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Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of ''Asians'' refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.〔 It includes people who indicated their race(s) as "Asian" or reported entries such as "Indian", "Chinese", "Filipino", "Korean", "Japanese", "Vietnamese", and "Other Asian" or provided other detailed Asian responses. They comprise 4.8% of the U.S. population alone, while people who are Asian combined with at least one other race make up 5.6% , Asian Americans had the highest educational attainment level and median household income of any racial demographic in the country, and in 2008 they had the highest median household income overall of any racial demographic.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Educational Attainment in the United States: 2007 )〕 ==Terminology== As with other racial and ethnicity based terms, formal and common usage have changed markedly through the short history of this term. Prior to the late 1960s, people of Asian ancestry were usually referred to as ''Oriental'', ''Asiatic'', and ''Mongoloid''. The term ''Asian American'' was coined by historian Yuji Ichioka, who is credited with popularizing the term, to frame a new "inter-ethnic-pan-Asian American self-defining political group" in the late 1960s.〔 The Hart-Celler Act of 1965 eliminated highly restrictive "national origins" quotas, designed, among other things, to restrict immigration of those of Asian racial background.〔(Gabriel J. Chin, "The Civil Rights Revolution Comes to Immigration Law: A New Look at the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965," 75 North Carolina Law Review 273(1996) )〕 The new system, based on skills and family connections to U.S. residents, enabled significant immigration from every nation in Asia, which led to dramatic and ongoing changes in the Asian American population. As a result of these population changes, the formal and common understandings of what defines Asian American have expanded to include more of the peoples with ancestry from various parts of Asia. Because of their more recent immigration, new Asian immigrants also have had different educational, economic and other characteristics than early 20th-century immigrants. They also tend to have different employment and settlement patterns in the United States. Today, ''Asian American'' is the accepted term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research, although it is often shortened to ''Asian'' in common usage. The most commonly used definition of ''Asian American'' is the US Census Bureau definition of ''Asian'',〔U.S. Census Bureau, ''(Census 2000 Summary File 1 Technical Documentation )'', 2001, at Appendix B-14. "A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam. It includes ''Asian Indian'', ''Chinese'', ''Filipino'', ''Korean'', ''Japanese'', ''Vietnamese'', and ''Other Asian''."〕 chiefly because the Census definitions determine many government classifications, notably for equal opportunity programs and measurements. People with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent are included in the Census definition of Asia.〔U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census of Population, Public Law 94-171 Redistricting Data File.. (archived from (the original ) on 2001-11-03).〕 The use of a separate "Asian" category in the Census is a recent addition, beginning in 1990. Since then, the Census definitions have varied. The 2000 census divided the ''Asian-Pacific Islander'' group and created ''Pacific Islander'' ethnicities as a separate category. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "Asian person" in the United States is sometimes thought of as a person of East Asian descent.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Asian American )〕〔〕 In vernacular usage, "Asian" is often used to refer to those of East Asian descent or anyone else of Asian descent with epicanthic eyefolds.〔(Epicanthal folds ): MedicinePlus Medical Encyclopedia states that ''"The presence of an epicanthal fold is normal in people of Asiatic descent"'' assuming it the norm for all Asians〕 This differs from the U.S. Census definition〔〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=American Community Survey; Puerto Rico Community Survey; 2007 Subject Definitions )〕 and the Asian American Studies departments of many universities consider those of East, South or Southeast Asian descent with or without epicanthic eyefolds to be "Asian".〔(Cornell Asian American Studies ); contains mentions to South Asians (UC Berkeley – General Catalog – Asian American Studies Courses ); South and Southeast Asian courses are present 〕 In the US Census, people who originate from the indigenous peoples of the Far East,〔〔 Indian subcontinent,〔〔 and Southeast Asia〔〔 are classified as part of the Asian race;〔(【引用サイトリンク】 State & County QuickFacts: Race )〕 while those who originate from the indigenous peoples of North Asia (Russians, Siberians), Central Asia (Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmens etc.), the Middle East (diaspora Jews, Turks, Persians, West Asian Arabs etc.), and the Caucasus (Georgians, Armenians, Azeris) are classified as "White".〔 〕 Before 1980, Census forms listed particular Asian ancestries as separate groups, along with ''White'' and ''Black or Negro''.〔(1980 Census: Instructions to Respondents ), republished by Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota at http://www.ipums.org Accessed November 19, 2006.〕 Asian Americans had also been classified as "other".〔Lee, Gordon. Hyphen Magazine. . 2003. January 28, 2007 (archived from (the original ) on March 17, 2008).〕 In 1977, the federal Office of Management and Budget issued a directive requiring government agencies to maintain statistics on racial groups, including on "Asian or Pacific Islander". The 1980 census marked the first classification of Asians as a large group, combining several individual ancestry groups into "Asian or Pacific Islander." By the 1990 census, ''Asian or Pacific Islander (API)'' was included as an explicit category, although respondents had to select one particular ancestry.〔(1990 Census: Instructions to Respondents ), republished by Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota at http://www.ipums.org Accessed November 19, 2006.〕〔Reeves, Terrance Claudett, Bennett. United States Census Bureau. ''(Asian and Pacific Islander Population: March 2002 ). 2003. September 30, 2006.〕 In the 2000 census, people reporting Jewish, Arab, Iranian, or Turkish ancestry but not reporting race are presumed to be in the White race category rather than Asian.〔 The definition of ''Asian American'' has variations that derive from the use of the word ''American'' in different contexts. Immigration status, citizenship (by birthright and by naturalization), acculturation, and language ability are some variables that are used to define ''American'' for various purposes and may vary in formal and everyday usage.〔Wood, Daniel B. ("Common Ground on who's an American." ) ''Christian Science Monitor''. January 19, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2007.〕 For example, restricting ''American'' to include only U.S. citizens conflicts with discussions of Asian American businesses, which generally refer both to citizen and non-citizen owners.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=US Census Bureau, Asian Summary of Findings )〕 In a PBS interview from 2004, a panel of Asian American writers discussed how some groups include people of Middle Eastern descent in the Asian American category.〔(Searching For Asian America. Community Chats | PBS )〕 Asian American author Stewart Ikeda has noted, "The definition of 'Asian American' also frequently depends on who's asking, who's defining, in what context, and why... the possible definitions of 'Asian-Pacific American' are many, complex, and shifting... some scholars in Asian American Studies conferences suggest that Russians, Iranians, and Israelis all might fit the field's subject of study." Jeff Yang, of the ''Wall Street Journal'', writes that the pan-ethnic definition of Asian American is a unique American construct, and as an identity is in "beta". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Asian Americans」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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