List of Asian-American firsts

Asian-Americans are Americans of Asian descent.

The phrase Asian-American was coined by Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee in 1968 during the founding of the Asian American Political Alliance,[1][2] and started to be used by the U.S. census in 1980.

[3] Firsts by Asian-Americans in various fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change.

The shorthand phrase for them is "breaking the color barrier".

[4] One commonly cited example is that of Wataru Misaka, who became the first person of color,[5] and the first Asian-American, to be a National Basketball Association player (in 1947.