Besides having to leave behind family and friends during the immigration process to the United States, Asian Americans often had to leave behind their language when they entered school. However, this is easier said than done: a primary problem facing new immigrants, especially in education, is a lack of proficiency in English.
In 1982, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that there were 3.6 million school-aged limited English proficient (LEP) students in the United States; that figure was projected to have a thirty-five percent increase by 2000. While Asian Americans are not the majority of LEP students in the United States (Hispanics are), there are far fewer resources available for them. In 1997, there were 72 certified bilingual Vietnamese American teachers and 47,667 Vietnamese students in California (a ratio of 1 to 662). Furthermore, there were 28 certified Hmong teachers to 31,556 Hmong students (1 to 1,113) and 5 certified Cambodian teachers to 20,645 Khmer-speaking students (1 to 4,129).
However, on June 2, 1998, the voters of California overwhelmingly voted in support of Proposition 227, which mandated an end to bilingual education in favor of English immersion programs. This proposition mirrored Proposition 63, which declared English to be the official state language in the 1980s. Sixty-seven percent of whites, forty-eight percent of blacks, thirty-seven percent of Hispanics, and�surprisingly�fifty-three percent of Asian Americans voted in favor of 227.
Parental Pressure to Succeed:
Researchers Samuel S. Peng and DeeAnn Wright found that Asian American parental expectations were the highest out of all ethnic groups. On average, they expect their children to complete 16.7 years of education. Additionally, eighty percent of Asian American parents wanted their children to have at least a bachelor�s degree, compared to sixty-two percent of whites, fifty-eight percent of blacks, and fifty percent of Hispanics.
Consequently, Asian American students were expected to spend many hours working on homework and studying. For example, data from a 1980 national survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education of 58,000 students in 1.015 high schools showed that roughly half of Asian American students spend more than five hours on homework; only one-third of white students and one-quarter of African Americans spent that amount of time. Even Asian American elementary school children put in more hours than their counterparts of other ethnicities.
Excessive high expectations create pressure and high levels of psychological and emotional stress on young students. Several studies have shown that Asian American parents commonly express displeasure when their children come home with less than straight-As on their report cards (one Korean American seventeen-year-old was beaten by her father because her GPA fell below a 4.0). The children became incredibly self-critical, self-conscious, depressed, and some tried to commit suicide because they were so distraught over their parents� expectations.
However, the parents admit that they put pressure on their children, because the families are often forced to go through extreme hardships�or would be willing to do so�in order to put their children through school. In a study in Chicago, eighty percent of Asian American parents said that they would be willing to sell their home and give up future economic certainty in order to send their children to the best schools (only thirty percent of white parents shared this sentiment).
Violence and Backlash against Asian American Students:
Nevertheless, the children sometimes find that they are not welcome in the schools to which their parents work so hard to send them. Studies on immigrant students in public high schools have found that racial and ethnic hostility, as well as anti-immigrant sentiment, is all a part of the social environment in many schools and communities. Unfortunately, violence against Asian American students in the schools has become a common occurrence.
But verbal abuse directed at Asian Americans is much more common in the schools and universities across the United States. One of the best examples of this occurred here in the Claremont Colleges, on Walker Wall.Additionally, Asian students in universities are resented by whites who feel threatened by them: the notion that Asian American success constitutes a threat is widespread throughout American colleges and universities. Sometimes--at schools such as M.I.T, where it is joked that the acronym stands for "Made in Taiwan"--white students will even drop courses if they see too many Asian faces in the lecture hall. Attitudes such as these cause a great division between the races, and campus life grows uncomfortable.
Nonetheless, it also happens outside of school grounds. Marge Schott, the owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, was quoted in 1996 as saying that she didn�t like �those Asian kids� because �they come here�and stay so long and then outdo our kids. That�s not right.� Schott was later banned from baseball for this and other statements; however, the damage was already done and the hurt was already caused.
Affirmative Action and Racial Quotas:
Finally, Asian Americans eventually focused on the potential bias and arbitrariness of selection criteria procedures and policies that might limit their equal educational opportunities.
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