Most White adults are confident that they can distin- guish Asians from Europeans. Unfortunately, though, White Americans often cannot tell Asians apart from their physical appearance and are not disturbed about their confusion.
However, as we have seen, there are definite differences in the experience of the Chinese and the Japanese in the United States. One obvious difference is in the degree of assimilation. The Chinese Americans have maintained their ethnic enclaves more than the Japanese Americans have. Chinatowns live on, both as welcomed halfway points for new arrivals and as enclaves where many resi- dents make very low wages. However, Little Tokyos are few because of the differences in the cultures of China and Japan. China was almost untouched by European influ- ence, but even by the early 1900s, Japan had already been
SPECTRUM OF INTERGROUP RELATIONS influenced by the West. Therefore, the Japanese arrived somewhat more assimilated than their Chinese counter- parts. The continued migration of Chinese in recent years has also meant that Chinese Americans as a group have been less assimilated than Japanese Americans.
Both groups have achieved some success, but this success has not extended to all members. For Chinese Americans, a notable exception to success can be found in Chinatowns, which, behind the tourist front, are much like other poverty-stricken areas in American cit- ies. Neither Chinese Americans nor Japanese Americans have figured prominently in the executive offices of the nation’s large corporations and financial institutions. Compared with other racial and ethnic groups, Asian Americans have shown little interest in political activity on their own behalf.