Learning Objectives

  • Understand the population characteristics of the 10 largest Asian American groups.
  • Explain the history of Chinese and Japanese Americans, including their cultural characteristics, their immigration patterns, their development in the United States, and the nature and importance of each enclave.
  • Explain the patterns of the recent immigration from Asia.
  • Understand how prejudice and discrimination affected Asian Americans in the past and today.
  • Apply the concepts of assimilation and pluralism to explain the contemporary situation of Asian Americans, especially
    1. acculturation,
    2. secondary structural assimilation, and
    3. primary structural assimilation.
  • Assess the overall situation of Asian Americans today based on the concepts and information presented in this chapter, and assess the idea that Asian Americans are a “model minority.” Are Asian Americans “whitening,” “blackening,” or becoming “honorary whites”?