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GOLDSEA |
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)
Haha... you must be a big fan of mine if you read about my Maxim magazine post from a couple of weeks ago. 15 or 16, eh? Geez... I must have gotten my college degree when I was 13 then. Damn, that would make me pretty smart, wouldn't you say? So, only teenyboppers like KK? If I was 15 or 16, wouldn't she be older than me?
Why is age so important anyways? You must be a pretty damn old fart for saying someone is too young. So, Maxim isn't good enough for you, huh? Numbers don't lie. It's one of the most popular rags out there, unlike your Penthouse, which is about to go under.
Hey, at least I use the same name all the time, instead of some fools who use a different one every time, so no one knows who the hell they are. Get a better e-mail address, eh? So, what is YOURS, my friend?!
BTW, KK turned down an offer from Maxim. How do you correlate the two together?
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 14:57:10 (PDT)
TSJ
It's getting ridiculous to listen to someone who thinks that SF is a better city than Seattle because Maxim says so.
You're probably 15 or 16 years old. (the kristinkreuk.net email address gives it away). Besides, Maxim is a joke of a magazine. Only teen loser males who have no self-esteem read Maxim.
Here's some advice: Don't buy Maxim anymore. And while you're at it, get a better email address!
Tired of TSJ
Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 15:07:53 (PDT)
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