Use of ‘#AsianAmerican’ wanes
(Sacramento Bee) Is the term “Asian American” fading into history, like “Oriental” before it?
As Sacramento’s growing Asian immigrant communities celebrated Sunday’s Pacific Rim Street Fest, a growing number note that Asian American isn’t a race and said they choose to identify by their ethnicity.
Robbie Mae Lopez and her family came downtown to enjoy more than 15 Asian cultures represented – but don’t call her Asian American.
“I’m full-blooded Filipino American,” said Mae Lopez, 27, of West Sacramento. “Asian American is kind of a loose term. I think being Filipino American is a full-blown identity crisis itself. We were were overrun by the Japanese, Spanish … .”
As the race question on the U.S. census form has expanded to 15 categories and write-in options – giving Americans the right to check as many boxes as they want – fewer are embracing the term Asian American.
Use of ‘#AsianAmerican’ wanesTags: census, demographics
