The term Asian American is used largely for counting purposes. The label covers all people in the United States who are natives of Asia or whose ancestors came from Asia. People who are lumped together in this category differ in many ways. They have different languages, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes of behavior, rituals, and ceremonies. They may have left their country in search of freedom, or they may simply have wanted better jobs. They may be descended from Russians (the eastern part of Russia is in Asia), or from peoples of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan. Their ancestors may have come from the Indian subcontinent (including India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Or they may have roots in Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, or Indonesia. All of these different nationalities often are grouped together because certain physical features distinguish them from European Americans. Some Asian Americans have lived in the United States for several generations and have few ties to Asia, yet they, too, are considered part of a minority group. Asians did not start emigrating to the United States until the 19th century. Unlike Europeans, who emigrated in large numbers over several centuries and soon became citizens, Asians faced discrimination that prevented them from gaining citizenship. The federal government as well as several states passed laws limiting the rights of Asians in the United States. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that laws were passed to eliminate the restrictions against Asians. By 2000 there were more than 10 million Asian Americans in the United States. The largest groups are listed below. Chinese AmericansChinese laborers were the first Asians to arrive in the United States. Some 15,000 were employed to build the transcontinental railroad (completed in 1869). Others came during the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. Chinese immigrants often settled among their peers, creating “Chinatowns.” They were also the first to face discrimination. As more and more white settlers arrived in the Far West they began to see the Chinese as competition for jobs. Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The act was finally repealed in 1943. Filipino AmericansIn 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States took over the Philippine Islands from Spain. The islands were granted independence in 1946. Filipinos were recruited for jobs in Hawaii, and many later traveled to the West Coast. In 2000, Filipino Americans were the second largest group of Asian Americans in the United States. Asian Indian AmericansThe first emigrants from India came to the United States in 1900–10. They were put to work in lumber camps or on railroads. Others worked as migrant laborers on the farms of California. More than 354,000 people from India arrived in the United States between 1961 and 1986. Most members of this group were well educated professionals. They tended to be city dwellers and formed communities in major urban centers. Vietnamese AmericansVietnamese Americans make up the most recent wave of Asian immigrants. After the Vietnam War ended in 1975 about 150,000 Vietnamese refugees were resettled in the United States. Korean AmericansBetween 1900 and 1946, many Korean immigrants moved to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. Most were escaping the turmoil caused by several regional wars in the late 19th century. Others wished to escape the domination by Japan that started in the early 20th century. Japanese AmericansJapanese immigrants began to arrive in the United States in the late 1800s. Like the Chinese, they at first were welcomed as workers but were soon denied rights of citizenship. For example, they could not own land. From 1910 to 1920 some 70,000 Japanese returned to Japan. By 1939 about half of the Japanese American population was American-born. When Japan bombed the American military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii during World War II, all Japanese Americans were viewed with suspicion. Even those who had been born in the United States and were citizens were not trusted. Those living on the Pacific coast were moved to special internment camps where they were forced to live during the war. They lost their jobs and often their land, homes, and businesses. In 1989 the United States Congress formally apologized for this and offered cash payments to each of the victims still living. |