Historical Report on Race
Alan Wollschlager
ETH/125
03/10/2012
Instructor Deborah Mata

In this paper, I will be playing a role as a member of an Asian American young adult. I will write about some of the different things, in which I have experienced living here in the United States of America. I am twenty-three and living in Necedah, Wisconsin with my mother, father, grandparents, and three younger sisters. My family and I are considered to be part of a minority group in the United States, even though I was born and raised in Necedah. I am labeled Asian Indian because of my ancestral background. However, I just like to tell people I am American. I continue to practice my family’s cultural traditions and religion. I am a believer in Hinduism. My family is from a city in India, in which is known as New Delhi. The city is India’s capital. My family and I visit New Delhi at least once a year to see family. India is a peninsula located in South Asia. India is surrounded by the Himalaya Mountains, Pakistan, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal. There are about 900 million people that live in India today, which makes it the most populated country in South Asia, and covers about 1.5 million square miles of land. The only other country in Asia larger in population is China.
The first Asian Indians came to the United States was in the middle of the 19th century. Most of the Asian Indians, during that time, came to the United States in search of economic opportunity and worked mostly in agriculture and construction. Others came as merchants or traders. Towards the end of the 20th century Asian Indians occasionally started to experience expulsion by the communities which were inhabited by Euro-American workers. In the year of 1907 the AEL, Asiatic Exclusion League, was assembled. The AEL pushed expulsion of Asian workers. Eventually the congressional exclusion laws of 1917 and 1923 were passed. These laws tried to restrict and deny citizenship rights and residency in the U.S. The Immigration Act of 1965 allowed a large amount of Asians to immigrate to the United States. Before the Immigration Act of 1965 there were restrictions preventing large numbers of Asians to enter into the United States. Between 1970 and 1975 alone, approximately 175,000 new Asian immigrants came to the United States. My grandparents immigrated to the United States in 1966 for hopes to become financially wealthy. It was not easy for them to leave their families behind, but they knew that it was for the family’s better interest. Once they arrived to the United States, they wasted no time and found jobs working for minimum wage as general laborers. Racism in the United States made finding a good paying job nearly impossible. Even jobs, in which were typically good paying jobs for members of a majority group still were only minimum wage jobs. After saving up a little money, my grandfather took advantage of the educational systems and went to college. He earned a Master’s Degree in Business. My grandfather looked for a job that would allow him to use what he learned in school, but he had no success. He realized this because of his race and ethnic background, he was not going to be hired for a job other than for general labor. So, he decided to start his own business. He opened a small Indian restaurant in Necedah. Not before too long, the restaurant was getting plenty of business. He was then able to send money back home to India for our family. It was a long and hard journey for my grandparents but it seems to have paid off for our family. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the 2000 census records over 1.6 million Asian Indian people living in the United States. Members of my subordinate group tend to live in small towns. Smaller towns and cities are thought to have better chances with financial opportunities. This is why my family lives in Necedah. Many Asian Indian people assimilated to western customs, traditions, and practices, but Asian Indian people as a whole have maintained their own customs and traditions. In conclusion, I have learned more about the Asian minority groups and also learned a little more about their culture. The Asian Indian people faced much difficulties and strife, including expulsion, upon coming to the United States. Asia minority groups come to the United States looking for a better way of life, in which opened an opportunity for Asian people and they used it, as a whole, to the best of their ability to succeed as a people. The Asian Indians have come a long way since they first arrived in the 19th century and continue evolve here the United States.