The Effect of Historical Experiences on Asian- American Children

The Effect of Historical Experiences on Asian- American Children Historical experiences also differ for the various groups of Asian Americans. As mentioned before, during World War II, more than 100,000 Japanese Americans were interned in concentration camps in the United States, an event that continues to affect many Japanese-American families. Though two- thirds of these individuals were Nisei, or second- generation individuals who had been born in Ameri- ca, the U.S. government viewed them as a danger to their country following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This indignation resulted in most Japanese- American families losing all that they owned, leading to a step backward in their solidification as productive landowners and business owners. Because of the em- phasis placed on the tenet of honor in Japanese socie- ties, many of these families did not speak of the internment for many years afterwards, and Japanese- American children might be just beginning to ASIAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN 29understand the effects of this imprisonment on their own families. The end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the im- migration that followed provides another example of a historical influence on a different group of Asian Americans. This group of Southeast Asian immi- grants came from three different countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Although the first immigrants who came to the United States around 1975 were gen- erally wealthy and quickly established themselves in their new country, immigrants that followed came from more desperate circumstances, escaping refu- gee camps and war-ravaged conditions in their home- lands. Following these immigrants came the people released from reeducation camps and many biracial Asian children whose American fathers were in the service during the Vietnam War. Understanding which group the families of Southeast-Asian- American children are associated with can provide those working with them in schools and elsewhere with crucial information about their backgrounds, value systems, and behaviors. In the Southeast-Asian- American community, there is a high level of respect for education and those who provide it, and thus good grades and hard work are emphasized by these families. Having more knowledge about the value systems, practices, and histories of Asian-American children can aid all those who work with them in better under- standing their differences from and their similarities to non-Asian-American individuals. See also: RACIAL DIFFERENCES Bibliography California State Department of Education. A Handbook for Teaching Korean-Speaking Students. Sacramento: California State De- partment of Education, Office of Bilingual Bicultural Educa- tion, 1983. Leung, Brian. ‘‘Who Are Chinese-American, Japanese-American, and Korean-American Children? Cultural Profiles.’’ In Vale- rie Pang and Li-Rong Cheng eds., Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. Pang, Valerie, and Li-Rong Cheng, eds. ‘‘The Quest for Concepts, Competence, and Connections: The Education of Asian Pacif- ic American Children.’’ Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. Albany: State Universi- ty of New York Press, 1998. Tran, My Luong. ‘‘Behind the Smiles: The True Heart of South- east-Asian-American Children.’’ In Valerie Pang and Li-Rong Cheng eds., Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998. Jennifer Teramoto Pedrott