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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is Seattle a Haven for Asian Americans?
he Seattle-Bellevue-Everett area is only 11th largest in the size of its Asian American population (285,000, or about 11.4% of the area's 2.5 million), but it claims one of the oldest and richest slices of Asian American history. Its Chinatown was home to America's first Asian-owned manufacturing business, the Wa Chong Co. The company produced, among other things, a very fine grade of opium, some of which was probably exported to China with the U.S. government's blessings.
Best city for AA?
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Since its birth in 1910 Seattle's atmospheric International District was settled by generations of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese immigrants. In the late 70s the aging District began enjoying a rebirth into its modern incarnation thanks to Asian American activism in seeking to preserve it as a historical and cultural site. More recently an influx of trendy young AA professionals, entrepreneurs and artists has helped transform it into a vibrant part of downtown Seattle's cultural and night life. The District hosts the Northwest Asian American Theater Company and the Wing Luke Asian American Museum, named after a Chinese American elected to the Seattle City Council in 1965.
On the far end of the Seattle area's cultural spectrum is lush, ultra-modern Bellevue, one of the nation's most affluent communities. Asians make up 20.3% of the students of the Bellevue School District, thrice the 7.3% concentration in the general population of Washington state. This points up the fact that Seattle hosts one of the nation's best established Asian populations. Unlike some urban areas dominated by one or two Asian nationalities, Seattle's AA population is highly diversified, comprising the nations 7th largest Japanese (31,000), the 8th largest Vietnamese (44,000), 9th largest Corean (38,000), and the 11th largest Chinese (58,000) and Filipino (53,000) communities.
The area's Asian Americans take pride in their high degree of acceptance and integration. The fact that the state's governor is a Chinese American named Gary Locke doesn't hurt, of course. Or that the city's major league baseball team is owned by Nintendo chairman Hiroshi Yamauchi and sparked by Ichiro. Even on the grassroots level, one sees signs of acceptance. The ratio of AM/WF couples is noticeably higher than in most other metro areas. A cop who was rude in issuing a jaywalking ticket to a group of Asian Americans last year was reprimanded by the police department. And the ticket was dismissed by the judge.
Is the Seattle area really a haven for Asian Americans? What are the best and worst aspects of AA life there?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:56:39 PM)
"Let the people of Seattle enjoy their city."
So you are telling me that the only thing this forum is good for is for the residents of a certain city to pat their own backs? Wow, that would make for some scintillating conversation.
Toi San Jai
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Sunday, April 21, 2002 at 21:02:42 (PDT)
TSJ,
WTF? Why must you come on ever metro forum and spew how much that metro area sucks and how the Bay Area is the place to be? If, the Bay Area is "all that" then why are going around having to advertise that in every forum? The Bay Area should speak for itself if it's "all that." Let the people of Seattle enjoy their city.
You're just as bad as "AC Dropout" who has nothing better to do than to start verbal feuds with people who disagree with you.
Hai Dai Yin
Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 14:10:35 (PDT)
Why would I knock Seattle for not having enough Asians if I didn't like Asians? I'm just saying I like Seattle for the non-Asian-ness because sometimes, when those Chinese girls and Pinays got you down, you just want to see what else is out there, you know?
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 20:51:19 (PDT)
"TSJ, I think your last sentence speaks volumes about how you feel about yourself. I hope that one day you will feel comfortable with your own identity and not try to be something you're not."
And what volumes are those? Is it wrong to learn about different cultures? Why do people travel around the world?
Be something I am not, huh? You are 100% right. I will never be a Chinese person who has no Chinese identity by living in a place with hardly any Chinese people.
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Monday, April 15, 2002 at 20:42:45 (PDT)
"And yes, I do kick it in Seattle quite a bit. I know plenty of cool chicks up there. You know why I go there? To get away from being around too many Asians!!!"
TSJ, I think your last sentence speaks volumes about how you feel about yourself. I hope that one day you will feel comfortable with your own identity and not try to be something you're not.
I have never felt the need to get away from other Asians; conversely, I have never felt the need to seek them out, either. I seek out people I find interesting, smart, caring and secure, and I don't really care what ethnicity they are.
I find that individualism is really encouraged in and near Seattle. Maybe that's the real reason you don't like the place.
'Nuff said!
Jenny
Sunday, April 14, 2002 at 22:16:05 (PDT)
Can anyone from Seattle comment on the relationship between the Asian/Asian American community and the African American community or the Asian/Asian American community and the Hispanic community?
There appears to be some significant tension between the Asian/Asian American community and the African American and Hispanic communities here in Seattle. I find it striking that the Hispanics and African Americans in Seattle appear to be positioning themselves similary in relation to the Asian/Asian American community. Any thoughts on the issue?
Koryo Hunk
Saturday, April 13, 2002 at 09:42:42 (PDT)
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