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Asian American is generally defined as a person of Asian ancestryOhio State University. Diversity Dictionary. 2006. September 30, 2006. . 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

Definition of the term

United Nations Asia

While Asian and American are familiar words, the term Asian American has varying usage in formal or common language. In general, formal definitions depend on the particular use (e.g. legal, census), while common usage is more dependent on perceptions, experiences, and context. In the United States, Asian frequently refers only to East Asia and Southeast Asia. South Asian Americans were classified as non-White Americans in the census and government purposes until South Asian American business groups successfully lobbied for inclusion in the Asian category.Fact|date=December Several regions in Asia are not typically represented in either formal or common-usage definitions. Notably, places such as the Middle East, Siberia, and Central Asian states are not included, even though geographically these areas are considered to be part of Asia.

Further ambiguity stems from variations in the use of the word American. 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 U.S.A. These contexts represent various common usages of the term American that demonstrate how formal and fixed definitions capture only part of the meaning of Asian American.

Regardless of which definition is used, Asian Americans, like White Americans or Hispanic Americans, cannot be defined as a homogeneous group of people sharing similar culturesReeves, Terrance Claudett, Bennett. United States Census Bureau. Asian and Pacific Islander Population: March 2002. 2003. September 30, 2006. . or physical features. For example, Chinese Americans and Pakistani Americans have considerable physical, linguistic, and cultural differences, even though they are both considered Asian American. Like the term White American, saying that a person is Asian American is not specifically referring to a certain lifestyle or culture and is only a general term for a wide range of different Asian ethnic sub-groups.

Formal usage

Since the first use of a separate "Asian" category in the 1990 Census, many government and research definitions have followed the Census groupings--even as the Census definitions have varied over time. Census forms from 1980 and earlier listed particular Asian ancestries as separate groups along with White and Black or Negro.https://www.ipums.org/usa/voliii/inst1980.html 1980 Census: Instructions to Respondents, republished by Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota at www.ipums.org Accessed 19 Nov 2006. But the 1980 census marked the first general analyses of Asian Americans, 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.https://www.ipums.org/usa/voliii/inst1990.html 1990 Census: Instructions to Respondents, republished by Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota at www.ipums.org Accessed 19 Nov 2006. The 2000 census created a separate category for Pacific Islander ancestry. These ancestry categories excluded people of the Middle East, Siberia, and former Soviet Central Asian states, who remain included in the white racial category.

US Census Asian labeled

Legal definitions of Asian American were developed in several key Supreme Court decisions that pertain to naturalized citizenship. Historically, the Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted naturalized citizenship to "free white persons". In the 1922 case Takao Ozawa v. United States, Mr. Ozawa, an immigrant from Japan, claimed to be eligible for naturalized citizenship on the logic that his skin complexion fit the definition of "white." The decision held that white referred exclusively to Caucasians, and so Japanese were not eligible for naturalized citizenship.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=260&invol=178 Ozawa v. United States, reproduced at findlaw.com The next year, in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, the court reversed this logic. Mr. Thind argued that South Asians should be eligible for naturalized citizenship because they were considered to be Caucasian, consistent with the Ozawa decision. Thind deployed a reverse logic in Thind, writing that "It may be true that the blond Scandinavian and the brown Hindu have a common ancestor in the dim reaches of antiquity, but the average man knows perfectly well that there are unmistakable and profound differences between them to-day". This decision interpreted the term white persons in the Naturalization Act to refer only to people of European descent.http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=261&page=204 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind, reproduced at findlaw.com

Informal usage

In 1998, Sharon M. Lee reported that Asian American meant Oriental, Chinese American or Japanese American to non-Asian Americans in the United States. According to Lee, this was due to Chinese and Japanese immigrants being the first immigrants into the United States. In a more recent work, Lee points out that with the increasing demographic of Korean Americans, South Asian Americans and Southeast Asian Americans, the definition among United States citizens of who is Asian American is expanding.Lee, Sharon M. Population Reference Bureau. Asian Americans Diverse and Growing. 2006. September 10, 2006. .

unreferenced|section|date=September
In the United States, Asian American has largely replaced Oriental when referring to people of East Asian ancestry.
Some have argued that Oriental is politically loaded and a reference to a colonial other (see Orientalism and cultural imperialism).
Immigrant-generation Asians are more likely to refer to themselves as Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc., because first-generation Asian Americans are much more conscious of their specific national backgrounds and cultures and tend to avoid generalizations.

Some people consider it offensive to label an Asian person with a specific nationality without certainty. For example, labeling someone who looks South Asian as an "Indian" may be offensive to Pakistani Americans and other South Asians who do not consider themselves to be of Indian origin. Likewise, calling an East Asian "Chinese" without knowing his specific national origin can be offensive to Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, and other East Asians who consider themselves ethnically and culturally separate from the Chinese. If one is using racial or ethnic terms, it is more politically correct to use "South Asian," "Southeast Asian," "East Asian," or simply "Asian."

Demographics

{|class="prettytable" style="float:right; font-size:85%; margin-left:15px;"
|+Metropolitan Areas with the Highest Proportion of Asian Americans (2000 Census)
|-bgcolor="#EFEFEF"
!Metropolitan Area
!width="75"|Total population
!width="75"|% of Asian Americans
|-
|Honolulu, HI MSA
|876,156
|46.0
|-
||San Francisco Bay Area
|7,039,362
|18.4
|-
||Greater Los Angeles Area
|16,373,645
|10.4
|-
||Sacramento/Yolo, CA CMSA
|1,796,857
|9.0
|-
||San Diego, CA MSA
|2,813,833
|8.9
|-
||Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area
|3,554,760
|7.9
|-
|New York metropolitan area
|21,199,865
|6.8
|-
||Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area
|7,608,070
|5.3
|-
||Greater Houston
|4,669,571
|4.9
|-
|Las Vegas, NV/AZ MSA
|1,563,282
|4.7
|}

The 2000 U.S. census recorded 12.3 million people who reported themselves as having either full or partial Asian heritage, 4.3% 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). 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 in and around Washington, D.C./Baltimore and Houston, to name the largest examples. 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; King of Prussia, Upper Darby, and Cherry Hill near Philadelphia; Lowell and Lexington near Boston.

Until recently, Chinese were the only Asian American group who had a noticeable presence in large cities when it came to neighborhoods. In fact, besides having traditional Chinatowns, areas around cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles have extensive suburban enclaves that are dominated by Chinese. The schools in these neighborhoods 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. 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-internment communities.

see also| List of U.S. cities with Asian American majority

thumb|250px|2000 density of Asian Americans]
thumb|250px|Asian Americans as percent of population, 2000

Demographic trends

Asian Americans tend to have larger families and earn slightly less per capita than white populations. However, they have higher median income than whites as well as higher percentage of home ownership and college graduation rate.Fact|date=December . The proportion of Asian Americans at many selective educational institutions far exceeds the national population rate.

Such trends are less common among Asians emigrating to the United States from southeast Asian countries such as Laos and Cambodia, among others. Many of these immigrants can be considered refugees from Communist and totalitarian states and often do not have the educational or socioeconomic advantages of other Asian Americans. Many immigrants are often forced to work in minimum wage or below-minimum wage jobs, including menial sweatshop or restaurant labor, because they fear that mainstream employers will not hire them. If they are an illegal immigrant, they also fear that mainstream employers will report them to the government.

Asian American history

see|:Category:Chinese American history|:Category:Japanese American history|:Category:Filipino American history|:Category:Indian American

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.http://www.filipinoamericans.net/manilamen.shtml

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."

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."Fact|date=December

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

200px|thumb|right|Eric Shinseki of the United States Army">[General Eric Shinseki of the United States Army]
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 East 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). This perception continued despite the early presence of Korean and Indian immigrants in the early 1900s.

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 Reed-Johnson Act or 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 racially closer to Europeans in ancestry, but the U.S. Census generally categorizes them as Asians on the basis of geography and culture. South Asians are increasingly accepted by most Asian organizations as another significant Asian group.

Asian Americans today

main|List of notable Asian

In politics

thumb|[Norman Mineta]
In recent decades, many Asian Americans entered politics and succeeded in getting elected into national political offices. In 1957, Dalip Singh Saund became the first Asian immigrant elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1959, Hiram Fong was the first Asian American elected to the Senate. In 1959, Daniel Inouye was elected to the House, and was subsequently elected to the Senate in 1962. In 2004, Bobby Jindal was elected to the House, becoming the first Indian American congressman.

125px|left|thumb|Louisiana Congressman">[Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Congressman]
George Ariyoshi was elected governor of Hawaii in 1974, becoming the first Asian American governor. Shien Biau Woo was elected Lt. Governor of Delaware in 1984, becoming the first Asian American state wide officer in the Northeast. Benjamin Cayetano, was elected governor of Hawaii in 1994. Colorado state Senator Stan Matsunaka became president of the state Senate and the first Asian American president of a state legislative body in the continental U.S. Gary Locke was elected governor of Washington in 1996, becoming the first Asian American governor on the mainland United States. In 2006, Hawaii state Senator Colleen Hanabusa was chosen as Senate president and is the first Asian American woman to lead a legislative body in the U.S.

Norman Mineta served as the United States Secretary of Transportation from 2001 to 2006. Elaine Chao currently serves as the United States Secretary of Labor. Daniel Akaka is currently the junior U.S. Senator for Hawaii. Mike Honda currently serves as U.S. Congressman for California's Fifteenth Congressional District and is the highest-ranking Asian American member of the Democratic National Committee.

In education

see main article Education outcomes in the United States by race and other classifications

(Issued August 2003) Educational Attainment by race and gender: 2000http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/c2kbr-24.pdf
Education Attainment in the United States 2000

Census 2000 Brief
Percent of Adults 25 and over in group
Ranked by advanced degree HS SC BA AD
Asian alone . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.4 64.6 44.1 17.4
Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.1 52.5 26.1 10.0
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino.. . . . 85.5 55.4 27.0 9.8
White alone... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.6 54.1 26.1 9.5
Women. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.7 51.1 22.8 7.8
Two or more races. . . . . . . . . . . . 73.3 48.1 19.6 7.0
Black or African American alone . . . . . 72.3 42.5 14.3 4.8
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 78.3 44.6 13.8 4.1
American Indian and Alaska Native alone . . 70.9 41.7 11.5 3.9
Hispanic or Latino (of any race).. . . . . 52.4 30.3 10.4 3.8
Some other race alone . . . . . . . . . . . 46.8 25.0 7.3 2.3
HS = high school completed SC = some college
BA = bachelor degree AD = advanced degree

Asian Americans are extremely well represented in the education sector, especially in the college level. About 49% of Asian Americans have at least bachelor's degree. Asian people have the highest averages in tests such as SAT, GRE etc. (see race and intelligence). Asian people constitute around 20% of those attending Ivy League colleges. Asian Americans are the largest ethnic group on some University of California campuses. Asian Americans make up only 4% of the American population, but they are more likely to attend college, go to graduate school, and earn higher grades than any other ethnic group in the United States. However, compared to whites, Asian Americans are less represented as teachers or professors than they are as students.

In business

When Asians were largely excluded from labor 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 (Korean), corner markets (Korean, Indian), motels (Indian), donut shops (SE Asians), and nail salons (SE Asians). These ethnic-niche businesses are often characterized by low pay, family labor, and long hours.

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 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704759/. 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 income

On average, Asian Americans have the highest income and the highest education level in the United States than any other ethnic group, including whites; but they have higher poverty rates and lower home ownership rates compared to whites http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704759/. The median income for an Asian American household is $60,367, compared to $50,622 of whites, $30,939 of blacks, $30,278 of hispanics http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704759/. On average, Asian Americans earn twice as much as hispanic and African American households. This can be attributed to the typical Asian American family tends to have more members who are working than the typical White family Fact|date=December . It's not unusual for an Asian American family to have four or more members working. Fact|date=December

In sports

see also|:Category:Asian American
thumb|[Michelle Kwan competes her second long program at the 2002 Grand Prix Final in Kitchener, Ontario]
Wataru Misaka became the first Asian American player in the NBA when he played for the New York Knicks in the 1947–48 season. Misaka also played a key role in the Utah's NCAA and NIT basketball championships in 1944 and 1947.

Asian Americans first made an impact in Olympic sports in the late 1940s and in the 1950s. Korean American Sammy Lee became the first Asian American to earn an Olympic Gold Medal, winning in platform diving in both 1948 and 1952.

Asian Americans have been prominent in figure skating. Tiffany Chin won the US Championship in 1985. Kristi Yamaguchi won three national championships (one individual, two in pairs), 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).

Norm Chow is the current offensive coordinator for the NFL's Tennessee Titans, after helping lead USC's offense to several NCAA championships. Korean American wide receiver Hines Ward was the MVP of Super Bowl XL while playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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

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. Nevertheless, significant progress by Asian Americans in the fields of television, cinema, and comedy has been slow. Early Asian American actors Anna May Wong and Bruce Lee encountered a movie-making culture that wanted to typecast them as caricatures. As a result, the San Francisco born Lee achieved world-wide fame only after first abandoning the West and finding success in Hong Kong. George Takei (of Star Trek fame) and Pat Morita (Happy Days) fared somewhat better domestically, playing secondary roles on the small screen during the 1960s and 1970s. Cambodian American Haing Ngor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985. 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. Famous Asian American actresses include Lucy Liu, Grace Park, Ming-Na and Kelly Hu. Margaret Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian in 1994.

Several Asian Americans rank among the most prominent architects internationally, including IM Pei (the Louvre), Minoru Yamasaki (World Trade Center "Twin Towers"), and Maya Lin (Vietnam Veterans Memorial).

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. 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 credited as being a pioneer in the Asian American hip-hop scene. Asian American jazz is a musical movement in the United States begun in the 20th century by Asian American jazz musicians.

Asian American women are especially overrepresented in the pornography and adult entertainment industry, whereas Asian American men are entirely absent.

A large number of Filipino Americans are working in the entertainment industry, including Apl.de.ap of Black Eyed Peas, Jasmine Trias and Camile Velasco of American Idol, Tia Carrere, Jocelyn Enriquez, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, the actor Rob Schnieder, and Mark Dacascos of the Crying Freeman.

Asians continue to be underrepresented in both film and television. Disney's Mulan, an animated film set in China, featured many non-Asian voices (along with a few prominent Asians). 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.

The Shanghai Renaissance, named after the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's, has witnessed the emergence of the greatest Asian American cultural revival in American history. ImaginAsian Entertainment recently started the first national 24/7 Asian American television network.

In science and technology

right|150px|thumb|Nobel laureate in physics">[Tsung-Dao Lee, Nobel laureate in physics]

Asian Americans have made notable contributions to science and technology. Chien-Shiung Wu was known to many scientists as the "First Lady of Physics". Chinese Americans Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang received the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work in particle physics. Indian American Har Gobind Khorana shared the 1968 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in genetics and protein synthesis. In 1984, Taiwanese American 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. American born 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. Most of the technology and computer companies are located in the west coast of the U.S., which contains a larger concentration of Asian Americans than other sections of the U.S.

Asian American cultural issues

Asians as a "model minority"

main|Model
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 and elders. Statistics such as household income and low incarceration ratehttp://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#jail Bureau of Justice Statistics: Criminal Offenders Statistics, 2005-11-13 are also discussed as positive aspects of Asian Americans.

This concept appears to valorize Asian Americans, but it also comes with an underlying notion of their apoliticality. Such a label one-dimensionalizes Asian Americans, leaving out other human qualities such as vocal leadership, negative emotions, or intolerance towards oppression. Asian Americans may be labeled as model minorities because their "threat" to the U.S. political establishment is small; if so, this label may seek to suppress potential political activism through euphemistic complements. (Reference: Asian Americans and Politics: Perspective, Experiences, Prospects by Gordon H. Chang.)

The model minority concept can also affect Asians' public education. Asians are often stereotyped as over-achieving students, but many of them are not. Much of their academic achievement stems from parental support. However, the "smart" stereotype persists, perhaps because many Asians play a musical instrument (such as violin or piano), or participate in more cerebral extra-curricular activities such as chess. This stereotype can adversely affect Asian American students if school officials expect them to over-achieve.

Asian pride

main|Asian
Asian pride is a slogan affirming one's Asian race in the United States. The phrase 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, specifically Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Cambodian Americans, and Filipino Americans. 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, Pakistani, and Nepalese, generally do not use the term.

References

External links

* http://forums.yellowworld.org/ Yellowworld
* http://www.angryasianman.com/ Angry Asian Man
* http://manja.org/ Asian American Arts and Culture News
* http://www.apiablogs.net/ APIA Blog Network
* http://www.asian-nation.org/ Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America by C.N. Le, Ph.D.
* http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/ UCLA Asian American Studies Center
* http://www.apaforprogress.org/ Asian Pacific Americans for Progress
* http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/asian/village_asian_american.asp Asian American Village
* http://www.goldsea.com/ Goldsea Asian American Daily
* http://www.modelminority.com/ Model Minority
* http://www.apitoday.com/ API Today