The Asian American Dream

Asian Americans include persons that come to the United States from a variety of countries in Asia and the Indian subcontinent (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Although the do share similar physical features, each subgroup has its own history, customs, and culture (McNamara & Burns, 2009). There are many different perceptions of Asian Americans in general. One is that they have overcome barriers and discrimination to be successful and achieve the ‘American Dream’ (McNamara & Burns, 2009). One reason for this I believe is that the majority of Asian Americans come to the United States with a dream and a goal to be successful. Unlike other minority groups discusses by McNamara and Burns (2009) most Asian Americans chose to come to the United States. They were not brought here as slave as were African Americans, nor were they already

By choosing to come here they had the desire, motivation and goals to achieve to allow them to be successful. One of the reasons that Asian Americans have flourished in the United States is their belief in education. All most one-half of Asian Americans have a college degree and are also known to have some of the highest scores on standardized tests (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Asian Americans have also been economically successful. The perception is that they are hardworking and many start their own business once they arrive in the United States (McNamara & Burns, 2009). The Asian Americans are one minority group that is underrepresented in crime statistic (McNamara & Burns, 2009). This could be due to the fact that they value education and prepared themselves for higher paying jobs making it less likely that they will turn to crime. Even though many own a business, many work long hours and still earn a median income lower than White Americans (McNamara & Burns, 2009). One problem with the positive perceptions about Asian Americans as a group is that it diminishes the problems faced by other Asian Americans in attaining