Asian American Identity And Groups Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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The term Asian American originated as a political statement. Inspired by other social movements of the era, activists of the late 1960s and early 1970s coined the term to reflect a new identity. An example of what Michael Omi and Howard Winant, in their 2007 work Racial Formation in the New Millennium, have labeled a racial formation, this Asian American identity was a declaration of self-determination and part of an effort to overcome oppression. The story of that identity is an ongoing one that can relay much about the power of race in the United States.

The Emergence Of An Asian American Identity

Americans with ancestral roots in Asia had often been called orientals, but there was little sense of a common—a panethnic—identity among them before the 196 0s. In some cases, there had even been concerted efforts at ethnic “disidentification.” For instance, many Japanese Americans worked to disassociate themselves from Chinese Americans during intense anti-Chinese campaigns in the late nineteenth century, and many Chinese Americans returned the favor when public hatred of the Japanese reached a fever pitch during the 1940s. These efforts were to little avail, however. Although the initial restrictive immigration laws, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) had originally named specific nationalities, over time, all Americans of Asian ancestry found themselves the targets of discriminatory treatment.

Realizing this, 1960s activists began to call themselves Asian Americans. Because there had been little immigration from Asia for more than three decades, young adults were usually the grandchildren of immigrants, and for these third-generation youth, similarities between subgroups greatly overshadowed the differences. While those differences had been important to their immigrant grandparents, the younger generation had a very different frame of reference. For them, the “homeland” was the United States, where they experienced prejudice that did not distinguish between Asian subgroups. Japanese Americans, for example, subject to the derogatory term chinks (a slur at the Chinese) recognized that bigots cared little for ethnic distinctions. Many came to believe that Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and others of Asian ancestry should emphasize a common, panethnic identity: Asian American.

Superficially, Asian American resembled the older oriental category, but the differences were substantial. Oriental was little more than a descriptive category and had not served as a unifying idea that could draw individuals of different ancestries together. Asian American, on the other hand, was explicitly promoted as a collective identity, emphasizing the shared experiences and geographical roots experiences of all Asian-ancestry Americans. To proclaim an Asian American identity was to assert the power to define oneself, which many activists emphasized by calling theirs a “yellow power” movement. Although yellow power faded as a rallying cry, an Asian American identity spread rapidly.

The New Immigration And The Transformation Of Asian America

As this new identity was growing, dramatic changes in immigration created new challenges. In 1965, the Hart-Celler Act repealed the national origins quotas that had greatly favored western and northern Europeans, replacing them with family reunification preferences that ended an era in which race served as a central component to immigration policy. This created much greater opportunity for Asian immigration, much of it coming from areas that had not previously sent large numbers to the United States. Wars in Korea and Southeast Asia also created connections through which increasing numbers of newcomers would move to the United States. The result was rapid growth and diversification of the Asian American population, so that by 2000, Japanese Americans, who had been the largest subgroup in 1970, had been surpassed by Chinese, Filipino, (Asian) Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese Americans. Asian Americans as a group had grown from less than 1 percent in 1970 to a little over 4 percent of the total population by 2000.

Immigration also brought great socioeconomic diversity. From 50 to 60 percent of Cambodian, Hmong, and Laotian Americans had less than a high school diploma in 2000, while more than 40 percent of Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, and Korean Americans had a bachelor’s degree or higher, with the percentage reaching a stunning 64 percent for Asian Indians (in all cases, figures are for individuals twenty-five or older).

Perhaps most importantly, immigration transformed the Asian American population into one that was predominantly foreign-born—almost two-thirds, according to Census 2000. Thus, for a substantial number of Asian Americans, their sense of identity was likely to be shaped by experiences in another country. Third-generation Asian Americans, who were the driving force behind the creation of an Asian American identity, were by the mid-2000s a distinct minority. Can a panethnic identity survive in a population that does not have the shared experiences that characterized Asian America in the mid-1960s?

The Future Of An Asian American Identity

A common identity may survive, but not unchanged. The Pilot National Asian American Political Survey (PNAAPS) found that half or more of each Asian subgroup surveyed identified panethnically at times, but immigrants and their children were more likely to identify first in ethnic terms— such as being a Korean or a Vietnamese American. But, although they usually identified primarily in ethnic terms, around half of all PNAAPS respondents expressed a sense of linked fate—meaning what happens to other Asian American groups would affect them as well—and felt that Asian Americans shared a common culture.

This sense of interconnected fates creates bonds that strengthen panethnic identification. Common problems can be more effectively combated when Asian American subgroups form a coalition, and a panethnic identity can make coalitionbuilding easier. Subgroups will not always coexist peacefully, but they sometimes will find it in their interest to join together.

If the children and grandchildren of immigrants find growing acceptance in society, however, an Asian American identity may not take deep root. The more that Asian Americans can move into all ranks of society, the more likely it is that their ethnic or panethnic identity will recede in importance and become an option that they will exercise or ignore as they wish.

If Asian Americans continue to be viewed as foreigners, however—even when their families have lived in the United States for three or more generations—they would have little choice but to embrace a separate identity. A strengthening Asian American panethnicity would be evidence that racial distinctions continue to carve deep divisions within American society.

Bibliography:

Espiritu,Yen Le. Asian American Panethnicity: Bridging Institutions and Identities. Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 1992.
Hing, Bill Ong. Making and Remaking Asian America through Immigration Policy, 1850–1990. Stanford, Conn.: Stanford University Press, 1993.
Lien, Pei-et, M. Margaret Conway, and Janelle Wong. The Politics of Asian Americans: Diversity and Community. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial Formation in the New Millenium, 3rd ed. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Reeves, Terance J., and Claudette E. Bennett. “We the People: Asians in the United States.” Census 2000 Special Reports. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2004.