Asian-Americans: An Interpretive History - Research Paper Example

Asian American history Asian Americans can be said to be the US citizens who self-identify themselves as having Asian or Pacific Islanders’ origin fully or partly, irrespective of their place of birth, citizenry, and residing time as well as the legality of their stay. Asian Americans comprise of only 5% of the entire American population. However, they are said to be the most rapidly growing foreign segment in the US; it is evident from the 2.7 percent increase in number from 2007 to 2008 which totaled to 400,000 people. As per census carried out in 2010, 15.5 million people are confirmed to be Asian either fully or half cast. This population, however, is not fairly spread across the nation; for instance, in California alone, the number of Asians was a whopping 5.1 million. This is the state with the largest percentage of Asian population in the entire country. New York, an urban area, ranks the second in Asian population with 1.5 million Asians, while Texas follows with 956,000. Asian population represents the most predominant group in Hawaii, which is quite understandable because Hawaii is the lone majority Asian state in the USA making up 54% of the entire population. Asian Americans are of varying descents; the Chinese are the most predominant accounting for 3.62 million of the entire Asian population in the USA. There are Filipinos, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese in the order of their population density. These different communities come with varying characteristics in uniqueness. Differences in religious practices, beliefs and even lifestyles have for long determined their experiences in the US. The early immigrants to America were majorly from Europe. This is the reason why the later European immigrants were able to fit in simply in spite of encountering an already developed culture. The Asians only came in later as recruits because of labor shortages. They were recruited to aid in agriculture, construction projects and transportation. Most of the present Asian Americans are the descendants of the primary immigrants. The experiences of the European and Asian immigrants vary since in those early days, American laws had racial discrimination. More so, the cosmic variance in the looks, beliefs and lifestyles strengthened the belief that it could be hard for the Asians to blend in, thus, rooting the notion that Asian Americans were “aliens” (Chan and Sechung 49). The first Asian Americans were the Chinese. They came in large numbers during the gold rush period and massive road building in California. The Filipinos arrived earlier in minor numbers and settled in Hawaii that was not yet part of the USA then. All the Asian immigrants came in search of better lives and greener pastures. Some of them came for education; others wanted jobs while some even just came to settle. Asian immigrants had their own culture and beliefs that they came with from their homelands. They were in many forms including folklore, arts and traditional literature. Asia’s great civilization became widespread over a large area and, thus, transfer of information became far-reaching (Barry 35). Close connections can be seen in the traditions of the Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and China. The Asian arts became well known into neighboring continents, such as Europe. On the other hand, early Asian visitors, for instance, missionaries in Korea, were witnesses of their building prowess and calligraphy works and spread the news when they went back home. This attracted explorers to the Asian countries such as China where they marveled magnificent structures, such as the Great Wall of China. Since most parts of America had started undergoing urbanization, structures that are more complex were needed, thus, there was the necessity to acquire cheap and free skill and labor from these countries. Asian countries were rich in creativity in both literature and music. Japan, for instance, was a major poetry harbor in those days. Many of the major stories that are turned into movies today were a product of former Asian creativity (Bulosan 40). In America, a significant number of children stories are adopted from Asian folklore tales. In their adaptation to the United States lifestyle, like all the other immigrant groups, Asians have reserved their cultural customs or better still modified them to fit the experiences, for instance, the translation of Asian conventional literature to fit the American setting. By these, they would have an easy time blending in and at the same time keep their customs. It is argued that Chinese traditional beliefs acted as a guide for the Asians who came to the United States. This is because during the 19TH century, when the Chinese started immigrating to the US, there was an establishment of Chinatowns owing to common experiences and reasons of need for support among the immigrants. This aimed at bringing together the Asians, due to the then present legal, as well as social, policies of the prevailing community that isolated Chinese immigrants. “Tongs” or, rather, district and family associations rose to aid in fulfilling the economic as well as social needs of the Chinese that they had been denied by the greater American community. Folk traditions were the bonds of the Chinese in these times. So strong was it that it acted as the ground on which major associations were brought up. A good example of this was the Lung Kong that was a conjunction of four families. The codes of conduct and bylaws of the coalition were derived from a famous Chinese tale, “Romance of the three kingdoms”. This inspired them to be helpful and treat everyone as one in the society. A number of issues evolving from diverse histories have influenced Asian American cultures. In a number of times, they display likely influences brought about by colonization by both Asian and European forces. As exemplified in Asian-American literature, these similarities come hand in hand with dramatic variations of equal magnitude in experiences. Often, the focus of this Asian-American literature lies on the influence of Asian exclusion laws, anti-miscegenation laws, captivity of Japanese Americans, alien laws as well as other laws that tend to be catalysts of segregation of the Asian community in the US during the early immigration times. It can be said without doubt that the Asian American literature is a mirror of global diversity in a number of ways that are easily viewable from the community. The Asians faced a number of stereotypes in the early times of their immigration. However, they are majorly grouped into two (Houston 66). The first is that the local community saw all Asians to be similar, meaning they did not differentiate between the ethnicities despite the varying practices and beliefs. This simply means that they had a negative attitude towards the general Asian community. They generalized the practices and stereotypes even though just a certain descent put it into practice. In result, important differences were assumed or merely recognized leading to disheartening results that made certain individuals feel out of place. The second stereotype still affects American Asians nowadays. The notion that all American Asians are on foreign land, meaning they are not in their home. This problem made the then present inhabitants of America feel that they could not fit in, thus, the seclusion. Even presently, a number of people assume that all the Asians they meet are foreigners. It is hard for them simply to believe that some of them have been citizens for decades; some families even have stayed here for over a century. This perception led to the denial of equal rights since they were not treated similar to the other Americans. Legislation laws have had a major impact on the distribution of Asian Americans in the US. Over a period, a number of things have taken place that determined the quality of lifestyle the Asians have. For instance, the act of Chinese exclusion 1882, Alien land law 1913, alterations of immigration law 1965, state anti-miscegenation laws in 1967 and the confinement of Japanese Americans during the world war two are just among the misdeeds the Asian Americans were put through. These are rules put in place to undermine the rights of the Asian Americans. In comparison to past few decades, the Asian American population has undergone diversification, thus, it has become hard to determine which of them should not be included unlike old times when just three Asian ethnicities were predominant. Asian Americans are inhabitants of urban to rural areas and agricultural to industrial lands. This includes not only the early immigrants but also the previous ones who have decided to call the US home. Nowadays, however, migration is not unidirectional (Hall 77). Asian Americans are free to travel back and forth the United States and Asia in the course of just a year. This is contrary to the earlier times when even state-to-state movement was banned. The process of assimilation and immigrant progression has been quite a hard one for that matter. By this process, every Asian American is in a position of influencing each other since they have a common cultural heritage. There were insightful changes in the immigration laws in the USA in the year 1965. For instance, it catalyzed the end of a men oriented society. By this, it means that it brought to end the exclusion laws whereby women were excluded from immigrating and immigration quotas were set. In accordance, the War Brides Act of 1947 allowed Asian American soldiers to bring back wives from Asia and were given permission to start families. Japanese Americans were partly allowed to marry and establish families thanks to the Gentleman Agreement of 1908. The internment camp brought change to many communities by shifting of power to an American born generation that is used by a number of scholars in the explanation of high rate of out-marriage (exogamy) in Japanese Americans. A new community of Asian Americans started in America after the 1975 reform of the refugee act mainly from Southeast Asia. Unlike the more developed Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese communities, the new immigrants could not carry out the activities they practiced back home. Formerly, the Chinese and Japanese migrants practiced farming in their homeland. Most of them became successful farmers in California and aided a lot in the development of the agricultural industry. On the other hand, the Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian immigrants easily fit into urban lifestyle since their major areas of prowess was based there such as military, intellectual works and merchant classes. However, the ones who practiced agriculture were sometimes on a losing end because they were put in unfamiliar surroundings. Immigrants such as Koreans, Indians and Iranians who originated from tightly knit family backgrounds missed their closeness and social lifestyle when they settled to the USA. During the Second World War, Japanese Americans were interned under inhuman conditions. They were denied common needs such as food, water, shelter, clothing and sanitary conditions. However, it is surprising how they willingly volunteered to serve in the army. This was made possible by loyalty tests that can be said to be highly doubtful. It was meant to distinguish the trustworthy from the untrustworthy detainees. This was carried out cunningly, though intelligently, thereby leaving both citizens and non-citizens no choice but to accept to join the US army. The internment brought a major deprivation of family life not only to those in custody but even those who were not separated from their families. Concerns such as poor housing during this period, whereby a room was shared by up to four families, discouraged tight family practices that they had been practicing earlier that acted as their strength and bond strengtheners. The Issei, which were the non-citizens, were the most affected and their incarceration only quickened the passing on of wealth and power from a generation to the next. The Nisei, on the other hand, were mildly affected as they were high school students or younger, and they were the family and community decision makers (Helen and Zia 74). They formed the Japanese American citizen league (JACL) in trying to regain control of their own lives. Immigrants from Filipino lived under similar conditions to those of Japanese Americans in the 1920s and 30s. This is despite the fact that they came in as allies of the US, and they had American education in the Philippines. They were as well denied citizenry in the US. Hawaii was home to the first Asian Americans in the 1830’s. As they stabilized, they became aware of their rights and demanded better working and living conditions. This made the plantation owners opt for other labor options by looking for other ethnic groups to work in the plantations (Welty 245). However, this did not wipe them all out evidently from the present amalgamated Hawaiian community that comprises of a number of ethnicities namely, Chinese, Filipinos, Portuguese, Japanese, Koreans and the native Hawaiians. This led to an up bring of a common language understandable to all that merged all these descents dialects. This language is known as Pidgin and is common in Hawaii even nowadays, which is evident from the works of literature using it. Historically, Asian Americans had to put extra efforts in learning English, a language they were not used to in those times and that was not in rhyme with the Asian grammatical and phonological systems. For instance, the Japanese saw it simpler to work as florists and gardeners. The Chinese, on the other hand, saw advantageous to use their cuisine to acquire livelihood. Later on, Asian Americans saw it best to open their own businesses. Their togetherness helped them a lot since the whole family contributed to the business, thus, flourishing it. This helped in flexibility of the business in terms of labor and management (Allis). After some time, their contribution to the American economy was evident through significant tax payments. This portrayed an entirely different picture from that which the American people believed that the Asians had come to use their resources. Conclusively, the terms and images created in the description of Asian Americans in an abusive of stereotyping manner ought to be avoided. Sensitivity to such issues is a matter of uttermost importance. It must be known that they have built themselves over a long period, individuals who have lived two lives and adapted to both. Respect is considered an important virtue in Asian culture and it is seen in the way most of them carry themselves. It should be learnt that returning the favor is not optional as the Chinese Vietnamese belief. Work Cited Allis, Sam. Kicking the Nerd Syndrome. Time, 25 March 1991. Web. 26 April. 2012. Barry, Chiswick. “An Analysis of the Earning and Employment of Asian-American Men.” Journal of Labor Economies 1.2 (1983): 197-14. Print. Bulosan, Carlos. America is in the Heart: a personal history. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1973. Print. Chan, Sechung. Asian-Americans: An Interpretive History. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Print. Hall, Daniel. History of South-East Asia. Michigan: University of Michigan, 1968. Print. Helen and Zia. Asian American dreams: the emergence of an American people. New York: Farrar, Strauts and Giroux, 2000. Print Houston, Hasu. The Politics of Life: Four Plays by Asian-American Women. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993. Print. Welty, Paul. The Asians: Their Heritage and their Destiny. New York: Lippincott, 1976. Print. Read More