Asian America. Pawan Dhingra

361

Dedication

      P.D.: For my children, a part of Asian America I continually learn from.

      R.R.: For my son, Amado. It is because of you that books like these are important.

Asian America

       Second Edition

      Pawan Dhingra Robyn Magalit Rodriguez

      polity

      Copyright © Pawan Dhingra and Robyn Magalit Rodriguez 2021

      The right of Pawan Dhingra and Robyn Magalit Rodriguez to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

      First edition published in 2014 by Polity Press This edition first published in 2021 by Polity Press

      Polity Press

      65 Bridge Street

      Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK

      Polity Press

      101 Station Landing

      Suite 300

      Medford, MA 02155, USA

      All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

      ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3430-2

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Dhingra, Pawan, author. | Rodriguez, Robyn Magalit, author.

      Title: Asian America / Pawan Dhingra, Robyn Magalit Rodriguez.

      Description: 2nd edition. | Cambridge ; Medford, MA : Polity, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “Unique critical introduction to the fastest-growing minority group in the US”--Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2020029872 (print) | LCCN 2020029873 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509534289 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509534296 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509534302 (epub)

      Subjects: LCSH: Asian Americans--Social conditions. | Asian Americans--Ethnic identity. | United States--Ethnic relations. | United States--Race relations.

      Classification: LCC E184.A75 D45 2021 (print) | LCC E184.A75 (ebook) | DDC 305.895/073--dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029872 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020029873

      The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.

      Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.

      For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

Foreword and Acknowledgments

      We write this foreword and acknowledgments during what may perhaps be one of the most unprecedented historical moments in United States history; it’s certainly an unprecedented moment in our lives. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the headlines and impact communities in unequal and devastating ways. Alongside the spread of the coronavirus has been the virulent growth of anti-Asian racism. At the same time, the United States has been racked with uprisings, led primarily by the black community but with significant support from other communities of color and many whites to express their outrage over yet another case of flagrant anti-black police violence, specifically the brutal death of George Floyd, but indeed to protest generations of systemic racism that not only plagues our criminal justice system but many other institutions that organize American life. The second edition of this book, therefore, comes at an especially critical time as it uses insights from inside and outside of the academy to shed light on systemic racism, community formations, and modes of resistance.

      In some sense, this book has been nearly a lifetime project for us. Each of us has been trained within sociology PhD programs and has been employed in sociology departments, even training future sociologists. Yet we also have studied within and been employed within American or Asian American Studies programs/departments in the West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast. This dual upbringing has made us acutely aware of the benefits but also the gaps within any one particular school of thought. We see Asian Americans as not simply a fundamental population of the United States but as a necessary site, alongside other minority and immigrant groups, for elucidating social science questions on the nation, globalization, intersectional approaches to race and class, media, interpersonal solidarity and conflict, identity, and much more. As the neoliberal academy moves towards greater collaboration across departments/programs and demands a more measurable “output” from scholars and teachers, we believe that recognizing the history and contributions of the study of Asian Americans across a variety of fields is all the more urgent.

The second edition of this book came to be because of the foresight of Polity Press. We would like to thank Jonathan Skerrett for taking the initiative to move forward on updating this text. None of us could have possibly anticipated that its completion and publication would come at a time like this. We also want to thank those who have used the book in professional and/or personal settings, for that has allowed a second edition.

      This book is only possible because of a number of colleagues that we have worked with in different capacities over the course of our careers. With a book such as this, there are too many individual scholars to list for special acknowledgment, so we will not even try. In some respects, this entire book is an acknowledgment of the work they have done. We would like to give special recognition to our past and present colleagues at Bucknell University, Oberlin College, the Smithsonian Institution, Tufts University, Rutgers University, the University of California, Davis and Amherst College. We would like to thank our families and close friends for putting up with yet another book project. Their support and enthusiasm around this project have made this all the more worthwhile.

      Pawan Dhingra

      Robyn Rodriguez

Part I Framing Asian America

1 Introduction

      Asian Americans are overrepresented among college graduates, with 50% of Asian Americans age 25 and older having gained at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to a quarter of the US population as a whole.¹ They are accomplished professionals in fields ranging from the sciences to the arts. They have a high rate of small-business ownership.