Arroz Fritto with Salsa: Asian Latinos and the Future of the United States

Abstract

Just as media publications tend to demarcate national and international sections, as if one can be quarantined from the other, discussions of immigrant groups usually isolate the communities concerned. The United States popular media represents Asians and Latinos as separate entities inhabiting separate spheres, presuming no intersection between these groups. An understanding of the history of global migrations would lead us to realize that Asians and Latinos not only have much to share with each other, but have been doing so for hundreds of years in Latin America. Indeed, a portion of the Latino population in the United States is of Asian ancestry. According to the United States Census, 277,704 Latinos identify themselves as Asian as of 2006.' If one includes Latinos who claim partial Asian ancestry, the number of Asian Latinos in the United States grows to 460,844.2 No doubt this constitutes a small proportion of the overall United States population, but it represents people whose cultural and racial identity blends perceived Asian and Latin American elements. These Asian Latinos