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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is San Jose the Asian American Heartland?
he San Jose metro area is only fourth in the size of its Asian population, but it's a place of key firsts for Asian Americans. In 1971 its mostly white citizens elected Norman Mineta the first Asian mayor of a major mainland U.S. city. In 1974 the same voters made Mineta the first AA congressman from a mainland district. Three years later Roy Kusumoto helped kick off Santa Clara County's transformation into Silicon Valley by founding Solectron, a Milpitas company that would go on to become the first AA business to pass the $10 billion annual revenue mark. During the past two decades the Valley's Asian tech entrepreneurs and engineers spearheaded the nation's fastest AA population growth among major metro areas. Today Asians make up over 500,000 of the area's 1.7 million for a 29.4% share, tops among mainland metro areas.
Asian American Heartland?
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Santa Clara Valley wasn't always so hospitable to Asians. In 1887 its early Chinatown of about 2,700 was lost to a suspicious fire. Most locals wanted the Chinese out of San Jose, and were angered when John Heinlen built brick structures around Fifth and Jackson and leased the space to Chinese. "Heinlenville" became the city's Chinatown until 1931 when it fell into disuse due to a dwindling Chinese population. The only structure spared the wrecking ball was a quasi-religious hall. Ng Shing Gung was eventually restored in 1991 to serve as a historic landmark.
Japanese immigrants began settling in San Jose toward the end of the 19th century. They built their wooden shops and boarding houses alongside the Heinlenville Chinatown. Japantown's prospects brightened in 1907 when the bachelor field workers were allowed to bring over wives under the so-called Gentleman's Agreement. The Japanese population quickly surpassed the Chinese. But in 1921 all female Asian immigrants were again banned. The most devastating setback, however, came in 1943 when the area's 3,000 Japanese were evacuated to Heart Mountain in Wyoming. Japantown's 53 business owners lost 97% of their property value. Still, 40 businesses returned to Jackson Street after the evacuation order was rescinded in 1944.
Santa Clara County's Asian population saw little growth during the first two postwar decades. The big influx began in the 1970s when the nascent tech boom created a demand for math-literate Chinese and Vietnamese engineers as well as unskilled refugees willing to do minimum-wage assembly. Today the area's biggest population boom is among the Vietnamese population. It is now served by four newspapers, three radio stations and a TV station. A vibrant Little Saigon along Tully Road has surpassed the Jackson Street Japantown as San Jose's most visible Asian concentration. But the long history of the area's Chinese and Japanese settlers have left an indelible imprint on the area's culinary scene. The area claims 76 Chinese and 35 Japanese restaurants. But the number of Vietnamese restaurants is already approaching 20. There are also 11 Indian, 7 Thai, 5 Corean and 2 Filipino restaurants.
Today the most visible role played by the area's Asians is helping to keep Silicon Valley the center of global IT innovation. The likes of Pehong Chen, Bing Yeh and Jerry Yang have sweated through the tech downturn while repositioning companies like Broadvision, Silicon Storage Tech and Yahoo! for the long post-bubble runup into a wireless broadband world. In the process they are moving Asian Americans into a more central role in America's future, possibly in the way immigrant filmmakers ultimately moved Jews into the cozy center of the global mass media.
One measure of AA success may be the fact that they live in towns like Saratoga, Mountain View, Los Altos Hills where average home values rival Hollywood bedroom communities like Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Malibu. Another may be the fact that in recent years the names of Silicon Valley Asians have been popping up in the serious media as frequently as those of Hollywood Jews. No exact figures are available but inside estimates put Asians at 20% of Silicon Valley's upper management and 40% of its professional and technical work force.
So is Santa Clara Valley the closest thing we have to an Asian American heartland? Or is it just another fleeting boomtown with too many nouveau riche Asians?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:56:49 PM)
"Is San Jose a relatively Asian-friendly city?"
I think so. With more numbers, comes more tolerance.
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 11:06:25 (PDT)
Is San Jose a relatively Asian-friendly city?
Question?
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 20:21:08 (PDT)
TSJ,
I guess mentioning the Oriocci Club (Oriental/Occidental) shows my age. When I attended there few a years ago, the Oriocci Club was the "Asian" club that was truly inclusive - Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese... it was actually pretty cool. We had some awesome parties back then.
Sure does sound like you get around! Those fly Pinays sure know how to dance!
Just Me
Friday, April 12, 2002 at 23:28:32 (PDT)
"To san Jai- San jose state is ghetto...the area around it is really old and run-down, i feel like i'm in the ghetto when i go there...There are a lot of asian hoes that attend that school. The newest building is the engineering building, which is not even that great. San diego is the place to be."
The ghettoness is what makes it unique. That's also what make UCB and USC special. It's not some prissy school like UCSB or UCSC tucked away in some nice, scenic locale. Hoes? Well, duh! I already said it's called "Hoe State U." I don't know about you, but I wasn't in college to find a wife. Hoes are what you want.
The business building is the newest. They recently completely remodeled it (after I graduated =( ) It's SICK! Every desk is wired for the internet, so the teachers just e-mail you the notes when you are in class. No more note taking! You can also chat in class too!
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Friday, April 12, 2002 at 11:17:07 (PDT)
To san Jai- San jose state is ghetto...the area around it is really old and run-down, i feel like i'm in the ghetto when i go there...There are a lot of asian hoes that attend that school. The newest building is the engineering building, which is not even that great. San diego is the place to be.
UCSDiego
silverintegraver@aol.com
Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 22:48:42 (PDT)
"Are you a Spartan, too? Oriocci Club?"
Yeah! I'm a Spartan! C/O 99! Gosh, I miss that place. Working sucks. You can't see so many girls anymore. =( What's the Oriocci Club though? I kicked it with the Pineapples (Pi Alpha Phi).
SJ girls are totally different than SF. For me, it all depends on the flavor of the moment. If I feel like some Viet, I head down to SJ. If I want some Chinese, I go to SF. And for those fly Pinays, nothing beats my home area of the Southern East Bay. Hehe... I get around. =P
TSJ
Eric@KristinKreuk.net
Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 21:40:43 (PDT)
Sounds pretty good, except it literally cost a arm and a leg for housing.
biker
Thursday, April 11, 2002 at 11:17:13 (PDT)
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