ASIAN AMERICANS: GROWTH AND DIVERSITY

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ASIAN AMERICANS GROWTH AND DIVERSITY

• CHAPTER 12

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Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

• Diverse group that is one of the fastest growing
  segments of US population
• Includes Chinese Americans and Filipinos
• Includes the Hmong that do not correspond to any
  one nation
• See race and ethnicity in America framed as a
  Black-White issue
• Tri-racial
• Hispanics that are now added to Black-White
  racial issue

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The Model Minority Image Explored

• General image people in US hold of Asian
  Americans as a group
• Despite prejudice and discrimination, succeeded
• Economically, socially, and educationally without
  political or violent confrontations with Whites
• Variation of blaming the victim praising the
  victim

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Education and the Economy

• Impressive school enrollment compared to the
  total population
• 2004
• 49.4 Asian Americans, 25 or older had Bachelor
  degrees compares with 30.6 of Whites
• Often viewed as successful overachievers, but
• Have unrecognized and overlooked needs
• Experience discomfort and harassment on campus
• Under-represented on college campuses
• Experience stress and alienation on campus
• Asian Americans as group have more formal
  schooling than Whites

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• Occupationally Asian Americans occupy mid-level
  occupations and are under-represented in top
  management positions in corporate America
• Glass ceiling and glass wall impact on upward
  mobility
• Do well in small family owned and operated
  businesses
• Agriculture
• Middlemen Minorities
• Occupy jobs within the middle of the occupational
  structure rather than the bottom where racial and
  ethnic minorities are typically located

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• Another misleading sign of success is high income
  as a group
• Approach parity with Whites because of greater
  achievement than Whites in formal schooling
• Whites earn more than their Asian counterparts of
  the same age
• If education from overseas, they are devalued by
  US employers
• Model Minority stereotype is a disservice
• Excludes Asians from social programs and conceals
  unemployment and other social ills
• Local governments are eliminating Asian Americans
  from the definition of minority

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The Door Half Open

• Anti-Asian American feeling built on long
  cultural tradition
• Yellow Peril
• Refers to the generalized prejudice toward Asian
  people and their customs
• Asian Americans are often stereotyped and ignored
  or described in negative ways in the media
• Overgeneralizations
• Ethnic slurs
• Inflammatory reporting
• Japan bashing
• Media invisibility
• Model minority

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• Subject to institutional discrimination
• Marginal status of Asian Pacific Islanders leaves
  them vulnerable to selective and collective
  oppression
• 1999 Wen Ho Lee
• Resulted in Asian Americans now viewed as
  security risks
• 32 of feel that Chinese Americans more loyal to
  China than US
• Asian Americans avoid top-secret science
  employment because of subjection to racial
  profiling at high security levels
• Young Asians in US struggle for identity because
  their heritage is devalued by those in positions
  of influence

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Political Activity

• Politically Asian Americans tend to be less
  active than other subordinate groups
• Function of
• historical influences
• cultural influences
• demographic influences
• Immigrants come from nations where political
  participation was unheard from or looked upon
  with skepticism and sometimes fear

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• Six factors why Asian Americans not more active
  in politics
• Traits needed to become a candidate are alien to
  Chinese culture
• Older people remember blatant discrimination and
  tell others to be quiet and not attract attention
• Recent immigrants have no experience with
  democracy and have distrust of government
• Concentration on getting ahead economically and
  education of their children
• Careers of the brightest are in business and
  science, not law or public administration
• Asian American groups are dispersed and cannot
  control election of even local candidates

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Diversity Among Asian Americans

• Census Bureau enumerates 47 groups
• Diverse historically, culturally, politically,
  and economically
• Asian Indians
• Pattern of immigration
• Between 1820 and 1965 approximately 17,000 came
• Many came under the 1965 Immigration and
  Naturalization Act
• Tended to be better educated, urban and English
  speaking

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• Religious diversity
• Hindu
• Sikhs
• Muslims
• Zoroastrians
• Religious traditions remain strong among new
  arrivals
• Concern about erosion of traditional family
  authority
• Desi pronounced (DAY-see)
• Colloquial name for people who trace their
  ancestry to South Asia, especially India
• Arranged marriages
• Cultural conflicts between national traditions
  and American culture

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• Filipino Americans
• Third largest Asian American group in US
• Considered Asian because of geography, but
  physically and culturally, reflect centuries of
  Spanish colonial rule and recent colonial
  occupation of US
• Immigration divided into four distinct periods
• First group in the 1920s male and employed in
  agriculture
• Second group as contract workers in Hawaiian
  sugar cane plantations
• Third group after World War II included veterans
  and wives of US soldiers
• Newest immigrants arrived under 1965 Immigration
  Act and included many professionals (physicians
  and nurses)

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• American born Filipinos tend to be educationally
  and economically disadvantaged in comparison to
  new arrivals
• Lack significant ethnic organizations-function of
  
• Strong loyalty to family and church
• Diversity among Filipinos make forming ties
  problematic
• Organizations are club like or fraternal and
  largely invisible
• Show signs of seeking involvement in broader
  community

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• Southeast Asian Americans
• Came largely from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos
• Many arrived as political refugees after the
  Communist take over in their respective countries
• Many experienced adjustment problems culturally,
  and economically
• Crime among this ethnic group has two ugly
  aspects
• Reprisals for the war
• Emergence of gangs as the young seek support of
  close-knit groups
• 1995 US initiated normal diplomatic relations
  with Vietnam
• More movement between the nations

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• Case Study A Hmong Community
• Sizable population in Wausau, Wisconsin
• Come from rural areas of Laos and Vietnam
• Recruited to work for the CIA during the war
• Life difficult after US pulled out, many
  immigrated because US policy open to their
  residency
• Faced major issues of assimilation especially in
  language and education
• Conflict over contemporary US policies
• Recruited to gather information about communists
  during the war
• Continued disputes over whether US may lift trade
  barriers with communist-rum government of Laos

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• Korean Americans
• Community is result of three waves of immigration
• First group of 7,000 immigrants came between 1903
  and 1910 and settled and worked as laborers in
  Hawaii
• Second group of 14,000 came after the Korean War
  from 1951-1964
• Third group and largest group came under the 1965
  Immigration Act
• Face cultural and economic adjustment problems
• Stress, loneliness, alcoholism, family strife,
  and mental disorders
• Ilchomose
• 1.5 generation Korean immigrants that
  accompanied parents to US when young and now
  occupy middle marginal positions between Korean
  and US culture

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• Church is the most visible and important
  organization outside of the family
• Provides a sense of community
• In the early 1990s, nationwide attention was
  given to the friction between Korean Americans
  and other subordinate groups, primarily African
  Americans, but also Hispanics
• 60 of US born Korean and half of the women born
  abroad are in the labor force
• Significant because of established, well-defined
  family roles that allow women to be homemakers
  and mothers
• Kye (pronounced kay)
• Special form of development capital used to
  subsidize businesses and is not protected by laws
  or insurance
• Conflict with other minority groups gained
  national attention during 1992 South LA riots

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• Hawaii and its People
• Effect of White arrival on the Hawaiians was
  disastrous
• Civil war and disease reduced number to 30,000 by
  1900 and is probably 10,000 now
• 1900 Organic Act
• Guaranteed racial equality but foreign rule was
  psychologically devastating
• Japanese and Haoles (Wealthy Whites) dominate the
  economy
• Japanese especially important in education 58
  of teachers and also dominate politics on the
  island
• Hawaii has always been more racially harmonious
  than mainland
• Never had segregation, Jim Crow, slavery, or laws
  against interracial marriage

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• Sovereignty Movement
• Effort by indigenous people of Hawaii to secure a
  measure of self-government and restoration of
  their lands
• Similar to the sovereignty efforts of Native
  Americans
• Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act or
  the Akaka Bill
• Provide people of Hawaiian ancestry more say over
  resources
• provide affordable housing, take steps to
  preserve culture, and create a means by which
  they could better express their grievances
• Hawaii is no way a racial paradise
• Certain occupations and social classes are
  dominated by a single racial group
• It is expected that people will not totally
  resist prejudice as the islands isolation is
  reduced
• Relative to the mainland, race relations
  characterized more by harmony than discord

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QUESTIONS
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• How is the model minority image a disservice to
  both Asian Americans and other subordinate racial
  and ethnic groups?

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• In what respects has the mass media image of
  Asian Americans been both undifferentiated and
  negative?

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• How is the model minority image reinforced by
  images in the media?

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• How has the tendency of many Korean Americans to
  help each other been an asset but also been
  viewed with suspicion by those outside the
  community?

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• What critical events or legislative acts
  increased each Asian American groups immigration
  into the United States?

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• Keeping in mind that adolescence is based on
  culture and values, coming of age is difficult
  given the ambiguities of adolescence in the
  United States. How is it doubly difficult for the
  children of immigrants? How do you think the
  immigrants themselves, such as those from Asia,
  view this process?

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• American Indians, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and
  Black are all convenient terms to refer to
  diverse groups of people. Do you see these broad
  umbrella terms as being more appropriate for one
  group than for the others? Explain your answer.

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• To what degree do race relations in Hawaii offer
  both promise and a chilling dose of reality to
  the future of race and ethnicity on the mainland?