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distress (Franklin, 1999; Parham, 1999); Black feminists propose that the attention to
African American male oppression has made African American women invisible; those
African American women who are highly visible in popular culture have no voice
(Wallace, 1990; Wyatt, 1999); and Native American scholars are invisible in mainstream
American institutions (Mankiller, 1988). Arab Americans are invisible in American
culture at least until the September 11 2001 attacks on New York City’s World Trade
Center and Pentagon (Naber, 2000). Asian American professionals suffer negation of
recognition for academic achievement and are under-appreciated (Kim, 1994; Ma, 1999).
Asian Pacific American women struggle for visibility and voice in American institutions
(Hune, 1998), and the like. Within a dominant white culture, co-cultural members’
experiences are rendered invisible (Orbe, 1998; Samovar & Porter, 1994). These ethnic
group members’ voices are unheard, their needs are unfulfilled, and their self-identities
are assailed. In a coming global communication era, it is necessary to raise the question
of “minority invisibility” and to encourage the full participation of all persons in national
and world cultures.
Asian Americans are a sizable population in the United States today. The U.S.
Bureau of Census estimated that the total population of people of Asian descent was
10,480,000 (3.9%) of the population in 1998. By 2049 the Asian population will be
about 29,235,000 (7.9% of population (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). In 1990,
22.6% Asian Americans are Chinese, 11.7% are Japanese, 19.3% are Filipino, 8.4% are
Vietamese, Indians and Koreans are 11.2% and 11% relatively. According to a current
survey conducted by Ong and Takanishi (1996), in 1996, Asian American adult
population was 1,775,000. Among them, 24% were U. S. born, 33 % were naturalized,
Convention