An Asian, according to the Census Bureau, is described quite broadly as, “A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.” The 2020 census has shown an increasing number of Asian Americans. Since the 2000s, the Asian population has been the fastest growing race in America. According to Pew Research Center, in 2000, the Asian population in America was at 10.5 million, but by 2019, that number had jumped to 18.9 million, an increase of over 81%. By 2060, the Asian American population is expected to grow to 35.8 million.
The census was first authorized by Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution, stating: “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States… according to their respective Numbers… The actual Enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years.” Simply put, the census was a tool used by the government to apportion representation and taxes. However, as the years went by, the original use of the census had become convoluted – especially during the second world war. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, one of the most controversial in history. The order detained Japanese Americans on the West Coast, confining them to internment camps. Recently, evidence has emerged that the United States government used the census information to find Japanese Americans. Documents revealed that the census officials had given both addresses and names of Japanese Americans in Washington DC to government officials. The United States government also used anonymous census data to find Asian Amercians across the West Coast. A law passed in 1954 now prohibits census officials from sharing individual census information.
The uses of the census in the past were tortuous. To gain perspective on the current rise of Asian immigrants, and their feelings about the census, the following interviews explore the immigrant experience and perspective on the continually rising Asian numbers in America.
Mrs. X, an Asian American immigrant who currently resides in the Greater Boston area, has chosen to remain anonymous to maintain privacy. Growing up in British controlled Hong Kong in the 1960s, Mrs. X was born in the countryside to illiterate parents. In fifth grade, she asked her relatives to move in with them in the city. “I did not like the countryside school because they were not educating students for higher education,” she said. In the city, she hoped for more educational opportunities that would allow her to attend middle school and high school. In 1960s Hong Kong, education was only provided up to 6th grade. Mrs. X explained that this was “so the British government could have a young working force for the factories.”
After moving to the city, her first test in the city was an eye opening experience. She had always been a good student in the countryside, but when she first went to the city she got very low grades.
In Hong Kong, only four thousand students would end up attending university. University, in a way, was described by Mrs. X as a “training ground for the future leaders” of Hong Kong. Once you were “chosen”, you would be able to get a comfortable life as a civil servant after graduation. Since Hong Kong was a colony of Britain, citizens were not formally educated, and the universities were simply a way to spot talent. The application process was rigorous. “I studied very hard… ten hours a day,” Mrs. X recalled, and was accepted into university. Through it proved to be hard work, Mrs. X was able to enter one of Hong Kong’s universities, punching her ticket to a life of civil service and prosperity.
After Mrs. X’s sophomore year in college, she and a friend had saved enough money to go on a vacation. Originally, the plan was to go to Europe. However, at the last minute, her friend decided to go to America instead. “I didn’t care where we went, I just wanted to go for a big trip,” said Mrs. X. She went to the United States embassy to get a tourist visa.
“No one in [university] would quit… I was going to be a leader… I was on the fast track,” said Mrs. X. She and her friend travelled all around the East Coast, West Coast and Canada for three months, using up all their money. “I really liked America,” she said. When she got back to Hong Kong, she applied for another visa. This time, it was a student visa. This watershed moment led to Mrs. X beginning her journey as an immigrant in America.
Despite the story seeming to end there, I was curious about what drew Mrs. X away from what seemed to be a prosperous life for her in Hong Kong.
“I [have] liked America since I was a kid. I always told my parents when I was very young that I was going to leave Hong Kong,” said Mrs. X. “To me, America was a dream. Everyone was so free. You can explore your interests, you can be yourself.”
Since childhood, Mrs. X, “was a rebel… [she] did not believe in the Chinese hierarchy system… [believing] that you have to earn your respect… That attitude would only get [her] in trouble in Asian society.” The days were numbered for Britain’s rule over Hong Kong. “I decided [that] I do not want to stay in Hong Kong because Hong Kong is to go back to China – I never believed in Communist China.” Overall, her captivation of America can be perfectly summarized in the quote: “I came to America to make something for myself and my family.”
Although the rewards of America seemed to be plentiful, to Mrs. X, they were not without hardships.
“The first generation are the brave people. You have to give up a lot… there is no backup… it’s swim or sink,” she said. “But still, I think America even now still represents an idea about opportunity, freedom. Still, to the world, America is an ideal: freedom, prosperity, opportunity, diversity, this is something that really appealed to me because you believe that if you work hard in America you may have a chance to make it.”
All in all, the rise in Asian American numbers had a positive response from Mrs. X, “When I moved into my neighborhood, there were three or four Chinese families. Now, when you walk down the street there are a lot of Chinese [people],” she told us. “With the rising Asian American number, we have more of a voice… If we complain, people will care.”
Another immigrant, Eddie, who has also chosen to remain anonymous due to privacy reasons, was born in Macau in the early 2000s and is currently residing in the Boston area. When he was very young, he and his family moved to Guangzhou, China. There, he attended international school until second grade when he moved to Canada. He lived there until he moved to America in the summer of seventh grade.
Originally, Eddie and his sisters went to Canada on a student visa. One of the reasons, “was to get a better education… it was a better environment,” he explained. The plan all along was to move to America, so they waited in Canada to get American citizenship. “My mom thought that the education system here was superior and to give us a future… There wasn’t much for [us] in China,” Eddie said. Specifically, he was talking about the lack of, “Opportunities for [him] to discover what I want to do. In China, it is very strict, there is a system.” In America, Eddie can “pursue what [he] wants to do.”
Compared to other countries, Eddie says that America has a, “Better education and a more competitive environment than other Western countries… [and] a certain level of work ethic.” “There are a lot of colleges in America,” he continued, “definitely more than Canada.” The mentality of America, according to Eddie, is that America can give people the resources to succeed: “If you have a kind of resource for your child, they are guaranteed to succeed, or at least that’s what we think coming to America.”
According to a study done by Pew Research in 2017, 17% of American families believe that the American Dream is out of reach for them. Over the past few years, America has faced an identity crisis and the integrity of America has been questioned. Is America still the beacon of freedom and hope? Was America ever a beacon of freedom and hope? The statistics from the census, and the point of view from immigrants old and new show that for some folks, folks who dare to believe, keep the American Dream burning bright.