ATLANTA — It's the time of year when people search for Asian representation the most, according to Google Trends data. To save you some time, we've compiled some of the most searchable questions and answered them for you.
The U.S. marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month every May. There's been growing awareness for the communities and ethnicities that fall under the AAPI umbrella as people have been exposed to more cultures, food, entertainment, and even tragedies that have brought the country together.
Search data shows interest has steadily increased in learning more about the heritage month over the past five years. Pacific Islander was searched more than ever in May 2022.
Let's define who we're talking about and what people are silently searching for.
Who is considered Asian?
It's a frequently asked question and one that can broaden one's global horizons. It's important to note that the word is an umbrella term for dozens of ethnicities.
Asian is considered a racial category in the United States -- it's not a geographic category. It's commonly used to refer to people who come from or have ancestry from Asia.
The Census Bureau defines Asian as "a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent." The Census definition includes Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine Islands, Thailand and Vietnam.
Countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Armenia don't fit the Census definition.
What is a Pacific Islander?
The U.S. Department of the Interior, for statistical purposes, defines Pacific Islanders as persons having origins from the Pacific Islands.
The Pacific Islands have three sub-regions called Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, which are filled with dozens of islands that make up various countries and cultures. Some islands are uninhabited.
This list does not contain all of the cultures and people who call the Pacific Islands home but serves as a brief overview.
Melanesia
Comprises of Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Polynesia
Comprises of Samoa, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Pitcairn, Rapa Nui, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and Wallis and Futuna. The Hawaiian Islands and New Zealand also have Native Hawaiians and Maori indigenous populations, respectively, that also fall under Polynesian culture.
Micronesia
Comprises of Guam, Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Federation of States of Micronesia, Nauru, and Kiribati.
Indigenous people in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are called Chamorro.
Asian firsts: Trailblazers, record-breakers
When it comes to Asian representation, there are certain questions that people often search for. Here's a list of firsts that broke the "bamboo ceiling."
First Asian NBA player
Wataru "Wat" Misaka was a 5-foot-7-inch point guard of Japanese descent. Playing for the Knicks, he broke a color barrier in professional basketball by being the first non-white player to play for the NBA, which was then known as the Basketball Association of America.
His appearance in the league holds a historic impact as the Japanese-American gained stardom not long after WWII and the era of Japanese internment camps in the U.S. This loomed as a shadow, as he emerged as a student-athlete for the Utah Utes. He took a two-year hiatus to serve in the U.S. Army during the American occupation of Japan. Ultimately, his pro career only lasted a few games during the 1947-1948 season.
Misaka returned to Utah to become an engineer. He died at the age of 95 on November 20, 2019, in Salt Lake City.
First Asian to win an Oscar
This is a complicated question to answer, so thank goodness we sifted through Google for you.
James Wong Howe (1899-1976) was born in China and immigrated to the U.S. as a young child. Growing up in Pasco and making his way to Los Angeles, he would become a highly sought-after cinematographer in Hollywood for his innovative filming techniques, according to the Seattle Times. He became an Academy Award-winning cinematographer for “Hud” (1964) and “The Rose Tattoo” (1956).
Miyoshi Umeki is the first Asian performer to snag the coveted statue for her performance in “Sayonara” in 1957 for best supporting actress.
Born in Otaru, Japan, in 1929, she began her career as a nightclub singer during World War II. Making her way to New York in the mid-1950s, she quickly got a record contract and a regular spot on the TV variety show “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends.” This laid the foundation for her first film role where she played the Japanese wife of an American airman.
Umeki died in 2007.
First Asian woman to win best actress Oscar
Michelle Yeoh made history at the 2023 Oscars for winning best actress, nearly a century since Umeki's record-breaking win.
Yeoh took home the statue for her starring role in the psychedelic comedy-drama “Everything Everywhere All at Once," which had a mostly Asian cast. The accolade makes her the first Asian actress to win in the category.
First Asian NFL player
Arthur Matsu was the first professional football player of Asian descent.
Born in 1904 in Scotland to a Japanese father and a Scottish mother, Matsu would move to Canada and then Cleveland, Ohio where he showed incredible athletic ability in several sports. He eventually attended William & Mary College in Virginia to play football and became the first Asian-American student there and became the first Asian-American to captain the school's football team.
He would play professionally for the Dayton Triangles in 1928, a franchise in the American Professional Football Association (now the National Football League).
First Asian superhero
Google would easily tell you that in Marvel's cinematic universe, Shang-Chi is the first Asian to make it to the big screen within its franchise. Though Simu Liu broke barriers by bringing the comic book character to life, Shang-Chi is not the first Asian superhero.
Comic book and pop culture historians name two superheroes: Green Turtle, and now more popularly, Wing. This largely came to light because of this article.
The 1940s Green Turtle recently made a comic book comeback in "The Shadow Hero." Believed to be Chinese, the hero is akin to Batman or Superman.
Wing is the Crimson Avenger's sidekick, so there's a conversation if he counts or not. The hero, whose full name is Wing How, is a Chinese immigrant who moves to America to escape Japanese persecution, according to DC Comics, and started as the Crimson Avenger's chauffeur and would grow their relationship to become a crime-fighting pair.
Asian representation films, shows
This past year, people searched for movies and TV shows with AAPI representation. From movies for kids to superheroes, below are some of the most popular search results.