6.9: Transnational Ties and the Creation of “Ethnoburbs”

Many Asian American communities maintain strong transnational connections, facilitated by modern technology and travel. They often engage in “flexible citizenship,” navigating social, political, and economic spheres in both the U.S. and their country of origin (Ong 1999). This sustains cultural practices, including language retention, culinary traditions, and religious observances from Buddhism and Hinduism to Christianity and Islam.

Spatially, this has led to the rise of “ethnoburbs”—suburban ethnic clusters of businesses and residences (Li 1998). Places like the San Gabriel Valley in California or parts of Queens, New York, are not traditional ethnic enclaves for the poor but thriving, middle-class hubs that serve as cultural centers, allowing for the preservation and evolution of distinct Asian American identities outside of the inner city.

The “Asian American” identity itself is a cultural and political achievement. It was forged from a recognition that diverse groups faced shared experiences of exclusion, stereotyping, and marginalization (Espiritu 1992). This panethnicity is situational; an individual may identify as “Chinese” at home, “Asian American” in a multicultural campus setting, and simply “American” in other contexts (Okamoto 2014). The ongoing challenge is to build solidarity across profound internal diversity while resisting the homogenizing force of the model minority stereotype.