Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States (review)

Abstract

Book Reviews Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States, by Herbert R. Barringer, Robert W. Gardner, and Michael J. Levin. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1993. xx + 371 pp., tables, figures, bibliography, index. $42.50, cloth. This book is one of a series of monographs commissioned by the Social Research Council's National Committee for Research on the 1980 Census. Hence its main source of data is the 1980 U.S. Census, although it is supplemented by some recent data from the 1989 and 1990 editions of the Current Population Survey. Some lay readers may wonder why the authors did not rely primarily on the 1990 Census data. Unfortunately, the 1990 Census data are not yet readily available for a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis, except for rough population counts. It seems unbelievable in this computer age, but comprehensive data on specific populations are not usually available until many years after the actual Census counts. Given past trends, a detailed socioeconomic analysis of the 1990 Census data on Asian Americans may not be possible even by the year 2000! One has to admit that the research literature on Asian Americans has been expanding rapidly in recent years and much of that research has extensively analyzed the 1980 Census data. However, the present study by Barringer, Gardner, and Levin stands out as a unique landmark in the "census studies" of Asian Americans for several reasons. First, the authors' method of analysis is comparative—demographic and socioeconomic conditions of Asian and Pacific Islander groups are compared with those of whites, blacks, and Hispanics. Second, the authors rightfully emphasize the diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans—their 204BOOK REVIEWS demographic characteristics, geographic distribution, immigration history, and socioeconomic characteristics are analyzed separately throughout the book. The third, but most salient, aspect of this book is its theoretical considerations —the census data are analyzed and interpreted from various theoretical perspectives, such as assimilation, pluralism, and the "model minority" controversy. In general, census studies are highly descriptive, but this study is exceptionally analytical. In light of past studies on race and ethnic relations in the United States, the authors explore theoretical implications of the census data in each chapter. The book opens with an introductory chapter in which the authors discuss the problems involved in defining "Asian Americans," provide a general overview of racial and ethnic compositions, and outline their own research objectives and procedures. The main objective was simply to study " how some of the larger Asian American ethnic groups are faring in American society" (p. 9). This goal is well accomplished in nine successive chapters, including 100 tables and 31 figures. The first three chapters examine the demographic characteristics and geographic patterns of Asian Americans (fertility, mortality, age/sex composition, residence, migration, family and household). The next three chapters extensively analyze the socioeconomic conditions of Asian Americans (education, employment, occupation, income). These chapters are the highlight of the book; the authors' painstaking analysis of the parity issue is especially impressive. They carefully conclude: "Much of the income disadvantage experienced by Asian Americans can be explained away by recent immigration, but not all: even when immigration/nativity was accounted for, whites showed income advantages over most Asian Americans" (p. 265). If the 1992 report of the United States Commission of Civil Rights, Civil Rights Issues Facing Asian Americans in the 1990s, were available to the authors at the time they wrote this book, they would have come up with a stronger characterization of the socioeconomic disadvantage experienced by Asian Americans. True, the census data are silent on the issue of ethnic discrimination , but the income disadvantage or disparity, whatever one calls it, is a painful reality most Asian Americans face everyday. However, the economic disadvantages experienced by Pacific Islander Americans are the worst, as succinctly described in the last chapter of this book. The authors conclude their book with some seminal thoughts that suggest many theoretical ideas for future research. For example, the authors point out that: (1) nativity and migration histories are more important in affecting Asian Americans than their countries of origin or cultures; and (2) the income discrepancy between white and Asian Americans appears very similar to the discrepancy between men and...