The term ‘Asian American’ has a radical history
But despite its imperfect nature, scholars of Asian American history say that the term’s origins suggest that it has immense potential, too.
Asian immigrants started coming to the US in significant numbers in the mid-19th century, working as miners, farmers, railroad builders and in other low-paying industrial jobs. Those early immigrants were primarily Chinese, Japanese and Filipino, with smaller numbers of Koreans and South Asians arriving in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Though these groups worked under similar conditions and each faced exclusionary policies, they didn’t see themselves as connected, said Daryl Maeda, a professor of ethnic studies at University of Colorado Boulder. They came from countries that were often at odds with each other, and as a result, many tended to identify with their specific ethnic group. When they did come together politically, Maeda said, it was largely along ethnic or class lines.
That shifted in the late 1960s with the emergence of the Black Power movement and mounting opposition to the Vietnam War.
Adopting the ideals of racial pride and self-determination pioneered by the Black Power movement, Ichioka, Gee and others from Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Korean backgrounds united around their opposition to the Vietnam War. Their specific objection: That Asian people were being killed.
Though much of this political organizing was taking place on college campuses, the movement did extend beyond students, Maeda said. In 1969, two older Japanese American women in New York formed an organization called Asian Americans for Action (AAA), with similar goals of opposing racism and the war in Vietnam.
The term is work in progress
As bold as the idea of a unified Asian America was, a piece of landmark legislation would soon complicate that notion.
“The key is to understand that Asian American identity is a political stance,” Maeda said. “Being Asian American is to take a stand against racism and a stand for solidarity among people of Asian ethnicity and with other racialized people in the United States and abroad.”
As recent attacks have prompted increased attention on Asian American communities, Asian Americans are having more conversations about how to be inclusive of everyone while acknowledging differences. Ultimately, Maeda said, it’s the people who give the term meaning, and the label’s storied history might offer a path forward.
“The story of the term Asian American is ongoing. Its ending has yet to be written,” Maeda said. “As time goes on, I hope that we will continue to see the term continue to be used in new and different and novel ways as the needs of communities evolve and new constituencies arise.”
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