Print

Asian Americans are often lumped together and viewed as one unified group, masking important differences between and within groups. Data that illustrate common themes as well as important distinctions between groups are often dif- ficult to find. Using the latest U.S. Census information from the 2007 American Community Survey, the first section provides a demographic overview of Asian Americans as a whole, followed by chapter profiles of the largest fourteen Asian ethnic groups and subgroups. Each of these entries, in addition to providing rare ethnic-specific demographic information, also highlights key issues specific to these particular groups. More detailed discussion on key issues impacting Asian Americans can be found in the remaining ten sections. Each section begins with an anchor essay that provides a broad contemporary and sometimes historical overview of the main topic. This is followed by issue-specific entries organized in alphabetical order. These are the most important issues confronting the Asian American community, and some have been ongoing for decades. At the end of each sec- tion is a resource guide, which includes a carefully selected and annotated list of suggested reading, films/videos, organizations, and Web sites. The 110 entries include background information, controversies, successes, and outlook for each of the issues. When relevant, the chapters describe how gender, class, immigrant/native status, and regionalism affect these current issues. A number of tables and figures and photos complement the text. Numerous sidebars appear throughout, with biographical profiles, quotations, statistics, and excerpts from documents. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to acknowledge Wendy Ng, who initiated the project and gave us the opportunity to serve as editors and contributors to this important ency- clopedia. This project would not have been possible without the support and encouragement from San Francisco State University’s Asian American Studies department California State University–Northridge’s Asian American Studies department its College of Humanities and its Provost Office. Special thanks go to Jonathan Lee, who assisted with the formatting. xvi Preface