issues and challenges unfamiliar to non-immigrants. Language barriers and cultural differences may often strain intergenerational family relationships and hinder interactions with local communities and the larger society. Meanwhile, the model minority image exaggerates the successes of Asian Americans in ways that arouse resentment from other racial and ethnic groups. The contin- ued framing of Asian Americans as a successful minority limits important policy-making discussions that could lead to more comprehensive solutions, inclusive of all groups. “Will Asian Americans ever be seen as real American?” is a question that shadows the lives of many Asian Americans. From the often well-intentioned question “Where are you from?” to the hateful remark “Go back to where you came from!” Asian Americans are constantly questioned about their place in American society. Some scholars suggest that Asian Americans will continue to be perceived as “forever foreigners.” This is true for recent immigrants as well as for those Asian Americans whose families who have been in the United States for several generations. In the past, the idea that Asians should not be regarded as Americans was legislated into race-specific policies that banned Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Asian Indians, and Filipinos from American citizenship, landownership, and even marriage with whites. However, nowa- days, while many of such race-based policies are no longer legal, the definition of American still continues to be defined with European American undertones. During a 2009 house testimony on voter identification, Republican Texas state legislator Betty Brown proposed that Asian Americans with Asian-ethnic names change them to more common, conventionally American-sounding ones. To what extent will Asian Americans’ culture, religion, language, and ways of life be accepted as part of the American fabric? To what extent will they be able to be a part of American society on their own terms, contributing their cultural perspectives and experiences? These issues are explored in a number of essays throughout this two-volume set. WHO ARE ASIAN AMERICANS? According to a 2007 American Community Survey and U.S. Census esti- mates, the 15.2 million Asian Americans living in the United States are one of the fastest-growing racial groups, encompassing more than thirty different ethnic groups. As the entries in this encyclopedia emphasize, significant social differences exist not only between ethnic groups, but also within each ethnic group according to gender, generation, language, and culture. Although some Asian Americans are recent immigrants, others descend from commu- nities whose history in the United States extends back over 100 years. Longer-established ethnic groups include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino Americans, and Asian Indians. Although the general public usually associates the term Asian American with East Asian backgrounds (Chinese, Japanese and Korean), the term also includes people with backgrounds deriving from the Philippines, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. South Asians include Asian xviii Introduction
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