Asian American Identity
Who is an Asian American? "Asian American" can mean different things to different people. At the most basic level, an Asian American is an American who is of Asiatic descent. The term is so broad though that to make further assumptions about an Asian American would be folly. Within this racial category are many distinctions, like ethnicity, class, and place of origin, that overlap and intersect as they define Asian American identity. The "Asian American" identity is a like a melting pot for people of Asian descent. As time goes by, increasingly ethnic identity, though still strong, is being subordinated to the pan-ethnic identification of "Asian American." Without looking at the more specific aspects of Asian American identity, one can gather almost no information from the term "Asian American." Ethnicity is an important aspect of Asian American identity and looking at ethnicity reveals significant information about what the category means. The various ethnicities of Asian America are not absolutely agreed upon by everybody. As Linda Trinh Vő says, "The Asian American or Asian Pacific American label is a contentious one with ongoing debates over which groups actually 'belong' in this racialized cat
At the root of their problems is the fact that these Southeast Asian immigrants came as refugees, who were forced to come here despite the fact that they may not fit in well with life in America. Many of these people have problems speaking English, and they have limited job skills. These people who were sustenance farmers and soldiers can find no application for their work in America. In addition, some of the professionals who come here end up doing menial work that is far below their education, since they can't speak English well enough to get a job in their former profession. Unfortunately, economic class cannot speak to pan-Asian unity. Today serious divisions exist in the Asian American community in regards to income. While the post-1965 immigration brought a great deal of college-educated professionals to the United States, it also brought a great deal of refugees and people who were forced to leave their home and come here virtually unprepared for life in America. Today's Asian American community is very bipolar in regards to class - there exist many professionals who are well off, but at the same time there are many Asian Americans who are just barely surviving (Takaki 425, 464). The economic problems of these Asian Americans are very serious. Today, 15 percent of Asian Americans are below the poverty line, Asian Americans form the highest percentage of the lowest income category (below $5000), and 28.1 percent of Vietnamese are on welfare (Yin). These Southeast Asian groups face very severe financial situations that in many cases they are powerless to change. Another reaction has been just the opposite - the strengthening of pan-Asian identity. As Asian Americans associate more and more with other Asian Americans of different ethnic heritage, a common bond is realized and an Asian American identity becomes more important than an ethnic identity (Tuan 134). The development of this pan-ethnic identity can be seen as "a response to a shared, exclusionary treatment as a minority group by the majority rather than common bonds of heritage" (Lott 89). This type of reaction is becoming more and more commonplace. A statistic that is especially revealing in regards to this movement is the increase in interethnic marriages. As Ronald Takaki wrote, "The 1990 census, accordi
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1547
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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