People of California

There are also many asian families in California that are an integral part of our culture and economy in California. Asia is an enormous continent, representing many different countries, cultures and religions. Unlike in most of Latin America, the countries in Asia don't even share a common official language. Therefore, the asian students in our schools speak a wide diversity of languages such as: Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagolog, Japanese and Thai.

The Chinese community has been very strong in some cities since California became a state. In San Francisco, for example, Chinese adventurers were drawn to the area by promise of the Gold Rush in the 1850's and created their own neighborhood complete with Chinese businessmen, doctors, stores and temples. A few years later, the incredible endurance of Chinese laborers made the dream of building a train line through California's mountains a reality. Like Latinos, Chinese and other asian immigrants have frequently faced a lot of discrimination. However, there are many important asian businessmen, scientists, engeneers, politicians and artists in California.

We have only barely scratched the surface of the wide diversity of cultures the kids in California come from. If you were a kid in California you might speak English, Spanish, Mandarin, Farsi, Hebrew or Arabic at home. For dinner with your family you might eat spaguetti, tacos, stirfry, falafel or curry. You might celebrate the important days of the Chinese New Year in February, Cinco de Mayo in May, Yom Kippur in October of Ramadan in the fall.

The wonderful thing about being a kid in California is having the opportunity to learn about so many other cultures and still value you own. These opportunities enrich our lives, but also pose the challenge of learning to recognize and challenge prejudice and discrimination against people who are different. Kids can do this by learning about cultures different from their own and standing up for their classmates and friends near and far.