Asians in the United States, Michigan and Metropolitan Detroit

Descriptions :

While the Asian presence in this country was once symbolized by Chinatowns in major cities, the 2000 Census reveals that there are now as many as five distinct Asian national-origin groups with more than a million residents. And whereas Asians have often been thought of uniformly as a single “model minority,” it is time to recognize the very large differences that exist between the Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, and other major Asian groups. In the last decade the total Asian population increased from 6.9 million to 11.9 million.1 The Asian share of the total population rose from 2.8% to 4.2%, still much smaller than the country’s African-American or Hispanic minorities, but a much more considerable presence today than in the past, and very prominent in some states and metro areas. The Chinese remain the largest single national-origin group, now about 2.4 million and nearly a quarter of the Asian total.2 Next in line are Filipinos at 1.85 million (an 18% share), and Asian Indians at 1.7 million. Asian Indians, the largest Asian group in Michigan, are the fastest growing group in the United States—more than doubling during the decade, and moving from fifth to third largest.