'Asian American' is an umbrella term for dozens of ethnic groups who keep getting lumped into a single block
This story was originally published in 2021.
Asian Americans are often labeled as a singular group, but the fastest growing population in the US is far from a monolith — and their complex history and cultures are often glossed over. While they have been in America since the nation's infancy, Asian Americans continue being harmed by stereotypes like the"model minority" as well as racial violence. Much of the recent anti-Asian bias is a result of many people being ignorant of the group's history in the country and xenophobic messaging around the Covid-19 pandemic, experts and lawmakers say. Here's a look at how diverse Asians in America are and why we can't speak about them as a single block.