Print

Asian Americans encounter a range of social problems, most of which are unknown to the American public as well as to policy makers. Asian Americans face a host of issues in areas including education, media, politics, law, health, economics, immigration, citizenship, politics, and war—all of which have important public policy implications. When social problems confronting Asian Americans are discussed, conclusions are often based on generalizations that do not consider the diversity of experiences and economic backgrounds among the more than thirty different Asian ethnicities, all grouped under the one rubric Asian American. For example, simplistic and divisive arguments about Asian Americans’ supposed overrepresentation in higher education typically overlook the underrepresentation and educational needs of Filipinos, Viet- namese, Cambodians, and Hmong communities in the United States. The com- mon phenomenon of treating Asian Americans as one uniform group is a serious oversight that is echoed in a number of chapters in this encyclopedia. Perhaps worse than being seen inaccurately is not being seen at all—and Asian Americans are sometimes left out altogether from important debates and discussions. When Hurricane Katrina devastated the coastal communities of Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, much of the media coverage focused on the devastation of African American communities while tragedies impacting the sizable Vietnamese American communities living there were ignored. Race relations are too often framed in terms of a black-white paradigm, leaving Asian Americans out of such discussions. Another reason Asian American issues are often invisible is that Asian Americans have largely been regarded as a model minority. Viewed as a homogenous, successful group, Asian Americans are presumed to have few social problems or concerns. While many Asian Americans have in fact achieved some measure of success, many others live in poverty and crowded conditions and lack access to adequate health care and other basic services. Sixty percent of Asian Americans are foreign-born, and they face various Introduction