formation on their work. Also, major museums of
contemporary art such as the Museum of Modern
Art in New York and the Dia Art Foundation are
excellent sources of information.
Sandra RothenbergSee also Koons, Jeff; Mapplethorpe obscenity trial;
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA); Photogra-
phy; Wegman, William.
Asian Americans
Identification U.S. citizens or residents of Asian
descent
The number of Asian Americans continued to grow both
through birth and immigration, increasing the Asian
American share of America’s population from 3 to 4 percent
during the decade. As Asian Americans were generally suc-
cessful in American society, there nevertheless remained
some social and cultural conflicts with other racial groups
and mainstream America.
Throughout the 1990’s, Asian Americans continued
their dynamic growth. This was due to lower immi-
gration barriers and the desire to move to Amer-
ica, the effects of a generally young Asian American
population starting new families, and a continuous
exodus from communist Asian countries. By 1990,
66 percent of Asian Americans were foreign-born.
More than one-third had become citizens in the last
decade, and almost two-thirds spoke an Asian lan-
guage at home. An exception was Japanese Ameri-
cans, who experienced less immigration and a lower
birthrate.
Diversity Among Asian Americans The 1990 U.S.
Census Bureau lists 7,274,000 Asian Americans, con-
tributing to 2.92 percent of the American popula-
tion of 249,000,000. Since 1980, Asian Americans
increased by 108 percent, the fastest-growing Ameri-
can group. By 2000, there would be 11,900,000 Asian
Americans constituting 4.2 percent of the American
population. This growth meant that Asian Ameri-
cans contributed to American society to an ever-
increasing degree.
Broken down according to specific Asian heri-
tage, Asian Americans made up a remarkably di-
verse, heterogeneous group. The largest subgroups
were still those Asian Americans whose ancestors
had come to America the earliest. By 1990, Chinese
Americans were the largest number of Asian Ameri-
cans, with 1,650,000 people. They were followed by
1,401,000 people of Filipino ancestry, surpassing the
848,000 Japanese Americans. For the first time, In-
dian Americans constituted a significant number,
815,000 people, exceeding 799,000 Korean Ameri-
cans. Generally English-speaking and well-educated,
Indian Americans were attracted to America’s pro-
fessional opportunities, particularly the booming
computer and software industry.
Reflecting the political upheavals of Southeast
Asia, Vietnamese Americans increased to 615,000,
followed by 147,000 Cambodian, 149,000 Laotian,
and 90,000 Hmong Americans. Prior to communist
victories in Southeast Asia in 1975, Southeast Asians
rarely immigrated to America. The Southeast Asian
refugee boom of the 1980’s was accounted for in the
1990 census. Even as the worst communist excesses
ended in the region in the 1990’s, Southeast Asians
continued to immigrate to America. The 2000 cen-
sus showed that during the 1990’s, the number of
Southeast Asian Americans had doubled from
990,000 to 2,100,000.
The last subgroup of Asian Americans specifically
identified on the census was 91,000 Thai Americans;
302,000 more Asian Americans did not indicate any
subgroup. 366,000 Americans identified themselves
as Pacific Islanders.
Generally throughout the 1990’s, 94 percent of
Asian Americans lived in a metropolitan area (but
only 6 percent of Pacific Islanders did) and concen-
trated in the key states of California, New York,
Texas, and Hawaii. There were significant enclaves
such as Hmong Americans in Minnesota and vibrant
Asian American communities in major eastern U.S.
cities.
In issues such as income per capita, college edu-
cation, professional occupation, family size and
structure, or poverty, Asian American subgroups dif-
fered widely from each other. Individual subgroups
tended to exceed, correspond to, or fall below na-
tional averages in each category. This trend contin-
ued in the 1990’s and meant that Asian American
subgroups tended to vary widely from each other. In
general, higher levels of education corresponded to
higher material success. However, for some sub-
groups with many recent immigrants such as Viet-
namese and Thai Americans, this equation did not
yet emerge.58 Asian Americans The Nineties in America