Pan Asian-American Culture: Hawaii vs. California vs. everywhere else (neighborhoods, gated)

[RudyOD]

So, growing up in Southern California in mostly Asian oriented neighborhoods, I'm pretty comfortable with the pan-Asian culture that we have here (especially in communities like Cerritos, La Palma, Fullerton and Irvine, as opposed to Westminster or Rowland Heights that are just one type - Vietnamese and Chinese/Taiwanese respectively). I was wondering, for anyone that knows both regions well...or has lived in both, if there are any marked (cultural or otherwise) differences you see within the communities in California vs those in Hawaii.

I do notice that there tends to be a lot more of a Japanese influence in Hawaii. While we have that in SoCal (they tend to be older communities), it isn't the dominant influence.

...and for those nitpicky types, when I say Asian, I'm mostly referring to East and Southeast Asian cultures. West and South Asians in California have their own thing going on. Though South Asians are a bit of a middle ground between the two (both literal in a geographical sense, but also in a cultural one).

Outside of Hawaii and California, does anyone notice a growing Pan-Asian community in any other area? As opposed to just Korean or just Japanese or just Chinese etc.

[nei]

Haven't been to Hawaii, but since Hawaii has an Asian majority, the pan-Asian culture is hard to distinguish from the general local culture, especially since much of the Asian population has been there for generations and may be mixed.

[Lets Eat Candy]

Maybe you can clarify this a bit more? I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and frequently found myself being the interlocutor between my Asian friends, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern/West Asian friends friends because of my pretty weird cultural background.

South Asians don't really have all that large of a presence in SoCal, while they do nearly everywhere else. Out of the 2.4 million Asian Americans in the LA area, only around 180k are South Asian. Outside of Artesia and Cerritos, Desis only exist in pockets everywhere. Compare that to the Bay Area, where out of the 2.0 million Asians, around 350k Asians there are South Asian (and are the fastest growing Asian group there).

As someone who's lived in NorCal, SoCal, NYC area, and Seattle, the area that has the most pan-Asian culture I feel like is SF Bay. There aren't very many mono-cultural Asian areas, except for Daly City (which is hugely Filipino, but in itself has a notable Chinese population as well) and Fremont (increasingly becoming more and more Desi/South Asian), and maybe San Francisco (majorly Chinese, except if you go to Southeast San Francisco around the Excelsior District, where it's pretty pan-Asian as well)

I feel like while most people definitely still identify with their ethnic groups primarily, there is an increasing awareness of a Pan-Asian identity. This honestly compares a whole lot with how European groups came here in waves, and after a generation or two, simply become "White Americans", no matter if their background was Russian, Polish, Italian, German, Irish, or English.

There's a definite divide between the more poorer Southeast Asian communities (Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodians, and Hmong especially) and the East Asian communities. One of my best friends is a Laotian dude from Fresno, and he definitely does not feel any sort of kinship with the richer Chinese/Korean/Japanese kids.

The New York area Asian American community is hugely immigrant, so there isn't very much of a pan-Asian identity at all. However, going to Stuyvesant for 9th and 10th grade, a lot of the Asian students of all backgrounds hung out together, and the same progression is starting to happen there as it did here. However, given that the East Coast is a tad more segregated than the populated areas of California, personal ethnic identities are a whole lot stronger there.

Hope that answers your question.