mytongueisforked:

a. bayani: What You Might Not Know About Asian Americans

superqueerwonder:

pag-asaharibon:

This is a brief list of interesting and thought-provoking facts about Asians in America that you might not know. It is by no means complete, but is meant to provide a jumping off point for thinking and learning about Asian American issues.

• The first Asians whose arrival in America was documented were Filipinos who escaped a Spanish galleon in 1763. They formed the first Asian American settlement in the swamps around what is now New Orleans.

• Chinese are the only group that has ever been excluded from immigrating to the United States on the basis of race under the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
  • In October 2011, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that expressed regret for the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent laws that banned Chinese from immigrating and from gaining citizenship. The House has not yet passed its version of the bill.

• Between 1917 and 1965, all Asian people were explicitly outlawed from immigrating to the United States. Not until the Immigration Act of 1965 abolished national origins as a basis for immigration decisions was this severe discrimination ended.

• Compared with the national rate of 85% of the population completing high school, only 66% of Laotian Americans, 62% of Cambodian Americans, and 61% of Hmong Americans finish high school.

• Despite the Alien Land Law which specifically prevented Asians from owning their own land, Japanese farmers were highly successful on the West Coast, working some of most nutrient-poor soil. By the 1920s, Japanese farmers were the chief agricultural producers of many West Coast crops.

• Many of the early Asian immigrants who worked as laborers on plantations and in factories were instrumental in the formation of the American labor movement, helping to organize some of the first strikes and unions throughout the country. In 1904, Japanese plantation workers engaged in the first organized strike in Hawaii.

• In 1994, Chinese American Jerry Yang co-founded Yahoo! Inc. and later became its CEO.

• Steven Chen (Taiwanese American) and Jawed Karim (Bangladeshi German American) were co-creators of YouTube.,

• Most Asian immigrants entered American through the Angel Island Immigration Station, called by some, the Ellis Island of the West. However, unlike Ellis Island, the Angel Island facility’s unspoken goal was to limit the flow of Asian immigrants into the country. Between 1910 and 1940, some prospective immigrants were detained for as long as two years and many were deported.

• During World War II, Japanese Americans, both Japanese immigrants and their American children (who were citizens), were forcibly relocated into internment camps.

• Asian Americans are the fastest growing racial group in America. Between 2000 and 2010, the Asian American population grew by 46%.

• 21% of Asian American homes are linguistically isolated, meaning no one in the household reported being able to speak English well.

• In 1982, Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American man was brutally clubbed to death by two white men in Detroit Michigan. The crime was motivated in part by anti-Asian sentiment surrounding the decline of American auto manufacturing jobs due to the successes of Japanese competitors. Despite pleading guilty to charges of second-degree murder, neither of Chin’s killers served any jail time.

• Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, Laotian and Hmong Americans rank among those Americans who are more likely to be uninsured in terms of health care than the general population.

• In the late 1960s, students, including many Asian Americans, organized a strike at San Francisco State University and at University of California, Berkeley to demand the establishment of ethnic studies programs.

• Asian Americans have fought and served in the United States military since the War of 1812.

• A common myth about Asian Americans is their general economic success. However, this is defined by disparities in statistics about per capita and household income. For Asian Americans as a group, the per capita income is $28,342, below that of non-Hispanic Whites at $31,735. With household income which is often quoted, Asian American household income is $68,549 compared with non-Hispanic Whites at $55,906. Likely this happens because Asian American households are larger and more likely to have 3 or more workers in the same household.

• The Asian American Movement grew out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Many Asian Americans joined with African Americans in protesting racial injustice and from this, realized that they too faced such discrimination within American society.

• Only 10 of the 2, 354 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame are for Asians and Asian Americans. That’s 0.4%. Media portrayals of Asian Americans have long been problematic – think about Mickey Rooney’s role as a Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles, just to name a few.

• In 1996, Gary Locke, the current US ambassador to China (and first American born Chinese to be appointed to this post), became the first Chinese American governor in United States history and the first Asian American governor in the continental US as Governor of the State of Washington. When Locke was appointed as US Secretary of Commerce by President Barack Obama in 2009, he became the highest ranking Asian American in the US Government service.
  • In 2007, Bobby Jindal became the first Indian American governor in the country.
  • In 2010, Nikki Haley became the second Indian American governor and currently holds the distinction of being the youngest current governor.

• A recent study showed that Asian Americans are bullied more in US schools than members of other ethnic groups.

In addition to the links above, this list was populated with the help of the following sources:

• Change.org: “10 Facts You May Not Know About Asian American History”
• Asian Americans: An Interpretive History, by Sucheng Chan
• 8asians.com: “Asians in America: An Introduction to the Numbers”

Also:

“U.S. born Asian-American women are more likely to attempt suicide than other groups.” [link] 

(Source: aastudieswilliams.wordpress.com, via woc-resist)