Asian American Issues

Websites
Asian-American Children: What Teachers Should Know -- a useful digest of research and information.

Straddling Two Worlds: The Experience of Vietnamese Refugee Children in the United States -- an excellent report that examines the current state of Vietnamese America, summarizing research findings on Vietnamese children, both those who are native born and those born in Vietnam and raised in the United States -- provides insight into the complex issues many of these youth face.

A Dream Denied: Educational Experiences of Southeast Asian American Youth -- a thorough analysis of issues and good recommendations.

Stereotypes of Asian American Students -- a very good essay on common stereotypes of Asian American students, and their damaging consequences -- includes good information about Asian American students' experiences in U.S. schools.

The Education of Asian/Pacific American Students -- an excellent collection of links to articles, research, and resources relevant to working effectively with Asian/Pacific American youth and families.

Asian American Concerns and Issues -- a website with links to many other useful sites about Asian American youth and adults.

Medical and Other Facts about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders -- important statistics gathered from many sources.

Meeting the Educational Needs of Southeast Asian Children -- an article about the psychosocial development and needs of many Southeast Asian youth in U.S. schools.

Southeast Asian Youth Empowerment -- "Lessons and Models of a Cambodian Youth Project in Lowell Massachusetts."

Hmong Home Page -- an excellent site about Hmong culture and issues relevant to working with Laotian, Thai, and Vietnamese American students and families -- lots of valuable information and links to good websites.

Growing Up Hmong American: Truancy Policy and Girls -- an interesting article based on interviews with Hmong girls who are chronically truant.

Hmong Studies Journal -- an online journal about the Hmong experience, both in the U.S. and around the world.

Hmong Culture Kit -- a set of resources for teaching about the Hmong culture and the celebration of the Hmong new year.

Asian American History Websites -- an excellent set of links to other sites.

Ancestors in the Americas -- A Public Broadcasting Service series exploring the history and legacy of Asians in the Americas -- some great resources, including primary documents.

Resources about Asian/Pacific Students and Culture -- good resources and information.

The Southeast Asian Archive -- a very useful collection of information and links.

The Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the U.S. -- a brief, 2002 overview report about these populations.

Asian-Nation -- information about the historical, political, demographic, and cultural issues that make up today's diverse Asian American community.

Yellowworld -- an online magazine about Asian American issues, perspective, and experience.

Articles about Anti-Asian Violence -- a list of weblinks to articles about racist violence against Asian Americans.

Denying the Trauma of Racism -- a good article about racial bias against Asians and the importance of working against it.

Asian-American Health Issues -- good information, resources and web links.

Asians' Health Worsens after a Move to Western Countries -- an article -- "The longer a south Asian immigrant spends in a western country, the more likely he or she is to develop high blood pressure, a study finds. The research provides more evidence that the shift towards a western lifestyle is damaging to health."

Breast Cancer on Rise Among Asian-American Women -- "Breast cancer rates among Asian-American women are on the rise, and Japanese-American women have been hardest hit in that group, says new research."

Closing the Health Gap -- "an educational campaign designed to help make good health an important issue among racial and ethnic minority populations who are affected by serious diseases and health conditions at far greater rates than other Americans."

Coughing While Asian -- a good article about a SARS-related racism that stereotypes Asian Americans as more likely to be carriers of SARS.

Cambodia: Beauty and Darkness -- the Odyssey of the Khmer People -- information about the recent history of Cambodia, particulary the Khmer Rouge period. The site also ncludes information about Cambodian refugees and immigrants abroad.

Documenting the Southeast Asian Refugee Experience -- good background and other information about the experience of Southeast Asian refugees in the U.S.

The Biculturation of the Vietnamese Student -- a good report about issues of cultural identity and conflict for Vietnamese American youth.

Khmer Health Advocates -- information about health issues experienced by Khmer refugees.

Model Minority: A Guide to Asian American Empowerment -- valuable articles, links and discussion.

Enhancing the Communication Skills of Newly-Arrived Asian American Students -- good information about issues, what to expect, and how to help in a culturally relevant way.

An Excellent Article -- about a Hmong-American liaison between a school district and the Hmong community in that district.

Lao Family Community of Minnesota -- information about Hmong culture and the refugee experience.

Daughter From Danang -- a powerful documentary about a young U.S. woman who was born in Vietnam to a Vietnamese mother and a U.S. serviceman father, and was sent to the U.S. for adoption at the end of the war. The film documents her life path and the culturally complex reuniting, as a young adult, with her Vietnamese mother and family.

VietGATE -- gateway to the online Vietnamese community.

A Journal of Asian American Cultural Criticism -- a forum for Asian American literary and cultural studies.

DRUM (Desi's Rising Up and Moving) -- a community-based social justice organization of working class and poor South Asian immigrants and immigrant detainees and their families in New York City. Desi is a common term used by people of South Asian descent to identify as people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Guyana, and Trinidad. The group's mission is to organize low-income immigrant detainees and South Asian immigrant communities for racial justice, immigrant rights, and an end to detentions & deportations.

Bibliography of Southeast Asian Children's Books -- a long list of good children's books with Southeast Asian themes or characters.

Children's and Young Adult Books with Asian American Themes -- a descriptive list of good books for use by educators and parents.

Refugees and Immigrants: The Southeast Asian Experience as Depicted in Recent American Children's Books -- a good review and discussion of how celect children's books present the the Southeast Asian immigrant experience.

An Interview with Children's Book Author, Linda Sue Park -- an interview with award winning, Asian American, children's book author, Linda Sue Park.

Powerful Asian American Images Revealed in Picture Books -- a bibliography of good children's books.

Khmer Music -- MP3's of Cambodian music.

Khmer Song -- more clips of Khmer music.

Information about Traditional Korean Music -- This site provides information about the history of Korean folk music, about instruments used in Korean folk music, and about contemporary Korean folk music.

Phong Nguyen: Songs of Viet Nam -- a multi-talented Vietnamese American musician who has received a National Endowment of the Arts Heritage Award.

The Apsara Ensemble: Cambodian Traditional Dancers and Musicians -- a group that has received a National Endowment of the Arts Heritage Award.

Voices from the Gaps -- a great website about "women writers of color" -- good bios and links.

SAYA -- South Asian Youth Action -- "dedicated to creating social change and opportunities for South Asian youth to realize their potential."

Office of Minority and Multicultural Health -- a website by the New Jersey Dept. of Health with useful information about cultural competency in providing health services to diverse populations.

Some Good Books and Articles
Bankston, C. & Zhou, M. 1995. Effects of Minority-Language Literacy on the Academic Achievement of Vietnamese Youth In New Orleans. Sociology of Education, 68(1): 1-17.

Bankston, C. & Zhou, M. 1997. Valedictorians and Delinquents: The Bifurcation of Vietnamese American Youth. Deviant Behavior, 18(4): 343-63.

Caplan, N., Choy, M. & Whitmore, J. 1992. Indochinese Refugee Families and Academic Achievement. Scientific American, 266(2): 36-42.

Caplan, N., Whitmore, J. & Choy, M. 1989. The Boat People and Achievement in America: A Study of Family Life, Hard Work and Cultural Values. University of Michigan Press.

Chuong, C. 1994. Vietnamese Students: Changing Patterns, Changing Needs. Many Cultures Publishing.

Jacobs, L. 1990. An Ethnographic Study of Four Hmong Students: Implications for Educators and Schools. In S. Goldberg (Ed.) Readings on Equal Education: Volume 10. AMS Press.

Davis, D. & McDaid, J. 1992. Identifying Second-Language Students' Needs: A Survey of Vietnamese High School Students. Urban Education, 27(1): 32-40.

Fadiman, A. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down -- culture and different views of life, health, and medical health practices. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

Freeman, J. 1989. Hearts of Sorrow: Vietnamese-American Lives. Stanford University Press.

Haines, D. (Ed.) 1989. Refugees as Immigrants: Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese in America. Rowman and Littlefield.

Hones, D. and Cha, C. 1999. Educating Americans: Immigrant Lives and Learning -- what it means to be an American through the history of a Hmong refugee from Laos. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kitano, H. & Daniels, R. 2000. Asian Americans: Emerging Minorities. Prentice Hall.

Lee, J. 1991. Asian Americans: Oral Histories of First to Fourth Generation Americans from China, the Philippines, Japan, India, the Pacific Islands, Vietnam and Cambodia. The New Press.

Lee, S. 1994. Behind the Model-Minority Steretype: voices of High and Low Achieveing Asian American Students. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, December.

Lee, S. 1996. Unraveling the Model Minority Stereotype: Listening to Asian American Youth. Teachers College Press.

Lew, J. 2006. Asian Americans in Class: Charting the Achievement Gap Among Korean American Youth. Teachers College Press.

Lott, J. 1998. From Racial Category to Multiple Identities. AltaMira Press

Min, P. 1995. Asian Americans: Contemporary Trends and Issues. Sage Publications.

Ng, F. (Ed.) 1998. The History and Immigration of Asian Americans. Garland Publishing.

Ooka Pang, V. & Cheng, L. 1998. Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. State University of New York Press.

Rumbaut, R. 1999. Assimilation and Its Discontents: Ironies and Paradoxes. In J. DeWind et al., (Eds.) Becoming American, America Becoming. Russell Sage Foundation.

Smith-Hefner, N. 1990. Language and Identity in the Education of Boston-Area Khmer. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, vol. 21.

Takaki, R. 1998. Strangers From a Different Shore. Back Bay Books.

Tuan, M. 2001. Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites? The Asian American Experience Today. Rutgers University Press.

Ung, L. 2000. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers. Perennial.

Zhou, M. 1997. Growing Up American: The Challenge Confronting Immigrant Children and Children of Immigrants. Annual Review of Sociology, 23: 63-95.

Zhou, M. & Bankston, C. 1998. Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States. Russell Sage Foundation.

Zhou, M. and Bankston, C. 2000. Straddling Two Worlds: The Experience of Vietnamese Refugee Children in the United States. ERIC Urban Diversity Series -- ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Zia, H. 2000. Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Some Good Videos
Vietnamese Americans: The New Generation. 2003. Through candid interviews with first and second-generation Vietnamese Americans, this program documents the process of assimilation into American culture of refugees from the former Republic of Vietnam. Topics include stresses on the family unit caused by cultural and generational differences, gang membership and drug abuse among the young, anti-Vietnamese racial bias, and feelings about relations between the U.S. and Vietnam.

Daughter From Danang. 2002 -- award winning documentary about a Vietnamese American woman who was given up for adoption after the war in Vietnam, and as a young adult reunites with her Vietnamese mother and family.

My America: Or Honk If You Love Buddha. 1997. Voices and personalities of Asian Americans across the U.S.

Moving Mountains: Story of the Yiu Mien. 1990. About the cultural struggles of Laotian refugees living in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Slaying the Dragon: Images of Asian American Women in Film. 1988. An analysis of stereotypes about Asian women in U.S. film.