Asian American History: A Very Short Introduction

Immigrants from Asia have been coming to the New World for as long as Europeans have, and while they have not been as numerous, they have had important influence on policy and culture. Many came as slaves or indentured servants, others as merchants or students; many stayed and became part of the American fabric. But the story of Asian-American immigration is filled with heartbreak, racism and xenophobia, unfair legislation, persecution, distrust, and hatred that conspired against hard-working immigrants over the course of decades, even centuries. Nevertheless, groups of Asian-Americans have continued to succeed despite their many, and unfair, setbacks.

This little volume’s size belies the amount of information it contains, although it still merely scratches the surface of this long and rich history. This history is emotionally painful to read, although excellently researched and written; still, this story is essential for understanding how hard minority groups have had to fight for every right they now enjoy. It is not a political treatise at all, but the lessons here presented have perfect applicability to current-day questions about immigration by other marginalized groups and about how to combat all forms of injustice.