American-born Chinese

An American-born Chinese or "ABC" is a person born in the United States of Chinese ethnic descent. Many, but not all, are first generation born after the US Immigration Act of 1965 relaxed limits on immigration from East Asia. Because their parents often came from academic or professional backgrounds, ABCs as a group, on average, tend to be better educated (with at least an undergraduate college degree) than the general population. As a result, they are often stereotyped from within the U.S. as bookish and a (model minority) of sorts, with an emphasis on talents in math and science. However, this stereotype overlooks the fact that there are also quite poor and blue-collar ABCs in the United States, and that older communities of Chinese have assimilated and have statistics more in line with the general U.S. population.

Related Topics:
United States - US Immigration Act of 1965 - Model minority - Blue-collar

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ABCs tend to assimilate rapidly into the English-language environment of the United States and often have more reduced facility in Chinese than other members of the Chinese diaspora. In some first-generation Chinese-American households, ABCs can often speak the Chinese dialect of their parents, but their ability to read Chinese is diminished. However, the majority of American-born Chinese children are fully fluent English speakers who either very limited or no knowledge of how to speak their parents' Chinese dialect. Today, many young ABCs rarely speak any Mandarin. In many cases, only the immigrant children speak Mandarin daily at home. To remedy this problem, there are numerous Chinese schools set up on school campuses and other facilities, with the sole purpose of teaching Chinese language and culture to ABCs.

Related Topics:
English-language - Chinese - Chinese school

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The connection ABCs have with the Chinese culture is varied, depending very much on the area where they live. Those who live on the East and West coasts tend to have Chinese communities to associate with, while those in middle America tend to assimilate quicker.

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One institution well-known among ABCs is the Overseas Chinese Youth Language Training and Study Tour to the Republic of China, almost always referred to as "the Love Boat." It is a summer program sponsored by the Taiwanese government whose explicit purpose is to teach overseas Chinese about Chinese culture but, just as importantly, to allow ABCs the opportunity to establish romantic attachments with other ABCs.

Related Topics:
Overseas Chinese Youth Language Training and Study Tour to the Republic of China - Overseas Chinese

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