Chinese Americans

Today's Demographics

• 2000 United States Census Results (Ameredia Inc.).


• Chinese Americans comprise 23.74% of the Asian American populations and 0.86% of the total US population.


• Largest Asian American group with a population of 2,422,970.


• Population growth rate of 104.1% from 1980 to 1990 & 47.5% from 1990 to 2000.

• The leading states for Chinese Americans are California, New York, Hawaii, Texas and New Jersey. Together these five states constitute more then 80% of the Chinese American population with 40% being in California.
  
• There were 110,263 Chinese Americans living in New Jersey according to the 2000 census.


• Middlesex County had the most with 23,425.

The American Dream

• Many Chinese Immigrants came to America in hopes of escaping poverty in China.
  
  

• In 1931 James Truslow Adams answered what is the American Dream in his book, “The Epic of America”.


• “Dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position (Gillman, 2010).”

Gold Mountain

• “Gold Mountain” was a term coined by the Chinese describing California or America. It represented a land of opportunity that was an escape from poverty in China (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 250).


• “Many immigrants planned to return to China after spending time in the United States, the journey to the Gold Mountain provided each sojourner with an opportunity to improve his social position at home” (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 250).


• “During the first twenty years of Chinese immigration many new arrivals moved quickly from the West Coast to jobs inland. Generally, they served first as contract workers, laboring to repay sponsoring managers for the costs of their passage” (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 250).


• After the Goldrush, many Chinese immigrants started work on the Transcontinental railroad.
  
  
  
  
  

Transcontinental Railroad

• After the gold rush Chinese Americans began to work on the Transcontinental railroad. The Chinese Americans work ethics impressed railroad executives with their efficiency and high standards (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 251).

• In 1871, The US commission to report on the mining industry praised the efficiency and courage of Chinese immigrant workers (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 251).

Chinese American Literature & The American Dream

• "The Grandfather of the Sierra Nevada Mountains” was written by Maxine Hong Kingston (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 279).
  
• Ms. Kingston wrote about her grandfather’s (Ah Goong’s) work experience with the Central Pacific Railroad company.


• Ah Goong started in 1863 falling trees for $1.00 a day.


• He performed different tasks: Risked his life by planting explosives while hanging from a basket & painstankly hammered and exploded tunnels through Granite mountains.


• The workplace dangerous became such a norm for Ah Goong, he found deadly incidents comical.


• A dynamite and Nitroglycerine accident was described as: “Human bodies skipped through the air like puppets and made Ah Goong laugh crazily as if the arms and legs would come together again” (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 287).


• Ah Goong experienced a work environment on Trans Continental Railroad in which the life a Chinese American worker meant little.


• Despite this he and many others worked tirelessly on the railroad. The results of which can still be seen today hundreds of years later.



• “The World of our Grandmothers” was written by Connie Young Yu (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 298).
  
• Wrote about her grandmother’s experiences which provided a perspective on the history or her family and the larger community around them.


• "Even though Chinese working men were excluded from most facets of American society and their lives were left unrecorded, their labors bespoke their existence - completed railroads, reclaimed lands, and a myriad of new industries” (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 298).



• After Connie Young Yu had children they wanted to send them to school. The only school in San Francisco admitting Chinese was the Oriental school in Chinatown. But her husband felt, as did most men the family to return to China. So they lived in China and her grandfather traveled back and forth to the US for his trade business (Mano & Rico, 2001, p. 303).

Chinese American Success

• Both pieces of Chinese literature express the hardships and obstacles the Chinese Americans had to overcome in order to survive in America.


• The motivated Chinese Immigrants in these pieces also worked hard towards dreams of success. Either by risking their lives for the railroad that connected America or by traveling back and forth to the US for business so their children can have a good education.


• This is still true today among Chinese Americans as seen in the following examples…


• Median Chinese American household income was $41,583. Was 30% higher then the national average.


• 65% of Chinese Americans own a home compared to the 54% US national average.


• 38% of Chinese Americans have a Bachelors degree compared to the 22% US national average.


• Major US Chinatowns can be found in: Chicago IL, Houston TX, Las Vegas NV, Los Angeles CA, Manhattan NY, Philadelphia PA, Portland OR, Oakland CA, San Francisco CA, Washington DC.

• Chinese owned the most businesses out of the total Asian owned businesses in America according to a 2006 Census Bureau report (Ameredia Inc.)

Notable Chinese Americans
(Javier, Yang, Yip, 2006)

Human Resource Departments

• Target stores: Called and was referred to the company’s website. According to the website: Culture is a core the company tries to integrate into every area of their business. They attempt to recruit diverse selection of employees by working various companies. There are multiple ethnic business councils which “help individuals develop their careers in an inclusive and enriching work environment”. One of the councils are the Asian Business Council.








• Wal-Mart: Called Corporate Media Relations which has a automated answering service. A Specific prompt is available for students conducting research but Wal-Mart is “unable to participate in academic projects”.


• Link to specific paged on Target.com: http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?ref=nav%5Ffooter%5Fdiversity&contentI=WCMP04-031762


• Morristown Memorial Hospital (Atlantic Health)


• During conversation with a H.R. representative I learned:
  
• Do not have any specific clubs for ethnic groups.





• When employees are hired they are orientated on various cultures they may deal with.


• Expressed more focus on “cultural diversity” for employees and there are cultural awareness programs for employees to better handle the diverse population needing care at the hospital.

Resources

• Ameredia Inc. Chinese American Demographics. Retrieved from http://www.ameredia.com


• Gillman, S. (2010). What is the American Dream. Retrieved from http://egurukul.com/what-is-the american-dream-by-steven-gillman.


• Javier, H., Yang, D., Yip, J. (2006). Chinese New Year Festival. Retrieved from http://www.naaap nc.org/EventRecap.do?id=2756.


• Mano, S., & Rico, B.R. (2001). American Mosaic – Multicultural Readings in Context (3rd ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.