all-in-one-wp-security-and-firewall domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/wp_mjgj8c/racefiles.com/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114The June 19 release of the Pew Research Center report, The Rise of Asian Americans<\/em><\/a> is generating buzz that is, frankly, giving me a headache.<\/p>\n The report summary opens with the following:<\/p>\n Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States. They are more satisfied than the general public with their lives, finances and the direction of the country, and they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success….<\/p>\n Asian Americans trace their roots to any of dozens of countries in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Each country of origin subgroup has its own unique history, culture, language, religious beliefs, economic and demographic traits, social and political values, and pathways into America.<\/p>\n But despite often sizable subgroup differences, Asian Americans are distinctive as a whole, especially when compared with all U.S. adults, whom they exceed not just in the share with a college degree (49% vs. 28%), but also in median annual household income ($66,000 versus $49,800) and median household wealth ($83,500 vs. $68,529).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans<\/a> (NCAPA) responded with a statement summed up by the line,<\/p>\n We need to move beyond one-dimensional narratives of exceptionalism about Asian Americans in order to better understand and address the diverse experiences facing our community members…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n NCAPA’s response is a good start, but I’ll take it a step further.<\/p>\n The problem with the Pew report is that it constructs an idea about race that is very problematic. Bear with me here and I’ll explain.<\/p>\n The racial category Asian<\/em> lumps together widely diverse groups with no common language, phenotype, or culture who come to the U.S. under vastly different circumstances. How, exactly, do you arrive at a “distinctive whole” from which you can deduce an average experience of, say, Japanese Americans and Laotian Americans?<\/p>\n The first wave of Japanese immigrants to the U.S. came through Hawaii in the 1800s as contract laborers lured by lies about grand opportunity and riches. The more recent wave of Japanese immigrants is being recruited to the U.S. as highly skilled workers or business investors.<\/p>\n The vast majority of Laotian immigrants on the other hand, came to the U.S. since 1973 as refugees of war. Here’s what that means for them, according to the Laotian American organization Legacies of War<\/a>,<\/p>\n From 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more than two million tons of ordnance over Laos during 580,000 bombing missions\u2014equal to a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes, 24-hours a day, for 9 years. The bombing was part of the U.S. Secret War in Laos to support the Royal Lao Government…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n