Given your knowledge of Asian American history, does it make sense to group the people at heart of Iyers account (South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants) under the racial category of Asian American? In other words, given the distinctive situation of South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh immigrants since 9/11, is it logical to consider and analyze their experiences as part of an Asian American historical framework?
(To answer this question, it may help to keep in mind the following: What makes Asian Americans Asian American? How do we define Asian American? What are the common themes, patterns, and experiences among the various groups and time periods that that we have studied this semester?)
No matter what position you take on the prompt, your essay must detail THREE reasons to support your argument. Each of the THREE reasons should include specific examples from the text to substantiate your claims.
Be sure to include the page number(s) of the passages from We Too Sing America that you cite. Cite direct quotations and indirect information from the readings in the following format (Iyer, 139). Any ideas that you take from our class discussion must be attributed to the class discussion.
