Asian American Politics

ESSAY PROMPT:

In Asian American Politics: Law, Participation, and Policy, Nakanishi and Lai discuss the growing APA (Asian Pacific American) population and the challenges of constructing and maintaining “pan-ethnic coalitions” among APAs. In Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, Angelo Ancheta (both in the preface and introduction) discuss the concept of “Asian” and “Asian American.”). Also, see class lecture for further elaboration.

(In the recommended readings, Asian American Politics by Aoki & Takeda, (Chapter 2), one of your required texts, the authors discuss the concept of “ethnicity,” “pan-ethnicity” and “identity.”)

Discuss the important role of understanding what it means to be Asian American or Asian Pacific American (APA) as a “pan-ethnic group.” How does being part of a larger “pan-ethnic” group enhance and assist Asian Pacific Americans? How does it minimize or hinder Asian Pacific Americans? Incorporate the history of ethnic studies and Asian American studies, as well as APA historical timelines and events in understanding how various legal frameworks and laws informed and affected how APA’s became a “pan-ethnic” group. what role does “race” and “racism” play (from a legal, social, political standpoint).

Incorporate your own personal ancestry (whether you are of Asian ancestry, Pacific Islander ancestry or not) into how the organization of “ethnicity” and “pan-ethnicity” as well as your “ethnic identity” (and “pan-ethnic” identity) inform and influence how you understand yourself *and* how you understand what it means to be Asian Pacific American (Asian American, Pacific Islander) in the United States. What is “ethnicity?” How is it different from or connected to “race?” What is “pan-ethnicity?” Are APA’s an ethnic group? racial group? pan-ethnic group? What is the difference between (if any) being part of an ethnic group, being part of a pan-ethnic group, being part of a race, *and* having an ethnic identity? What are the similarities (if any) of being part of an ethnic group, being part of a pan-ethnic group, being part of a race, *and* having an ethnic identity? How have the various labels, “Oriental” “Mongolian,” “Malay,” and “Asiatic,” for example shifted and changed since the arrival of the first APAs to the U.S. and what do these labels signify racially? Support your positions. When stating opinions, they must be “informed opinions.”