Introduction
Introduction
Since 1980 the number of Asian Americans in the United States has more than doubled, making them the nation's fastest-growing minority group, by far. They are, in addition, the nation's best-educated and most prosperous minority. But the widely circulated stereotype of a “model minority” is misleading. The Asian-American community actually is a mosaic of nationality groups with differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Many newly arrived Asian immigrants are poor and barely literate. Lacking job skills, some young men from this disadvantaged group join gangs that prey upon Asian- American families and businesses. Since they have limited political influence, Asian Americans feel their needs are overlooked. Now, though, they are becoming more aggressive in using their economic clout to achieve their aims.