im wondering if this bothers anyone because it really irritates me. If anyone has ever noticed the United States has a small population of asian people. Except for major asian populated areas like the Bay area and Orange County San Gabriel Valley, most people have never seen an asian person before (what some of my friends tell me that go out of state) So why is that only blacks and hispanics are labeled under the heading minorities. Decrease in minority enrollment.. increase in minority drop out rates... blah blah minorities.. since when did asians come up to par with caucasians/whites? uhh.. never..cuz it never happened. I get frustrated when I see articles about how sad it is for minorities because they face this and theat but they always refer to hispanic and black statistics and never asians. There's a group on campus called AAP which is supposed to be an outreach program for minorities that help them study and they offer free tutoring and you can qualify for priority enrollment sometimes. Given, I don't know the statistics of asians being offered AAP but I have noticed or my hispanic friend told me that she too is kind of against it because she feels like they are only helping her because they preceive her as helpless because she is a minority. So im assuming if there are asians in AAP and not just tutors they consist of a small percentage. Anyway my basic point is I feel like asians are somewhat being punished by this categorical system. Yes, I know we are of the majority on the campus..on most college campuses rather. But that doesnt mean we are suddenly not a minority. I mean most of us.. or all of us rather are here.. probably because are parents were really strict on education or if not that then we were independently motivated to do well in school. Anyways the first one is most likely true. But it seems that because all of our parents push us hard to do well in school even though not all asians are rich some are poor some do qualify for financial assistance not everyone lives in a nice big house not all of us live in nice areas.. some of us come from ghetto areas like baldwin park or I dont know just places.. and Im sure some schools that we went to werent like top notch. I know mine wasnt.But it was our determination or our parents forcefullness or scariness that helped us get here. And its like " ooo well u arent a minority cuz all of you are in college.. but yet we dont even make up 10 percent of the whole US population. So yeah.. i say grr to not including asians in the minority category. And about the minority thing.. my opinion is that intelligence is not based on race. its not like oh ur white or asian you are guaranteed smart genes.. ooo sorry your black you get the stupid genes. It is all based on a person's own drive to succeed. and not every asian person is smart.. some are in continuation school or locked up or what not. so yeah.. i guess with the whole generalization thing.. i hate it how people think that just because u are asian that academics come easy for u and so does money and stuff..
your opinions reflect pretty well what i used to feel about the "unfairness" of academics and being asian (especially around college acceptance time last year when at my school at least, it seemed that the asian students who worked twice as much didn't have half a good a chance to making it into the private schools, whereas the other minorities seemed to be making it in with flying colors and scholarships to boot).
I believe that for the whole of the US, the asian population comes in at about 3%, and that might be why we hear so little about asian minority issues. African americans and hispanics make up a much larger minority and so their issues will be more represented in society. Also, the socioeconomic positions of african americans and hispanics seem to be much lower than asians - yet another reason why they seem to qualify for more "minority benefits" than asians.
while the fact that they get more benefits may seem unfair just because the asian minority is "smarter" or richer, you have to keep in mind the situations that brought each minority to the US, and how these situations led to the current socioeconomic positions of minorities. african americans and hispanics came over under oppressed situations like slavery or trying to flee their homeland because of politcal instability. Many asians, on the other hand, came over not because they were forced to and were destitute, but because they saw the chance for financial success here (i know that many asians did come during times of war as well and i'm not saying all asians are smart and rich). the asian situation is different because many came over with money already and so had a disciplined work ethic could raise children who could focus their attentions on studies and not finding a job as soon as possible to help support the family or raise their siblings. the "drive to succeed" comes from parents and living situations that allow and promote such a drive, but poorer minorities might not have that luxury like asians do. it's not that asians are always genetically more intelligent than african americans or hispanics, but it's that the situations in which each minority immigrated to the US was vastly different.
i do agree tho, that it seems that everyone's concerns about minority representation almost never includes asians. affirmative action certainly wouldn't help us in colleges since our numbers are already above the percentage we take up in the population (but i guess that's another topic altogether - and i have to say that i dont think affirmative action should be based so much on race as on socioeconomic positions, but a rich african american family may not need the help so much as a poor caucasian family that doesnt have enough money to give their daughter a good education)
i've talked a lot with my friends about this issue but i never really know what "side" i'm on, because while i've posted the above info, i've also felt that it's not fair a qualified asian student can be rejected from a school or job or whatever, while a less qualified person of another minority, or even a caucasian, can be accepted... =/
hmm i don't really agree with your reasons for minorities coming to the united states. i think what all minorities have in common is that they all came from oppressed countries and turned to the united states as a refuge. and the blacks have been here since slavery times, and since slavery was abolished after the civil war ...granted they still faced discrimination even up until the L.A. riots.. but yeah i would say that most asians came around the 1980s, granted there are still some asians that come in now.. and they come to acheive a better life and already have money. but the people that came on boats because they were trying to get away from a communist regime generally didn't start out with much. Unless they already had family over here.. and that family had a lot of money to support the rest of the family.. but yeah.. just in general i think the asian thing is that there drive to succeed is very high and therefore thats the reason why most of them are in colleges and what not. and i think that a lot of asians that are in the uc system at least half of them came from a school/city that wasn't that rich and they had to suffer from financial hardships and not everything was pretty and green for them. and even if it was slightly so.. their parents probably worked really really hard (having two jobs) to give their children the good life.
People of Asian heritage are definitely a minority. A relatively fast-growing minority, yes, but definitely a minority.
Here's a just released summary compiled by the UCLA AASC of latest US Census data:
Asians
13.5 million
The estimated number of U.S. residents who say they are Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races. This group comprises 5 percent of the total population. California has both the largest population (4.6 million) and the largest numerical increase (367,100) of people of this group since April 2000; Hawaii is the state where Asians make up the highest proportion of the total population (58 percent).
http://www.census.gov/Press-Releases/www/releases/archives/population/002897.html
Education
50%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who have a bachelor's degree or higher level of education. Asians have the highest proportion of college graduates of any race or ethnic group in the country. The corresponding rate for all adults in this age group is 27 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html
88%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who are high school graduates. The corresponding rate for all adults in this age group is 85 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html
19%
The percentage of Asians, age 25 and over, who have an advanced degree (e.g., master's, Ph.D., M.D. or J.D.). The corresponding rate for all adults in the age group is 9 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/001863.html
Languages
2.2 million
The number of people who speak Chinese at home. Next to Spanish, Chinese is the most widely spoken non-English language in the country. Also among the top 10 most frequently spoken languages are: Tagalog (1.3 million); Vietnamese (1.1 million); and Korean (966,959).
http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/ (Table: P034, 2003 ACS)
Coming to America
8.7 million
The number of U.S. residents who were born in Asia. Asian-born residents comprise one-fourth of the nation's total foreign-born population.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html
52%
The percentage of the foreign-born from Asia who are naturalized U.S. citizens. The corresponding rate for the foreign-born population as a whole is 38 percent.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/foreignborn_population/003969.html
1.7 million
The estimated number of foreign-born people from China. Next to Mexico, China is the leading country of birth for the nation's foreign-born. Also among the top 10 countries of birth for the foreign-born population are the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Korea.
http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/ (Table: PCT027, 2003 ACS)
Serving Our Nation
276,000
The number of Asian-American military veterans.
http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://factfinder.census.gov/ (Table: P056D, 2003 ACS)
Counties
1.3 million
The number of Asians in Los Angeles County, Calif., which tops the nation's counties. This county also experienced the largest numerical increase of Asians (76,700) from 2000 to 2003.
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/002897.html
Age Distribution
Twenty-six percent of people identifying themselves as either Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races are under 18; 8 percent are 65 or over.
I understand Sophia's frustration on not being included in the "minority" category. In fact, those of Asian heritage are a minority. The justification for not extending special outreach programs and counseling support is ___? Can you guess?
Persons of Asian heritage are not statistically "underrepresented" at UCLA or elsewhere in the UC system. Therefore, the thinking goes, scarce extra help needs to be channeled elsewhere.
Of course, all these categories sometimes hide more than they reveal. Not all Asian sub-groups are well-represented in the UC system or in higher education generally. Many Asian Americans suffer from poverty and isolation every bit as crushing as that endured by others.
My own preference would be for outreach and other special efforts to be extened primarily on the basis of economic class. Middle class African Americans, whites, Asian Americans, and Latinos don't need the help, in my opinion, as much as poor people, especially recent immigrants.
wow...looking at those statistics were pretty shocking.. I didn't know that LA county had the largest asian population in the country I thought it would be San Francisco.