Asian immigrants have been in what is now the United States since before the country was even founded. But the term “Asian American” didn’t really exist until 1968, when students at the University of California, Berkeley, founded the Asian American Political Alliance, modeled after the Black Power Movement, as a way to unite Japanese American, Chinese American, and Filipino American students on campus.
Today, the term “Asian American” refers to more than 40 different ethnic subgroups, from more than 20 different countries, speaking more than 100 different languages and dialects, and accounting for more than 21.4 million people in the US, according to the last census.
Modern Asian American history, then, begins more recently, when Asian Americans first gained political clout, immigration laws started changing, and a vast and varied Asian American dialogue began.
Here are some major highlights beginning in the 1950s.
1950s
1956:
Dalip Singh Saund (pictured) from the Imperial Valley, California, is the first Asian, first Indian American, and the first Sikh to be elected to Congress. He was born in India and became a US citizen in 1949. Although he earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from UC Berkeley, he could not find a career and worked in farming for 20 years before earning a seat in the House of Representatives.
1959:
Hiram Fong, the son of Chinese immigrants, becomes the country’s first Asian American senator — and one of Hawaii’s first two senators.
1960s
1962:
Roman Gabriel, a Filipino American quarterback, is drafted by the Los Angeles Rams — and becomes the first Asian American to play American football, as well as the first to be in the starting lineup.
1964:
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink (pictured), a third-generation Japanese American raised in Hawaii, becomes the first woman of color and first Asian American woman in Congress.
1965:
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act loosens immigration quotas, putting Asians on equal footing with Europeans for the first time in US history.
1968:
The Hart-Celler Act transforms immigration legislation yet again, reversing restrictive policies against Asian countries.
1968:
Amid student strikes at UC Berkeley, the term “Asian American” is coined by Yuji Ichioka, a student who would go on to champion the field of Asian American studies.
1970s
1971:
In 1971, Norman Mineta becomes the first Asian American mayor of a major city in the US — San Jose, California.
1973:
Bruce Lee (pictured) becomes the first Asian American Hollywood action hero with Enter the Dragon, which premiers shortly after his untimely death. (His previous films were made in Hong Kong.)
1974:
George Ariyoshi becomes the first Asian American governor of a US state — Hawaii.
1980s
1980:
The US census first uses the term “Asian American.”
1982:
Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, is beaten to death with a baseball bat by two auto workers from Detroit who mistakenly believe he is Japanese and who blame Japanese automation for taking their jobs. (Pictured, his mother, after the murder trial). This incident galvanizes Asian Americans to organize and fight against discrimination.
1983:
Fred Korematsu petitions to have his World War II-era conviction for defying Japanese internment orders overturned — and wins. Japanese Americans would later receive reparations for internment.
1990s
1990:
Asian Pacific American Heritage Week dates back to 1979, under President Jimmy Carter, but in 1990 President George H. W. Bush signs the first proclamation to make the week a full month: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM).
1993:
The Joy Luck Club is the first major studio movie with an all Asian American, mostly female, cast (pictured).
1994:
All-American Girl is the first network series led by an Asian American cast — notably, comedian Margaret Cho. It ran for just one season.
2000s
2000:
President Bill Clinton appoints Norman Mineta as US Secretary of Commerce. Mineta is the first Asian American in the presidential cabinet. (He’s the same Norman Mineta who achieved the milestone of becoming the first Asian American mayor of a major US city, in 1971, and then became the Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush in 2001.)
2001:
President Bush appoints Elaine Chao as his Labor Secretary, the first Asian American woman to be appointed to the presidential cabinet. She is currently President Donald Trump’s transportation secretary.
2010s
2010:
Lin-sanity. Jeremy Lin is not the first Asian American to play in the NBA — that honor goes to Rex Walters, who is half-Japanese — but his draft makes headlines nonetheless. In 2019, Lin would become the first Asian American to win an NBA championship.
2015:
Former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal becomes the first Asian American to launch a nationwide campaign for president. He is a Republican.
2015:
Fresh Off the Boat is the first Asian-led sitcom since All-American Girl. It runs for six seasons. “Whether you watched the show or not, Fresh Off the Boat is a watershed moment for representation and inclusive storytelling,” writes Deadline.
2016:
President Barack Obama signs a bill that bans the term “Oriental” in federal law.
2018:
Crazy Rich Asians becomes the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the decade. It’s the first Hollywood movie with an all-Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club.
2019:
Senator Kamala Harris of California, Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, and tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang become the first Asian American candidates to run for president as Democrats.
