Asian Americans

In the last census conducted by the U.S. government in 1990, one fact caught many people by surprise: the percentage of Asian Americans had grown faster than any other segment of the population. European Americans had, as expected, continued their slow decline in percentage of the total U.S. population, though they were still dominant at about 76%. Black Americans had stabilized at about 12% of the population. Hispanics had continued their fast growth and were, at 9%, aimed at toppling Black Americans as the country's largest minority group. The growth in Asian Americans, however, surged from only 2% of the total U.S. population in the 1980 census to 3% in 1990. By the year 2000 at least 4% of Americans will be of Asian ancestry. This relatively huge increase has caught many demographers by surprise. Clearly a new force is developing in U.S. demography, but few people seem to appreciate its implications. The Asian Americans are here and are here to stay, but exactly who are they, and what does their rapid increase mean for the country as a whole?
　　As a multi-ethnic nation, it should not be surprising that Asian Americans are becoming an increasingly large and important sector of the "rainbow nation" some Americans prefer to think of their country as. Indeed, the only surprise about this segment growing so fast is why it has not occurred sooner. After all, Asia is home to 60% of all the people in the world. However, Asia is also a vast land, encompassing East, Southeast, South, and West Asia, each region significantly different from its neighbors. Further, there is no sense of unity within Asia, as there is, say, among European or Latin American countries. Indeed, the term "Asian Americans" is more a fiction of the European mind, since people from this area unfailingly refer to themselves as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, etc., rather than as Asian-Americans.
　　For more than 100 years, three primary groups of Asians emigrated to the United States: Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino. However, since the end of the Vietnam War, other groups from Asia have become increasingly prominent, especially those from Vietnam, Korea, and India. In addition, Iranians and Israelis from Southwestern Asia have also entered the U.S. in large numbers.
　　The patterns of Asian immigration have changed greatly over the past 30 years. In 1970, 96% of Asian Americans were Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino; as of 1997, this percentage had dropped to 55%! In that year, 24% of Asian Americans claimed Chinese ancestry, 21% Filipino, and 10% Japanese. The "newcomers" among Asian Americans include the Indians at 13%, Vietnamese at 11%, and Koreans also at 11%.
　　What real numbers are we talking about? There were estimated to be nearly 9,600,000 Asian Americans in the U.S. in 1997. With such a high growth rate, there will be more than 10 million of them this year and perhaps 32 million in 2050 (about 8% of the total U.S. population at that time). Where do Asian Americans live? Currently, an astounding 40% of this regional group lives in California. Other states with relatively large Asian American populations include New York, Hawaii, Texas, New Jersey, Washington (the state), and Illinois (which contains Chicago). Overall, the West is home to 54% of all Asian Americans, the Northeast 19%, the South 16%, and the Midwest 11%.
　　What about future trends? As Asian nations continue to prosper, it is likely that they will contribute more to U.S. immigration, especially from Southeast Asia and India. All of these groups continue to have above-average birth rates. On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese Americans have very low birth rates; consequently, the percentage of these ethnic groups among the total will continue to fall. All in all, America can look forward to an increasingly large number of Asians enriching their new home with their diligence, investment, and diverse cultural contributions.

　　上次美国政府于1990年所做的户口普查中，有一项事实让许多人感到很惊讶：亚裔美国人的成长百分比要比其它任何一个人口组成部分来得快速。欧裔美国人一如所料在美国人口总数所占的百分比继续迟缓下降，虽然他们还占大约76%的绝大多数。美国黑人继续维持约12%的人口比率。拉丁美洲人持续快速成长，约占9%的人口比率，目标是压倒黑人成为美国人数最多的少数民族团体。然而，亚裔美国人成长百分比从1980年普查时只占美国总人口2%，到1990年时冲到了3%。到了2000年时至少会有4%的美国人具有亚裔血统。这种颇为可观的增加量使得许多人口统计学家感到很惊讶。显然在美国的人口结构中有一股新的势力正在发展，但似乎很少有人了解到它的含意。亚裔美国人来了，并且定居下来，但他们究竟是谁？他们的迅速增加对整个美国而言意味着什么？
　　作为一个多元民族的国家，亚裔美国人日益壮大成为这“彩虹国家”（有些美国人较喜欢这称呼）的重要一环应该是没什么好惊讶的。的确，这一部分人口快速成长惟一令人惊讶的是为何它没有早点发生。毕竟，全世界有60%的人口住在亚洲。而亚洲疆域亦很广大，包括了东亚、东南亚、南亚和西亚，各区域彼此之间差异相当大。再者，亚洲各国缺乏整体意识，不像好比说欧洲或拉丁美洲国家之间一样。的确，“亚裔美国人”的称呼大体上是欧洲人想出来的，因为来自亚洲地区的人们总是称自己为中国人、日本人、菲律宾人等等，而不是亚裔美国人。
　　过去100多年来，移民到美国的亚洲人主要有三个族群：日本人、中国人和菲律宾人。不过，自从越战结束后，其它亚洲族群亦不断激增，特别是来自越南、韩国和印度的人。此外，来自亚洲西南部的伊朗人和以色列人也大量涌入美国。
　　过去30年来，亚洲移民的型态改变甚巨。1970年时，96%的亚裔美国人是中国人、日本人或菲律宾人；到了1997年时，这个比率下降到55%！同年有24%的亚裔美国人申报为中国血统、21%为菲律宾血统和10%的日本血统。“新来的亚裔美国人”则包括13%的印度人，11%的越南人和同样是11%的韩国人。
　　我们所说的实际数目为何？据估计美国的亚裔美国人于1997年时有将近960万人。以这么高的成长比率计算，今年他们的人数将超过1000万，2050年时可能达到3200万（届时约占美国总人口数的8%）。亚裔美国人住在哪里？目前，这区域的族群有高达40%居住在加州。其它拥有相当数量亚裔美国人口的州包括纽约州、夏威夷州、德州、新泽西州、华盛顿州和伊利诺伊州（包含芝加哥）等。整体来看，有54%的亚裔美国人住在西部，19%在东北部，16%在南部和11%在中西部。
　　未来趋势又是如何？由于亚洲国家持续繁荣，很可能会有更多亚洲人移民到美国，尤其是来自东南亚和印度。所有这些族群出生率将继续维持在平均以上。另一方面，华裔和日裔美国人出生率则非常低；因此，这些族群占总人数的比率将继续下降。总而言之，美国将可期待人数日益庞大的亚洲人以其勤奋、投资和多元的文化贡献来丰富他们的新家园。