The Positioning of the New 1.5 and Second Generations Within Asian America.

Immigration to the United States can generally be divided into two large groups - the old immigrants of the early nineteenth century and the new immigrants of the mid to latter twentieth century. There are many distinctions between these two groups. One difference lies in the immigrant's home of origin. While the immigrants of the early nineteenth century comprise mainly of Southeastern Europeans, a large bulk of the new immigrants of the twentieth century are from Latin America and Asia. Previous studies on the experiences of the new 1.5 and second generation largely focus on this group's social, educational, and cultural progression. Missing from this discussion is the positioning of this group's racial and ethnic identity within the umbrella term of "Asian American." Thus, this paper explores how the new Asian 1.5 and second generation are positioned within Asian America. Furthermore, the applicability of the term "Asian American" for this group of new 1.5 and second generation is also addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]