Module 3: The Taste of Success
Have Asian Americans who are successful at business achieved the “American Dream?”
In 1820, a Chinese immigrant from Macao arrived in New York City. Later known as Norman Asing, he was one of the first Chinese people to enter the United States. By trade, Asing was an entrepreneur. After moving to California, he eventually opened a restaurant, Macao and Woosung, in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It is considered one of the first Chinese restaurants in the United States.
In the context of anti-Asian violence and discrimination, it was quite a feat at the time to open such an ethnically visible institution as a Chinese restaurant. As historian Yong Chen has argued, “Gastronomy was one of the few areas where the Chinese could find some solace and a source of pride. For Chinese Americans, defending their foodways was to defend their community and culture.” 1
Food has been an important way Asian Americans have been able to start businesses. Although food nourishes people and ethnic food often connects diasporic people, food is also only possible through labor—people grow, harvest, prepare, cook, and serve food.
In this module, we learn about the history of Chinese restaurants, Asian Americans in the food industry, and a Hawaiian farming cooperative that challenges us to think about success as a collective effort.
How have Asian American communities reinterpreted the American Dream?
How is Asian Americans’ evolving collective consciousness evident in the history of ethnic Asian food and related businesses, past and present?
How do the history and traditions of Native Hawaiians and Hawaiʻi’s natural resources offer an alternate definition of success centering on care for the environment and community well-being?
