• In 2004 nearly one-third of adults and about two-fifths of children were identified as black, Hispanic, Asian, or American Indian or Alaska Native.
• Fourteen percent of Americans in 2004 identified themselves as Hispanic
  • 12 percent as black
  • 4 percent as Asian Non-Hispanic
• In 2004, 14 percent of the U.S. population identified themselves as Hispanic and 4 percent as Asian 
• In 2003 more than 60 percent of black and Hispanic children under 18 years of age and more than one-half of the black and Hispanic population age 65 years and over were poor or near poverty
• In 2003 the fertility rate for Hispanic women (96.9 births per 1,000 Hispanic women 15–44 years) was 66 percent higher than for non-Hispanic white women (58.5 per 1,000)

These people—the Southeast Asians, the South Asians, and the Pacific Asians—are from different multiethnic and multinational Asian groups. They bring to North America their varying languages, religions, cultures, and subcultures. One may come from Christianized Manila, Philippines; another from one of the still-animistic tribal villages of Laos. One Asian may come from the overcrowded Buddhist city of Bombay, India; one from the multireligious modern city of Tokyo, Japan; one from the culturally traditional island of Tonga; and still another from a Muslim town of Pakistan. They keep coming because of the open doors of migration, and the military, marriage, and money-making opportunities under the umbrella of freedom and justice. They become part of the American mosaic and experience the confusing and dividing tensions of religious, social, political, and cultural changes in their new country.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.  - For the first time, a study has revealed strong evidence that newsrooms with larger numbers of Asian American staff members result in newspapers that cover more stories on, and broader coverage of, Asian American communities and issues.