Introduction to Journal of Asian American Studies, Special Issue on the Midwest

The goal of this issue is less to highlight the Midwest (or its more formal term, “Middle West”) as a separate region of analysis and more to consider how geography has shaped the practice of Asian American studies. As such, a focus on the Midwest pertains to everyone engaged in the field, regardless of location. This issue came at the request of editor Huping Ling based on the positive feedback she received about a megasession panel at the 2008 annual conference of the Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS) in Chicago. The panel was entitled “The Heart(land) of Asian American Studies: Approaches in the Midwest.” As a cochair of the 2008 conference program committee, I was asked to organize a special panel on the Midwest. The panelists were Mark Chiang, Erika Lee, and Victor Jew. Each was suggested since they were thinking critically about the Midwest in relation to research and teaching within Asian American studies. Mark Chiang and Victor Jew, unfortunately, were unable to be part of this special issue. I chaired the panel and have contributed an essay here. Also adding essays are Josephine Lee and Andrea Louie.

The Midwest is made up of the following states (although that itself is a matter of debate): Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.¹ Attention to this region has been growing, albeit slowly, within AAAS. The 2008 AAAS conference marked the first time that the conference was held in the Midwest. It served as recognition of the increasing number of Asian American studies programs and scholars working in and on this area. A second acknowledgment is the recent separation of the Midwest/Mountain region on the AAAS executive board into two. Whereas before one person represented the territory of Arizona to Ohio, there are now Midwest and Interior West/Mountain representatives.

There is a long history and diversity of Asian Americans in the Midwest, dating at least back to the mid-1800s. For example, Chinese immigrants arrived in Ohio in the 1860s, and St. Louis has had Chinese immigrants since the 1850s.² Cleveland still has a Chinatown, started in the 1890s, in contrast to many of its midwestern peer cities.³ Much of this history has influenced dynamics in other parts of the United States, not only between the Midwest and Asia. For instance, Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans moved to the Midwest to escape anti-immigrant hostilities on the West Coast.⁴ Filipino Americans have lived in the Midwest since the early 1900s, also often arriving from elsewhere in the nation. Arab Americans, too, have a long presence, dating at least back to the early 1900s. Large numbers reside in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio, where they have attracted national attention and scrutiny.⁵ More recent arrivals include Southeast Asians, including large numbers of Hmong and Laotian refugees (see Erika Lee’s essay in this issue).

The number of Asian Americans in the region has grown dramatically. Asian Americans made up 1.3 percent (total number, 755,403) of the Midwest population in 1990 and grew to 2.2 percent (total number, 1,392,938) in 2000.⁶ The 2010 census will reveal an even greater number of Asian Americans. In 2000, Asian Indians comprised the largest Asian population in the Midwest (316,223), followed by Chinese (239,956), Filipino (195,919), Korean (155,576), Vietnamese (117,109), Japanese (92,803), and Hmong (88,630).⁷ As common for census figures of immigrant populations, these numbers likely undercount the actual population.

Despite this history and recent growth, the Midwest has seemed culturally and socially unwelcoming to Asian Americans. It has served to define a traditional “American” character of a supposed commitment to family values (rarely defined), independent determination, and military pride. At a time when “American values” are extolled in the specter of global terrorism, the “Heartland” takes on an even stronger romanticization than normal. Part of this myth stems from the presumed white racial homogeneity of the area, in particular the large nonurban sections that suggest a...