Asian American Heterogeneity

In the story, “Growing Up Asian in America” by Kesaya E. Noda, Noda is looking for answers about her identity. Growing up, she has struggled with finding herself because she has been labelled as racially Japanese, Japanese American, and as an Asian woman. During the story, she slowly realizes her identity and who she really is. Noda shares important events, stories, and anecdotes to help her and the reader fully understand her identity. The first story Noda shares is in lines 74-76, she says “I linger longer than she does, so reluctant to leave, savoring the connection I feel with my grandmother in America, the past, and the power that lives and shines in the morning sun.” Noda realizes here that even though she is Japanese American, her heritage

Despite the fact that Asian Americans have been in Hollywood for decades, there are very few positive representations of them in film. More often than not, they’ve been depicted as stereotypical caricatures, and more specifically, as foreigners who can’t speak grammatically correct English. Moreover, the negative representations of Asian Americans in film has perpetuated certain misconceptions about their culture. Chan is Missing (1982) calls for more genuine representations of Asian American identities through its cast of complex characters and defiance of Asian stereotypes. The film also urges its viewers to critically think about their own notions of identity through the use of several recurring themes and filmmaking techniques.

The Asian American population is a major facet of American life; beginning their lives as immigrants they have worked their way to become integral members of society. In 2010 there were 14.7 million Asian Americans living in the United States and in 2011 that number increased to 18.2 million.1 Culturally, Asian American people have traditions and beliefs that contradict those of the Western world.2 “Culture molds people’s values, attitudes, and beliefs; influences their perceptions of self and others; and determines the way they experience their environment.”10 As a result there are certain barriers that exist when communicating with Asian Americans due to their cultural background. Additionally, Asians living in America suffer from the Model Minority Myth, which typecasts these people as being financially and educationally well off in comparison to other ethnic groups.2 Due to this Asian Americans aren’t considered more at risk for many health risks compared to other ethnicities; cultural and physical barriers act as a hindrance to Asian Americans receiving healthcare services, primarily mental health related services.

Although Asian Americans comprise only about 5% of the U.S. population, this group is the fastest growing segment of American society. Despite such rapid expansion, Asian Americans are widely underrepresented throughout media, whether in television, cinema, or literature. Moreover, there are different stereotypes associated with Asian Americans. One of the most pervasive stereotypes details how Asian Americans are a “model minority”. In essence, this myth describes how anyone who is Asian American will become a successful individual able to achieve the “American dream”.

From Chinatown to Monterey Park, Asian Americans across the boundaries of Los Angeles are flourishing from bustling inner cities to middle class suburbia. The suburban life style was originally created by white Americans for white Americans however in today’s suburban cities and towns there seems to be a substantial group of Asians and Asian Americans thriving in these once predominately white areas(Li 1993, 318). The development of Asians and Asian Americans in the suburbs occurred through the following three ways, first is the development of Chinatown and how it became the Mecca for immigrants and the second is Asian American assimilation into American society. The last reason is the gentrification of towns such as Chinatown, and Little Tokyo.

The United States is known to acquire more opportunities and to allow people around the world to make a better living for themselves and their family. As many migrated over to the U.S., immigrants found themselves going through economic hard times. The most dramatic turn of the century was during the 1920s with the emergence of second generation Asian Americans. Although some Asian Americans were born in their homeland, coming to the U.S. at the age of six still classified them as Asian Americans as they were raised within assimilation of America. Second Generation Asian Americans experienced America more than their parents ever did and that caused a lot of concerns and tension between them and their parents. The Second Generation Asian Americans experienced tension between their parents with the emergence of the second generation, the influence of the American culture, creating their own paths and future, and the racial discrimination while growing up.

For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and

Last but not least, there’re health care disparities in both Myanmar and U.S. In U.S., Asian Americans are sometimes bigoted as healthy minority. Sadly, this stereotype results in health providers’ inappropriate intervention (Ta Park, 2015). Asian Americans receive less adequate and less intensive care than whites (Womenshealth, 2012). For example, according to Womenshealth (2012), Commonwealthfund (2015), and Los Angeles Times (2014), and Ladwig, American Journal of Public Health, (2015), although Asian Americans encounter myriad health threats just as any other ethnic minority, physicians are less likely to offer timely intervention for illness and counseling about smoking cessations, chronic disease prevention and management, healthy

The ethnic groups stated before had been previously offered as options over the past century (O’Brien. 29). The broad scope that racial categories encompass do not take into account the diverse and often times complex mix of familial influences, societal influences, history, personal experiences, and contexts that make up an individual’s racial and ethnic identity. Individuals of Asian descent can be anyone from Indian to Chinese to Korean, all of which have diverse cultures. Due to religion, language, and phenotype differences brought on because of colonization, both Filipinos and Indian Americans show ambivalence toward their relationships with the Asian Pacific Islander racial category. For Indian Americans in particular, they were not included in the Asian Pacific Islander category in the U.S. census until the 1980s. Up until that point, Indian Americans were given the option of “white” or “other race”.

In the early twentieth century, Asian Americans in the United States faced to lots of obstacles. Since they lived in a “different shore”, they were treated as unassimilable people, and therefore, they experienced many unequal and discriminative treatments. Both Asian Americans lived in Hawaii and the mainland lived in unbearable life under racial discrimination. However, due to geographical and ethnic differences, Asian Americans in the mainland had more difficult time, since majority of the United States’ population were white people. Asian Americans in the mainland had an intense competition with white working class. In other words,

The Asian Indian-American population increases dramatically every year. In 2010, a total number of 2,843,391 Asian Indian-American live in the United States. According to The U.S. Census Bureau, the Asian Indian-American population has grown to 130%, which is 10 times of the national average of 3% within 1990 to 2000. Particularly in 2010, Maryland’s Asian Indians population is 25.2%. They are the largest group among the Asian American population in Maryland. The ever-increasing migration of Asian Indian-American in the United States, especially in Maryland, increases the demand for Indian traditional clothing, especially among the Indian women.

Asian Americans are now the fastest growing racial group in the United States that consists of over 20 national origin groups with distinctive ethnicity, language, religion, cultural practices, immigration history, and socioeconomic status and mobility patterns. Yet, heterogeneity among Asian Americans is seldom explored empirically. In this dissertation project, I examine how intra-Asian American heterogeneity may affect ethnoracial group boundary formation and positioning in the United States using intermarriage as a key indicator. Specifically, I ask: how do contemporary Asian American interethnic and interracial marriage patterns explain their ethnic group boundary formation and racial group positioning in the United States? Intermarriage

Another reason in which how Model Minority negatively affects Asian Americans is the expectation of many Asians in modern media. In a recent report by the University of Southern California Annenberg’s Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative, researchers have found that out of the top films, only about 5.3% of the actors and actresses are asian. On top of that, many of the actors and actresses in these films only have minor roles.

Unlike the Spanish Empire, America characterizes individuals commonly as black or white when that is not the case. An accurate description is required to distinguish the various ranges of racial mixtures. Since America only generalizes between the Europeans and the Africans, the blending of the minority are disregarded.

Dan Hocoy, person being interviewed and working as a clinical psychologist, explains that most Asian Americans go to their families for help and guidance than professions who are not familiar to them.