theistic religion and has evolved over thousands of years. Many Hindus regard the 2,000-page Vedas and the Gita (a segment of the epic Mahabharata) as sacred texts. Do not confuse Hindu with Hindi, which is a language. Ethnic conflict with Islam one of the bloodiest in the world. See HINDI; INDIA; ISLAM; SOUTH ASIA.
HMONG (also Mong or Muong):
An ethnic group living in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Laotian civil war in mid-1970s led to an exodus to the United States. See ETHNIC GROUP; LAOS; THAILAND.
Typically family name first, personal name second, often one-syllable names.
Former British colony. Independent of Britain in 1997 and now one of China’s two “special administrative regions” (the other is Macau). Capitalist after many years of British rule, Hong Kong’s character was preserved by agreement with the British under China’s “One Country, Two Systems” policy. Continuing tension over what that policy means. See CHINA; MACAU; TAIPENG REBELLION; TAIWAN; TIBET.
Caution. Most journalism organizations use this phrase because it is a legal description. Advocates for illegal immigrants, however, argue that the term interferes with the dispassionate presentation of the news. They argue that while actions can be and are illegal, a person cannot be. An immigrant who has lived in the United States for many decades may be, depending on individual circumstances, unfairly described as an immigrant. See ETHNIC GROUP; ILLEGALS; RACE, biological basis of; RACE, sociological construct of; STEREOTYPES.
“ILLEGALS”: Avoid. A slur.
Caution. A racially or ethnically charged term in some contexts. Like race and ethnicity, the status of being a first-generation immigrant should be mentioned where relevant and its relevance can be explained. For example, a person whose accent leads to a bar fight or whose lack of English may have led to his failure to stop when requested by police to do so can be described, along with other biographical details, as a recent immigrant. The date of entry to the United States might also be helpful, if available. See also ASIAN EXCLUSION ACTS; ILLEGAL ALIEN; ILLEGALS; WALTER-MCCARRAN ACT.
IMMIGRATION, historians of:
There are many, but these two are especially prominent. Oscar Handlin (1915-2011), whose parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, is a historian who influenced the view of American history to reflect the effect of immigration, especially in the United States of the early 20th century. His 1965 congressional testimony helped lead to liberalization of immigration rules, which led to an expansion of the Asian population in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. Ronald Takaki (1939-2009), whose Japanese grandfather immigrated to Hawaii in the 19th century, is a historian whose works on ethnicity were pioneering, especially “Strangers From a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans” (1989). See ASIA, historians of; and entries for individual countries.
The ideology of empire justifying an expansion of national power, including colonialism. See CHINA; COLONIALISM; INDIA; INDOCHINA; PHILIPPINES; RACISM, history of; RACISM, scientific; “WHITE MAN’S BURDEN”.
A vast topic and the world’s largest democracy. Once the quintessential “Third World,” or developing, country, it now has a fast-growing economy. Combined with Japan and China, India is part of one-quarter of the global economy. One of the great civilizations of the world, whose cultural influence in Asia is enormous (Buddhism, for example, began there). Former “Jewel in the Crown” of the British Empire. Independent from Britain in 1947. About one-third the land mass of the United States. Ethnic clashes between majority Hindus and minority Muslims have been some of the bloodiet in the world. Capital: New Delhi. The nation’s commercial center is Mumbai, also known as Bombay. Population: 1.2 billion (2012 estimate). Faith: Hindu (81 percent), Muslim (13 percent), Christian (2 percent), Sikh (2 percent), (2001 estimate). Proportion of the population younger than 15: nearly one-third. Literacy: 61 percent. See ARYAN;