Response 1

Peggy Li
#1: Asian Pacific American's Social Movements and Interest Groups

I'm a bit conflicted about the pan ethnic “Asian American” identity. On the one hand it can help facilitate inter ethnic cooperation and understanding, in, for example, electing government officials, and in recognizing shared interests. But it also erases the differences and conflicts among the many many cultures that make up “Asian American.” To people who don't know better, it lumps diverse cultures into one nebulous thing, and facilitates ignorance and generalization, and it can ignore the unfortunate (economic/social) hierarchy among Asian American groups. But I guess that solidarity (not just from the term “Asian American” of course) and the resulting force will outweigh and eventually fix those negatives.
 The topic of ethnic enclaves made me think about assimilation/integration and what it means for people living in the US. Ethnic enclaves are a safe place for immigrants, and it's a place to form community, where people are surrounded by people and things more familiar to them. They can also be centers of heritage and a place to get help navigating the ins and outs of the new country. But ethnic enclaves seem to get shafted in favor of more potentially economically profitable operations, despite their great social benefits. So my question is, how exactly do communities go about keeping ethnic enclaves sustainable and lasting?      

 http://imgs.sfgate.com/blogs/images/sfgate/scavenger/2010/08/13/mn-oakmapping18__0499919600500x330.jpg