The United States population hits 300,000,000. This is a good occasion to focus again on the country's demographics and the plurality of its population. The big phenomenon of the moment is the increase in Hispanic population ; Black communities are losing ground, even if they still benefit from a worldwide visibility through their culture and their wider involvement in American society. But what about Asian Americans ? They do not really attract attention, however they have very diverse ancestries and cultures, they also have their own history in the American context, as well as their own issues today.
"The history of Asians in the U.S. is the history of dreams, hard work, prejudice, discrimination, persistence, and triumph", writes C.N. Le, an Asian American sociology professor. Indeed, unlike some communities that settled in the USA, most of the Asians arriving in the country suffered from mistreatments and biased views on who they really were. Coming from Asia, outside Europe as most of migrants did, was a strong mark of difference.
The very first settlement of people coming from that side of the Pacific occurred in 1763, when mistreated Filipinos decided to desert their Spanish ships and create their own community in a bayou in Louisiana. They managed to keep their existence a secret, and the rest of the USA only heard of them for the first time in 1883… In Hawaii, Chinese sailors came as early as in 1778. Many settled and married Hawaiian women. A few Chinese, Korean and Japanese workers were brought in during the 19th century to work on sugar plantations. Later, Filipinos were also brought in as labourers. In mainland U.S., a large number of Chinese and Japanese began immigrating in the mid 19th century. They worked mainly as merchants, gardeners, domestics, laundry workers and farmers. Many of them – plus many more imported from China – worked then as labourers on the Transcontinental Railroad project from 1865. Their memory is still tied with that very important railroad, yet they had to go on strike to get the same wages as their Irish counterpart. The end of the 19th century was the one of the yellow peril, when Americans feared an Asian invasion as immigration from Asia was growing fast.
The American civil war was another bad time for Asians, since Asian participants were not given citizenship, voting rights, or access to public schools because they were legally declared "neither black nor white." Japanese Americans are also resentful of the way American people treated them during World War II. At that moment, the United States government declared Japanese Americans a risk to national security and implemented the Japanese American Internment policy, authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt. This controversial action forced the relocation of 110,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, taking them from the West coast of the United States to "War Relocation Centers" in remote portions of the nation's interior. One out of six of those forced to relocate were actually United States citizens. Starting in 1990, the government paid some reparations to the surviving internees. Despite the internment, many Japanese American men served in the American forces during the war.
Asian American is strongly associated with Chinese and Japanese people, since they were the first large groups of immigrants from Asia. However, as immigration diversified from across Asia, the definition of Asian American also had to change. In the USA, Asian frequently refers only to East Asia and Southeast Asia. South Asian Americans used to be classified as non-White Americans in the census and government purposes until Asian American business groups successfully lobbied for inclusion in the Asian category. People from Middle East, Siberia and Central Asia are not typically included in definitions of Asian American. Though geographically part of Asia, these areas are not considered as ethnically Asian. Therefore, American people from the Middle East, Siberia and former Soviet Central Asian states remain included in the white racial category.
Asian Americans, unlike White Americans or Hispanic Americans, cannot be defined as a homogeneous group. What do Chinese Americans and Pakistani Americans really have in common except their Asian ancestry? They actually have considerable physical, linguistic and cultural differences. Asian Americans are exceedingly diverse, coming from nearly fifty countries and ethnic groups, each with distinct cultures, traditions, and histories, and they speak over a hundred languages and dialects.
The 2000 U.S. census recorded 12.3 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.3 percent of the U.S. population. Their number is expected to get tripled by 2050! The largest ethnic subgroups were Chinese (3.4 million), Filipinos (2.9M), Asian Indians (1.9M), Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese (1 to 1.2M for each). Other noticeable groups are Cambodians, Pakistanis, Laotians, Hmong and Thais (150,000 to 200,000 per community). The Asian American population is heavily urbanized : a map of its location in the USA looks like a map of the main U.S. cities. Almost three-quarters of Asian Americans live in metropolitan areas with population over 2.5 million. They are concentrated in the largest American cities, with 40 percent of all Asian Americans living in the metropolitan areas around Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. More than 5 million Asian Americans live on the West Coast or in Hawaii, mostly in California (4.2M). Census data show that Asian American populations are developing in major metropolitan areas off of the West Coast, with visible communities in areas in and around Washington, D.C. and Houston, to name the most obvious examples. Asian Americans are visible and growing, but underrepresented in a few major urban areas including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, although sizable concentrations can be found in urban neighbourhoods of these cities.
Until recently, Chinese were the only Asian American group that had a noticeable presence in large cities. In fact, besides having traditional (but somehow artificial) Chinatowns, areas around cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have extensive suburban enclaves that are dominated by Chinese. The schools there are attended by many Chinese Americans and Mandarin is usually offered as a second language. Following recent immigration waves, however, "Koreatowns" and "Little Saigons" have appeared in several cities.
"The history of Asians in the U.S. is the history of dreams, hard work, prejudice, discrimination, persistence, and triumph", writes C.N. Le, an Asian American sociology professor. Indeed, unlike some communities that settled in the USA, most of the Asians arriving in the country suffered from mistreatments and biased views on who they really were. Coming from Asia, outside Europe as most of migrants did, was a strong mark of difference.
The very first settlement of people coming from that side of the Pacific occurred in 1763, when mistreated Filipinos decided to desert their Spanish ships and create their own community in a bayou in Louisiana. They managed to keep their existence a secret, and the rest of the USA only heard of them for the first time in 1883… In Hawaii, Chinese sailors came as early as in 1778. Many settled and married Hawaiian women. A few Chinese, Korean and Japanese workers were brought in during the 19th century to work on sugar plantations. Later, Filipinos were also brought in as labourers. In mainland U.S., a large number of Chinese and Japanese began immigrating in the mid 19th century. They worked mainly as merchants, gardeners, domestics, laundry workers and farmers. Many of them – plus many more imported from China – worked then as labourers on the Transcontinental Railroad project from 1865. Their memory is still tied with that very important railroad, yet they had to go on strike to get the same wages as their Irish counterpart. The end of the 19th century was the one of the yellow peril, when Americans feared an Asian invasion as immigration from Asia was growing fast.
The American civil war was another bad time for Asians, since Asian participants were not given citizenship, voting rights, or access to public schools because they were legally declared "neither black nor white." Japanese Americans are also resentful of the way American people treated them during World War II. At that moment, the United States government declared Japanese Americans a risk to national security and implemented the Japanese American Internment policy, authorized by President Franklin Roosevelt. This controversial action forced the relocation of 110,000 to 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans, taking them from the West coast of the United States to "War Relocation Centers" in remote portions of the nation's interior. One out of six of those forced to relocate were actually United States citizens. Starting in 1990, the government paid some reparations to the surviving internees. Despite the internment, many Japanese American men served in the American forces during the war.
Asian American is strongly associated with Chinese and Japanese people, since they were the first large groups of immigrants from Asia. However, as immigration diversified from across Asia, the definition of Asian American also had to change. In the USA, Asian frequently refers only to East Asia and Southeast Asia. South Asian Americans used to be classified as non-White Americans in the census and government purposes until Asian American business groups successfully lobbied for inclusion in the Asian category. People from Middle East, Siberia and Central Asia are not typically included in definitions of Asian American. Though geographically part of Asia, these areas are not considered as ethnically Asian. Therefore, American people from the Middle East, Siberia and former Soviet Central Asian states remain included in the white racial category.
Asian Americans, unlike White Americans or Hispanic Americans, cannot be defined as a homogeneous group. What do Chinese Americans and Pakistani Americans really have in common except their Asian ancestry? They actually have considerable physical, linguistic and cultural differences. Asian Americans are exceedingly diverse, coming from nearly fifty countries and ethnic groups, each with distinct cultures, traditions, and histories, and they speak over a hundred languages and dialects.
The 2000 U.S. census recorded 12.3 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.3 percent of the U.S. population. Their number is expected to get tripled by 2050! The largest ethnic subgroups were Chinese (3.4 million), Filipinos (2.9M), Asian Indians (1.9M), Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese (1 to 1.2M for each). Other noticeable groups are Cambodians, Pakistanis, Laotians, Hmong and Thais (150,000 to 200,000 per community). The Asian American population is heavily urbanized : a map of its location in the USA looks like a map of the main U.S. cities. Almost three-quarters of Asian Americans live in metropolitan areas with population over 2.5 million. They are concentrated in the largest American cities, with 40 percent of all Asian Americans living in the metropolitan areas around Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. More than 5 million Asian Americans live on the West Coast or in Hawaii, mostly in California (4.2M). Census data show that Asian American populations are developing in major metropolitan areas off of the West Coast, with visible communities in areas in and around Washington, D.C. and Houston, to name the most obvious examples. Asian Americans are visible and growing, but underrepresented in a few major urban areas including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston, although sizable concentrations can be found in urban neighbourhoods of these cities.
Until recently, Chinese were the only Asian American group that had a noticeable presence in large cities. In fact, besides having traditional (but somehow artificial) Chinatowns, areas around cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have extensive suburban enclaves that are dominated by Chinese. The schools there are attended by many Chinese Americans and Mandarin is usually offered as a second language. Following recent immigration waves, however, "Koreatowns" and "Little Saigons" have appeared in several cities.
Asian Americans have economic and social situations of their own – even if there might be big differences from a community to another. They tend to have larger families and earn slightly less per capita than white populations. However, they have higher median income than whites (the median income for an Asian American household is about $60,000, compared to some $50,000 for whites, $30,000 for blacks and Hispanics) as well as higher percentage of home ownership and college graduation rate. The proportion of Asian Americans at many selective educational institutions far exceeds the national population rate. Many observers agree that the Japanese Americans in particular have the highest rates of native-born, citizenship, and assimilation into American values and customs.
This is what the Asian Americans are believed to be : serious and discreet people who work more and better than the average American does. On television, The Simpsons' Asian Indian Apu, owner of the convenience store Kwik-E-Mart, illustrates that stereotype. 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. Asians are often stereotyped as over-achieving students, and that stereotype persists, perhaps because many Asians play a musical instrument (such as violin or piano), or involve in cerebral extra-curricular activities such as chess.
They are also stereotyped as an excessively apolitical group that aims at improving its own situation but neglects the common good. However, if Asians communities are quite diverse, there is a sense of common identity and support for each other. There is a slogan, Asian pride, that is used mainly by Asian American youth to describe their sense of connection to other Asians. Asian pride is espoused by East and Southeast Asians – not South Asians. Another famous Asian catchphrase is "Got Rice?", a humorous term that spread after the original "Got Milk?" advertising campaign for the California Milk Board in 1993. Since then, the coined term has been used as a symbol of cohesiveness of Asian American cultural identity and pride, especially on the Internet and for young Asian Americans again.
Asian Americans have created their own networks and lobbies in order to keep a cohesiveness and promote their cultures and points of view in the USA. A few clicks on the web are enough to see the extent and the number of these networks : there are websites dealing with Asian American entertainment, food, media, arts, health… There is also an Asian American film festival every year in San Francisco.
Ethnic business lobbies are powerful. Business is actually the way Asian Americans get visible. When Asians were largely excluded from labour markets in the 19th century, they started their own businesses. Some started Chinese laundries, which are now rare. Others started Chinese restaurants, which still can be found across the USA. Since the late 20th century, Asians have also taken up ethnic-niche small businesses, such as dry cleaners (Koreans, Vietnamese), corner markets (Koreans, Indians), motels (Indians), donut shops and nail salons (Southeast Asians). These ethnic-niche businesses are often characterized by low pay, family labour and long hours. Asian Americans today are also well represented in high-waged professional sectors, especially in technology. For instance, Jerry Yang, a Taiwanese American man, is the co-founder and chief of Yahoo! ; Sabeer Bhatia from India founded Hotmail.
Ethnic business lobbies are powerful. Business is actually the way Asian Americans get visible. When Asians were largely excluded from labour markets in the 19th century, they started their own businesses. Some started Chinese laundries, which are now rare. Others started Chinese restaurants, which still can be found across the USA. Since the late 20th century, Asians have also taken up ethnic-niche small businesses, such as dry cleaners (Koreans, Vietnamese), corner markets (Koreans, Indians), motels (Indians), donut shops and nail salons (Southeast Asians). These ethnic-niche businesses are often characterized by low pay, family labour and long hours. Asian Americans today are also well represented in high-waged professional sectors, especially in technology. For instance, Jerry Yang, a Taiwanese American man, is the co-founder and chief of Yahoo! ; Sabeer Bhatia from India founded Hotmail.
In spite of the facts above, there is little visibility for Asian Americans. These communities have almost no famous figures nationwide. In government, Elaine Chao has been Secretary of Labor since 2001, and is now the longest serving cabinet member during President Bush's administration – but she is not really a key figure in U.S. politics. She is one of the main Asian American politicians alongside with Bobby Jindal, the son of Indian immigrants who is now a successful Republican Congressman for Louisiana. Unlike Black or Latino communities, entertainment is a poor area for Asian American visibility : everybody knows Bruce Lee, young people have all seen once actress Lucy Liu, but there is not a lot of mainstream pop stars or actors to represent Asians. Therefore, Asian Americans tend to keep on giving attention to stars from Hong Kong, Taiwan or Japan.
So, do Asian Americans only lack prestigious figures to get the visibility they deserve? Actually, they are widely praised for their high level of inclusion within the American society. Starlets or sportsmen are not the only way for a community to prove what it can bring to the wider society. In today's world, Asian Americans have a huge advantage since they keep close ties with their native cultures. The cultural gap is no more a problem. The USA are building more and more bridges across the Pacific, and have growing economic and strategic interests in Asia. The emerging powers of Asia are mutually investing more and more in North America. In that context, Asian Americans have the ability to bring the two more powerful areas of the world together. They are changing America, and they may change the world too!
So, do Asian Americans only lack prestigious figures to get the visibility they deserve? Actually, they are widely praised for their high level of inclusion within the American society. Starlets or sportsmen are not the only way for a community to prove what it can bring to the wider society. In today's world, Asian Americans have a huge advantage since they keep close ties with their native cultures. The cultural gap is no more a problem. The USA are building more and more bridges across the Pacific, and have growing economic and strategic interests in Asia. The emerging powers of Asia are mutually investing more and more in North America. In that context, Asian Americans have the ability to bring the two more powerful areas of the world together. They are changing America, and they may change the world too!
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