Imagine you meet someone new. They ask the generic questions like “what’s your name?” and “where are you from” and you answer politely. Then they ask “so what are you?” or “what’s your nationality”. How do you answer?
The formal definition of the term “Asian American” is Americans of Asian decent, but according to many Asian American scholars differentiates by person.In fact, the term “Asian American” wasn’t around until recently.The term was used informally by rights activists during the 1960s in hopes to replace the term “Oriental”, which many felt was a derogatory and colonialist. It wasn’t until the 1970s was it formally used and introduced into the academics.The term was popularized and credited by Yuji Ichioka.The term brought a unity to the spread out Asian Race and it also helped the start of the Asian American Movement.
The Asian American Movement, which promoted this “Asian American” identity, was fueled mostly by student activists radicalized by anti-Vietnam war and black power movements. The movement challenged stereotypes about Asian’s being “passive" and showed a side that the world was not ready for. These new “Asian Americans” were rejecting the exoticism and racism of "oriental" labels, and tried to create a new identity in hopes of moving forward in society. Asian American activists mobilized this new consciousness to demand an end to racist hiring practices (i.e. the glass ceiling), biased school curricula, racist stereotypes presented by the media, and the gentrification of historically Asian American neighborhoods. Although it was primarily students and the Asian American youths that empowered this movement, it spoke for all the Asian communities and created and morphed old community institutions and helped further the development of Asian American presence in American politics.
Through the Asian American movement, the term “Asian American” stuck and is still used today. The Asian American movement not only permanently implicated the word “Asian American”, but it also gave life to Asian Americans as a whole.As stated previously, Asian Americans now had a voice and were finally being heard. The Asian American movement helped defy stereotypes of being submissive, effeminate and “pushovers” and instead left a power hungry society who wanted to be more than a stereotype.Asian Americans began to create an identity for themselves and even had their own “Asian American Studies” at some universities.
Although the term “Asian American” brings a unity to the Asian race, each person’s definition of the term is unique, thus making the term “Asian American” a unique term that is ever changing and continuing to grow each day.
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