In an effort to celebrate the history and contributions of Asian/Pacific Islanders to the United States, in 1977, Reps. Frank Horton and Norman Mineta proposed to President Carter that the first 10 days of May be observed as Asian/Pacific Islander Heritage Week. The proposal was accepted and soon became an annual celebration. It was in 1990 that President George H.W. Bush extended the celebration into an entire month. The month is meant to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in 1843 and the endless contributions of Asian Americans, such as the Chinese miners who died while helping to build the transcontinental railroad.

Facts

Asian Americans

• In 2006, there were an estimated 14.9 million U.S. residents who said they were Asian or Asian in combination with one or more other races. This group comprised about 5 percent of the total population. California had the largest population (5 million) of this group. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• There are 3.6 million Asians of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans are the largest group, followed by Filipinos (2.9 million), Asian Indians (2.7 million), Vietnamese (1.6 million), Koreans (1.5 million), and Japanese (1.2 million). (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Regarding education, 49 percent of single-race Asians 25 and older have a bachelor's degree or higher. This compares to 27 percent for all races 25 and older. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• In 2002, Asian Americans owned 1.1 million businesses. The rate of increase in the number of Asian-owned businesses was about twice that of the national average for all businesses. (U.S. Census Bureau)

• After Spanish, Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the United States, with 2.5 million people age 5 and older who speak the language (U.S. Census Bureau)

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders

• In July 2006, 1 million U.S. residents said they were Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander in combination with one or more other races. This group comprised 0.3 percent of the total population. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• In 2006, Hawaii had the largest population (275,000) of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (either alone or in combination with one or more other races), followed by California (260,000) and Washington state (49,000). (U.S. Census Bureau)
• Fourteen percent of single-race Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 25 and older have at least a bachelor's degree. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• The median income of households headed by single-race Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders is $49,361. (U.S. Census Bureau)
• In 2002, 28,948 Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders owned businesses, up 49 percent from 1997. The rate of growth was more than three times the national average. (U.S. Census Bureau)  
• In 2006, the median age of the single-race Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander population was 29.9, much younger than the median age of 36.4 for the population as a whole. (U.S. Census Bureau)

People

Government

• The first Asian-American U.S. representative was Dalip Singh Saund in 1956, a native of Punjab, India. The first female Asian-American elected to Congress was Patsy Takemoto Mink in 1964, born in Maui, Hawaii.
• The first Pacific Islander governor was native Hawaiian George R. Ariyoshi in 1974 in Hawaii. The first on the mainland was Chinese American Gary Locke, elected governor of Washington state in 1996.
• The first Asian-American member of the presidential Cabinet was Japanese descendent Norman Yoshio Mineta. In 2000, he was appointed secretary of commerce. In 2001, he became the first Cabinet member to switch directly from a Democratic to Republican Cabinet--becoming secretary of transportation--and the only Democrat in George W. Bush's Cabinet.
• The first female Asian-American Cabinet member was Elaine Chao, a native of Taipei, Taiwan. Chao was appointed secretary of labor in 2001.

Science and Medicine

• The first individual to successfully clone the AIDS virus was Flossie Wong-Staal, a Chinese American, in 1984.

• In 1949, An Wang, also Chinese American, was the first to invent the small iron ring that served as the core of computer memory, until a decade later when the microchip was invented.

Entertainment

• The first Asian Academy Award winner was Haing Ngor, a native to Samrong Young, Cambodia. Ngor won Best Supporting Actor of 1984 for his role in "The Killing Fields."
• The first Asian-American network-news reporters were Japanese American Ken Kashiwahara and Chinese American Connie Chung in 1974. In 1993, Chung became the first Asian American to be a nightly news anchor for a major network (CBS).

Sports

• The first Korean and Asian-American player to be drafted in the first round of an NFL draft was Eugene Chung in 1992, selected by New England.
• In 1947, Japanese American Wataru Misaka became the first Asian American to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for the New York Knicks.

Notable Asian and Pacific Islander Americans

Ang Lee- Chinese-American Academy award--winning filmmaker of films such as "Sense and Sensibility," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Brokeback Mountain." Lee came to the United States in 1979 to attend the University of Illinois and later New York University. Lee first gained international notability in 1993 for his second film, "The Wedding Banquet," which went on to be nominated as the Best Foreign Language Film at both the Golden Globe and the Academy Awards--making it the first-ever Taiwan film to be nominated in that category. Lee's official Hollywood debut came in 1995 with his Academy Award--winning film, "Sense and Sensibility." "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," based on the fourth novel from the Crane-Iron Pentalogy by Wang Dulu, became the highest-grossing foreign film ever released in America. "Brokeback Mountain," Lee's most controversial film about two gay sheepherders, garnered him eight Academy Award nominations and three wins, and helped him to become the first Asian ever to win in the category of Best Director.

Yo-Yo Ma: a Chinese-American cellist with 75 albums, fifteen of which are Grammy winners. Ma was exposed to a diverse background at a young age, having been born in Paris and raised in New York. Ma quickly became a child prodigy, most likely inspired by his musically inclined mother, a singer, and father, a composer and conductor. Before the age of ten, Ma already knew how to play the violin, cello and viola. He had put on a show for President John F. Kennedy and had performed on television in a concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. As a young adult, he attended the Julliard School of Music and graduated from Harvard University. As Ma's musical ability expanded, he also looked to expand his service to mankind. Using his music as a uniting force, he established the Silk Road Project, which promoted the study of cultures and traditions along the Mediterranean Sea and Pacific Ocean. From this project, Ma formed the Silk Road Ensemble, a group of diverse musicians. Every year, the Silk Road Project and Ensemble attract millions of visitors to their festivals, expos, performances and partnerships with museums.

Indra Nooyi: an innovative chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, the world's fourth-largest food and beverage company. Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as senior vice president of corporate strategy and development, and in a little over a decade she worked her way up to chairman and CEO. In 2007, she ranked fifth on Forbes' 2007 list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, and she has been named the Most Powerful Woman in Business in 2006 and 2007 by Fortune magazine. Since joining PepsiCo, Nooyi has been a catalyst for many of the company's successful ventures. She helped to launch Yum!Brands, a spinoff of the company, which owns and franchises Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food. She also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in the spinoff of Pepsi's bottling business, and the merging of PepsiCo with Quaker Oats Co.

Eric Shinseki: a retired general in the U.S. Army. He once served as the 34th chief of staff in the Army and is the first Asian American to be an Army four-star general and to lead one of the four U.S. military services. Shinseki gained notability for his remarks that were publicly denounced by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in which Shinseki stated that hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be needed for postwar in Iraq. Three years after Shinseki's statement and days after Rumsfield announced his resignation, Gen. John P. Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, publicly stated to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that Shinseki was correct in his estimate of the amount of soldiers needed for postwar in Iraq.

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