LANDMARK MOVEMENTS AND MOMENTS
Where We Live: Asian American and Pacific Islander Communities

Does place matter in becoming a community?
Chapter objectives
- Learn how different Asian American and Pacific Islander community groups both shape and are shaped by their distinct environments to build new lives, homes, and cultures in the United States.
- Understand how these Asian American and Pacific Islander groups engage in placemaking, which includes connecting, mixing, and merging languages, cultures, and practices of their ancestral homelands with those in the US.
- Explore how different Asian American and Pacific Islander groups offer various cultural, social, linguistic, and economic contributions to the US, all while dealing with diverse social, political, and economic challenges.
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have established a myriad of communities across the United States amid their immigration journeys. This chapter offers five snapshots into these diverse and bustling communities, each distinct with their own industries, culture, and experiences. The chapter examines specific communities in five specific locations: Vietnamese American communities in Texas and the Gulf; immigrant communities in the Borough of Queens, New York City; Tongan Americans in Salt Lake City, Utah; Palestinian Americans in Chicago, Illinois; and Afghan Americans in New York City. The chapter explores how these communities in their respective places have utilized different spaces to form communities while navigating various challenges. The chapter also explores the many ways Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have established their lives across these different regions while strengthening their communities and the spaces around them.
Modules in this chapter
Vietnamese Americans in the Texas Gulf
New Immigrant Communities of Queens, New York City
Tongan Community in Salt Lake City, Utah
Palestinian Americans in Chicago, Illinois
Afghan Americans in New York Post-9/11
Vietnamese Americans in the Texas Gulf
New Immigrant Communities of Queens, New York City
Tongan Community in Salt Lake City, Utah
Palestinian Americans in Chicago, Illinois
Afghan Americans in New York Post-9/11
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