xv Introduction “Asian” refers to a person whose origins are in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent. According to the 2010 census, the Asian American popula- tion grew faster than any other race group in the United States between 2000 and 2010. Historically, K–12 education does not provide students and general readers with detailed knowledge of Asian Americans’ long history in the United States and its lasting impact on American life. Misconceptions and racial stereotypes of Asian American individuals and communities still prevail today. This book offers the reader a comprehensive understanding of the key events in Asian American history and the ways in which they have helped shape American society. As David K. Yoo and Eiichiro Azuma have pointed out, the study of Asian American history emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the efforts to docu- ment and analyze subjects who often are missing or marginalized in mainstream historical narratives. The 1980s and early 1990s began to see synthesized Asian American history in publications, followed by the establishment of Asian Ameri- can and ethnic studies programs at colleges and universities, making it pos si ble for students to specialize in Asian American history. The field of Asian American his- tory took transnational and cultural turns in the mid-1990s, emphasizing an inter- pretive and integrative framework. Since the 1990s, Asian American history has become recognized as relevant and beneficial for other academic fields of study (Yoo and Azuma 2016, 1–6). It is no easy task to write about Asian American history. Competing ideologies are abundant in chronicles of Asian American history, partly because Asian immi- gration to the United States has been controversial (Chan 2003, ix). Narrowing down the topics to only twenty-five key events without sacrificing coverage presents an extraordinary challenge. After all, Asian Americans have a complex history in this country. Different from most reference works on Asian American history, the essays included in 25 Events that Shaped Asian American History are not organized by national groups nor do they always provide coverage commensurate with these groups’ population sizes. Instead, the topics are anchors that tie together many other
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