on the actual Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco. It was produced as a Broadway musical featured on the cover of Time magazine and a 1961 film. Largely remembered for the hit song "I Enjoy Being A Girl", it would not be produced with an all-Asian cast featuring Lea Solonga until David Henry Hwang rewrote the revival version in 2001. Disney's Mulan, an animated film set in China still cast many non-Asians in prominent roles. Hospital TV dramas have very few Asian American characters, although Asian Americans are very well-represented in U.S. medicine. ER has not had any East Asians in the cast for years, although a current-day Chicago hospital would almost certainly have some on staff. While Asian American men currently win few leading roles in movies or television, Asian American women have much better opportunities in the entertainment industry today. The very stereotype of casting Asian men as comic relief has been remarked as contributing to the popularity of William Hung as the most recognizable Asian American performer for his performance on an American Idol audition.

ImaginAsian Entertainment recently started the first national 24/7 Asian American television network. MTV Chi, MTV Desi, and MTV K have also been launched to cater to their respective Asian American subgroups.

In science and technology

Asian Americans have made notable contributions to science and technology. Chien-Shiung Wu was known to many scientists as the "First Lady of Physics". Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in particle physics. Har Gobind Khorana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in genetics and protein synthesis. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar shared the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics and had the Chandra X-ray Observatory named after him. In 1984, Dr. David D. Ho first reported the "healthy carrier state" of HIV infection, which identified HIV-positive individuals who showed no physical signs of AIDS. Steven Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research in cooling and trapping atoms using laser light. Daniel Tsui shared the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics in 1998 for helping discover the fractional Quantum Hall effect.

Asian American cultural issues

Until the late 20th century, the term "Asian American" was adopted mostly by activists, while the average person of Asian ancestries considered themselves their own ethnicity.^[15] The death of Vincent Chin in 1982 was a pivotal civil rights case, marking the emergence of Asian Americans as a distinct racial group in United States.^[16][15]

Asians as a "model minority"

Main article: Model minority

Some refer to Asian Americans as a model minority because the Asian American culture contains a high work ethic, respect for elders and high valuation of family. Statistics such as household income and low incarceration rate^[17] are also discussed as positive aspects of Asian Americans.

This concept appears to valorize Asian Americans, but it can also be considered an overly narrow and overly one-dimensional portrayal of Asian Americans, leaving out other human qualities such as vocal leadership, negative emotions, and desire for creative expression.

The model minority concept can also affect Asians' public education. Asians are often stereotyped as over-achieving students. This stereotype can adversely affect Asian American students if school officials expect them to over-achieve.

Asian pride

Main article: Asian pride

Asian pride is a slogan affirming one's Asian race in the United States. The phrase is used mainly by East and Southeast Asian American youth to describe their sense of connection to other Asians. People from the Asian continent but not considered racially Asian (such as Russians and Arabs) do not use the term Asian pride. People with South Asian heritage, such as Indian, and Pakistani, generally do not use the term.^{[citation needed]} Also, people of recent Japanese ancestry typically distance themselves from other Asians, and for that reason, they do not use it as well. Historical events such as the Japanese Imperial Expansion of World War II and the Postwar Economic Development period have caused a rift between the Japanese and other Asian countries, even among immigrants.

See also

• British Asian
• Asian Canadian
• Asian Argentines
• Asian Australians
• Racial Nationalism
• Nationalism
• Got Rice?
• American-born Chinese
• Jade Ribbon Campaign
• Chinese for Affirmative Action — Chinese civil rights organization
• Stereotypes of Asians

References

Wikipedia information about Asian American This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Asian American". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.