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Asians in America
| Article
# : |
10852 |
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Section : |
Culture
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1986 |
5,519 Words |
| Author
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Patrick Boyle
Patrick Boyle is an investigative reporter at the Washington
Times. |
The shiny new Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a symbol of hope for New York and a monument to the accomplishments of Asians in America. There is no building quite like this mammoth creation of glass and steel on the West Side of Manhattan, designed by architect I.M. Pei. It can accommodate tens of thousands of visitors at once, employs hundreds of people, and is expected to pump millions of dollars into the city's economy.
The "Ghost Shadows" are a symbol of trouble. About twenty of them sit in a jail in the same city as Pei's convention center, facing charges that range from extortion to kidnapping and murder. One of the most violent youth gangs ever to roam New York's Chinatown, the Ghost Shadows testify to the struggles of Asian families. As the parents strive for economic success, their long hours of work and absence from home have disrupted their traditionally strong family units.
Architect I.M. Pei, 69 years old, was born in China, and raised in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Most of the gang members, in their late teens and early twenties, were born in America, descendants of people who emigrated from Asia. All are part of the fastest-growing ethnic minority in the United States, a group that is making astonishing strides both in numbers and in influence.
The impact of Asian-Americans is evident in cities and villages throughout the country. Asians greatly influence the products Americans buy, the food they eat, the art they see, and the clothing they wear. These immigrants have come from many places for many reasons, from cultures far different than those in the West--but Asian-Americans have displayed characteristics that suggest the American Dream was made for them.
They have been pursuing that dream for 140 years. Language barriers and lack of employment skills keep some Asian groups mired in poverty. Conflicts with Americans have at times led to violence. And as they strive for assimilation into their new culture, they also struggle to maintain their own cultural heritage.
About 3.6 million Asians now make America their home, according to the latest population figures. That accounts for 1.6 percent of this country's population. Asian-Americans range from the descendants of the Chinese "coolie" laborers who arrived in the 1840s, to Southeast Asian refugees who began arriving a decade ago. In numbers, Asians were actually the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States in the
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