Editing Asian Americans (section)

===Debates and criticism===
{{See also|Racial classification of Indian Americans}}

The definition of ''Asian American'' has variations that derive from the [[use of the word American|use of the word ''American'']] in different contexts. Immigration status, citizenship (by birthright and by naturalization), acculturation, and language ability are some variables that are used to define ''American'' for various purposes and may vary in formal and everyday usage.<ref>Wood, Daniel B. [http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0425/p03s03-ussc.html "Common Ground on who's an American."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208183807/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0425/p03s03-ussc.html|date=February 8, 2007}} ''Christian Science Monitor''. January 19, 2006. Retrieved February 16, 2007.</ref> For example, restricting ''American'' to include only US citizens conflicts with discussions of Asian American businesses, which generally refer both to citizen and non-citizen owners.<ref name="Asian Owned Businesses 2018">{{cite news|url=https://census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/07/asian-owned-businesses-nearing-two-million.html|title=Asian-Owned Businesses Nearing Two Million|author=Mary Frauenfelder|newspaper=census.gov|access-date=May 15, 2018|archive-date=July 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719121341/https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/07/asian-owned-businesses-nearing-two-million.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2023 [[Pew Research Center]] survey of Asian Americans found that 28% self-identify as "Asian", with 52% preferring to refer to themselves by more specific ethnic groupings and 10% simply self-identifying as "American".<ref name="2023survey">{{Cite web |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/05/08/diverse-cultures-and-shared-experiences-shape-asian-american-identities/ |title=Diverse Cultures and Shared Experiences Shape Asian American Identities |date=2023-05-08 |accessdate=2023-05-11 |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |first1=Neil G. |last1=Ruiz |first2=Luis |last2=Noe-Bustamante |first3=Sono |last3=Shah |language=en-US}}</ref>

In a PBS interview from 2004, a panel of Asian American writers discussed how some groups include people of Middle Eastern descent in the Asian American category.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/searching/aafr_erq1_1.html|title=Searching For Asian America. Community Chats – PBS|website=pbs.org|access-date=November 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104122128/http://www.pbs.org/searching/aafr_erq1_1.html|archive-date=November 4, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Asian American author Stewart Ikeda has noted, "The definition of 'Asian American' also frequently depends on who's asking, who's defining, in what context, and why... the possible definitions of 'Asian-Pacific American' are many, complex, and shifting... some scholars in Asian American Studies conferences suggest that Russians, Iranians, and Israelis all might fit the field's subject of study."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/dialogue_opinion_letters/archives/ikeda_apa_definition.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610050512/http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Asian/dialogue_opinion_letters/archives/ikeda_apa_definition.asp |archive-date=June 10, 2011 |title=What's an "Asian American" Now, Anyway? |author=S. D. Ikeda |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> [[Jeff Yang]], of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', writes that the [[Panethnicity|panethnic]] definition of Asian American is a unique American construct, and as an identity is "in [[Beta test|beta]]".<ref>{{cite news |title=Easy Tiger (Nation) |first=Jeff |last=Yang |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/10/27/easy-tiger-nation/ |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=October 27, 2012 |access-date=February 19, 2013 |archive-date=March 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316154525/http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/10/27/easy-tiger-nation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The majority of Asian Americans feel ambivalence about the term "Asian American" as a term by which to [[Identity (social science)|identify themselves]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Jerry Z. |date=1 August 2008 |title=Second-Generation Asian American Pan-Ethnic Identity: Pluralized Meanings of a Racial Label |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241278559 |journal=Sociological Perspectives |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=541–561 |doi=10.1525/sop.2008.51.3.541 |s2cid=146327919 |access-date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=March 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326122521/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241278559_Second-Generation_Asian_American_Pan-Ethnic_Identity_Pluralized_Meanings_of_a_Racial_Label |url-status=live }} <!--This information is in the 4th sentence, of the 2nd paragraph of page 543, which is page 4/23 of the PDF document.--></ref> [[Pyong Gap Min]], a sociologist and Professor of Sociology at [[Queens College]], has stated the term is merely political, used by Asian American activists and further reinforced by the government. Beyond that, he feels that South Asians and East Asians do not have commonalities in "culture, physical characteristics, or pre-migrant historical experiences".<ref>{{cite news |last=Sailer |first=Steve |date=11 July 2002 |title=Feature: Who exactly is Asian American? |url=https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |work=UPI |location=Los Angeles |access-date=20 September 2020 |quote=It is a political term used by Asian-American activists and enhanced by governmental treatment. In terms of culture, physical characteristics, and pre-migrant historical experiences, I have argued, South and East Asians do not have commonalities and as a result, they do not maintain close ties in terms friendship, intermarriage or sharing neighborhoods |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905065158/https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Scholars have grappled with the accuracy, correctness, and usefulness of the term Asian American. The term "Asian" in Asian American most often comes under fire for only encompassing some of the diverse peoples of Asia, and for being considered a racial category instead of a non-racial "ethnic" category. This is namely due to the categorization of the racially different South Asians and East Asians as part of the same "race".<ref name="whoisasianam"/> Furthermore, it has been noted that West Asians (whom are not considered "Asian" under the US census) share some cultural similarities with Indians but very little with East Asians, with the latter two groups being classified as "Asian".<ref>{{cite news |last=Sailer |first=Steve |date=July 11, 2002 |title=Feature: Who exactly is Asian American? |url=https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |work=UPI |location=Los Angeles |access-date=July 8, 2021 |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905065158/https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |url-status=live|quote=Dinesh D'Souza ... told United Press International, "Middle Eastern culture has some similarities (religion, cuisine, taste in music and movies) with Asian Indian culture, but very few with Oriental (Far Eastern) culture."}}</ref> Scholars have also found it difficult to determine why Asian Americans are considered a "race" while Americans of Hispanic and Latino heritage are a non-racial "ethnic group", given how the category of Asian Americans similarly comprises people with diverse origins.<ref name="LeeMountainKoenig2001">Lee, S.S., Mountain, J. & Koenig, B.A. (2001). The Meanings of Race in the New Genomics: Implications for Health Disparities Research. ''[[Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics]] 1,'' (1). Pages 43, 44, & 45. [https://web.archive.org/web/20061101012859/http://www.yale.edu/yjhple/volume_1/pdf/033%20%28koenig%29.pdf Wayback Machine link].</ref> However, it has been argued that South Asians and East Asians can be "justifiably" grouped together because of Buddhism's origins in South Asia and contemporary practice in East Asia.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sailer |first=Steve |date=July 11, 2002 |title=Feature: Who exactly is Asian American? |url=https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |work=UPI |location=Los Angeles |access-date=July 8, 2021 |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905065158/https://www.upi.com/Feature-Who-exactly-is-Asian-American/34451026436660/ |url-status=live|quote=The most common justification advanced for federal government's clustering together South Asians and East Asians is that Buddhism originated in India.}}</ref>

In contrast, leading [[social science]]s and [[humanities]] scholars of race and Asian American identity point out that because of the racial constructions in the United States, including the social attitudes toward race and those of Asian ancestry, Asian Americans have a "shared racial experience".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Geisha of a Different Kind: Race and Sexuality in Gaysian America|last=Han|first=Chong-Suk Winter|publisher=New York University Press|year=2015|location=New York|page=4}}</ref> Because of this shared experience, the term Asian American is argued as still being a useful [[Panethnicity|panethnic]] category because of the similarity of some experiences among Asian Americans, including stereotypes specific to people in this category.<ref name=":0" /> Despite this, others have stated that many Americans do not treat all Asian Americans equally, highlighting the fact that "Asian American" is generally synonymous with people of East Asian descent, thereby excluding people of Southeast Asian and South Asian origin.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kambhampaty|first=Anna Purna|title=At Census Time, Asian Americans Again Confront the Question of Who 'Counts' as Asian. Here's How the Answer Got So Complicated|url=https://time.com/5800209/asian-american-census/|date=March 12, 2020|access-date=July 9, 2021|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|quote=But American culture tends not to think of all regions in Asia as equally Asian. A quick Google search of "Asian food nearby" is likely to call up Chinese or Japanese restaurants, but not Indian or Filipino. Years after someone posted a thread on College Confidential, a popular college admissions forum, titled "Do Indians count as Asians?" the SAT in 2016 tweaked its race categories, explaining to test-takers that "Asian" did include "Indian subcontinent and Philippines origin."}}</ref> Some South and Southeast Asian Americans may not identify with the Asian American label, instead describing themselves as "Brown Asians" or simply "Brown", due to the perceived racial and cultural differences between them and East Asian Americans.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schiavenza|first=Matt|title= Why Some 'Brown Asians' Feel Left Out of the Asian American Conversation|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-some-brown-asians-feel-left-out-asian-american-conversation|date=October 19, 2016|access-date=September 9, 2022|website=[[Asia Society]]|quote=It's one of the reasons many brown Asians do not identify as Asian Americans. Perhaps we just don't feel connected to East Asian people, cultures, and lived realities. Perhaps we also don't feel welcomed and included.}}</ref><ref name="Asia Society 2016">{{cite web|last=Schiavenza|first=Matt|title= Why Some 'Brown Asians' Feel Left Out of the Asian American Conversation|url=https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-some-brown-asians-feel-left-out-asian-american-conversation|date=October 19, 2016|access-date=September 9, 2022|website=[[Asia Society]]|quote=And that, unfortunately, did not include any South Asians and only one Filipino. That caused a bit of an outcry. It raises a legitimate issue, of course, one about how 'brown Asians' often feel excluded from the Asian American conversation.}}</ref><ref name="AAPR">{{cite journal|last=Nadal|first=Kevin L|date=February 2, 2020|title=The Brown Asian American Movement: Advocating for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Filipino American Communities|url=https://aapr.hkspublications.org/2020/02/02/the-brown-asian-american-movement-advocating-for-south-asian-southeast-asian-and-filipino-american-communities/|journal=Asian American Policy Review|volume=29|access-date=September 9, 2022|quote=South Asian Americans have shared how they are excluded from the Asian American umbrella because of their cultural, religious, and racial/phenotypic differences – resulting in lack of representation in Asian American Studies, narratives, and media representations.}}</ref>