Needs Assessment and Market Analysis

Texas is now essentially tied with Hawaii as the state with the third largest Asian American population in the nation, behind only California and New York.

Despite this demographic development, the millions of students of Texas, from grade school to university, learn essentially nothing about the history of the Asian Americans of our state. This is not the fault of Texas teachers. The history has not been written.

No book on Asian Texans exists except for The Japanese Texans (published by the Institute of Texan Cultures) by Thomas K. Walls. Although this book is a fine addition to the body of Texas history, it does not chronicle the histories of non-Japanese Asian Texans.

And although Dr. Edward Rhoads wrote a landmark journal article on the history of Chinese in Texas, 1870-1970 (published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly), no book (outside of a children's book) on the history of Chinese Texans has ever been published.

Asian Texans have been doubly ignored. Texas historians have ignored Asian Texans because they are Asian. Historians of Asian America have ignored Asian Texans because they are Texan. Asian Texans, proud of both their Asian and their Texan heritage, are ready to see their unique stories in print.

Conversely, white, black, and Hispanic Texans often feel a disconnection from the Asian Texans who live and work around them. In this age of multiculturalism, Texans wish to know more about Texas's own multicultural heritage.

The market for Asian Texans is large. It not only includes all Texans, but all Americans and Asians interested in Texas, Asian America, and ethnic studies. There are over 21 million Texans and an undercounted Asian and Pacific Texan population of at least 600,000.

The library market for this book is immense. The market will be driven by primary and secondary school teachers needing sources for lessons on multicultural history. Texas is home to 1000 school districts, 200 charter schools, and four million students. Also, the hundreds of Texas public library systems will surely want copies of Asian Texans.

There is a substantial market among university professors, college students, and college libraries.