Asian-Nation.org Seeks to be the Online Equivalent of 'Asian Americans 101'

Exploring the historical, political, social, economic, and cultural elements and issues that make up today's Asian American community, 'Asian-Nation' provides provocative, useful, and interactive content about the Asian American community, concisely but comprehensively -- in-depth research, a few statistics, and a casual, personal style. You can think of it as an online version of 'Asian Americans 101' -- something that everyone can learn from and use.

Albany, NY. -- Asian Americans are perhaps the least understood racial/ethnic group in the U.S. This is highlighted by recent events such as the China spy plane incident, the Wen Ho Lee espionage accusations, and the Democratic campaign financing scandal. A new website seeks to address this issue by providing provocative, amusing, and useful information about the Asian American community, concisely but comprehensively.

Created by C.N. Le, a Vietnamese American Ph.D. student in sociology at SUNY Albany, the site is named 'Asian-Nation' (http://www.asian-nation.org) and is described as "an exploration of the historical, political, social, economic, and cultural elements and issues that make up today's Asian American community."

Mr. Le combines his experiences as a graduate student, instructor, Asian American, immigrant, and "sarcastic liberal" to present discussions on several issues that affect Asian Americans, such as being called the "model minority," traditional and contemporary Asian culture, common stereotypes surrounding Asians, ethnic communities and small businesses, assimilation, and anti-Asian hate crimes, to name just a few.

"I try not to sound too academic," he notes. "But I think 'Asian-Nation' combines the best of both worlds -- lots of in-depth research and a few statistics here and there, along with interactive elements and a casual, personal style." In seeking to inform and educate readers of all ethnicities, Mr. Le points out, "You can think of it as an online version of 'Asian Americans 101' -- something that everyone can learn from and use."

'Asian-Nation' is located at http://www.asian-nation.org