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Racial Discrimination — Overview and History Racism is and always has been a part of life in the United States. In various degrees and forms, it is a component of day‐ to‐day American society. Racism is both overt and covert. It takes two, closely related forms: institutional whites acting against blacks, acts by the total white community against the black community, and acts by individual whites against individual blacks. These are termed acts of institutional racism and acts of individual racism. Individual racism consists of overt acts by individuals, which cause death, injury, or the violent destruction of property. It can be reached by television cameras; it can frequently be observed in the process of commission. Institutional racism is less overt, far more subtle, less identifiable in terms of specific individuals committing the acts. But it is no less destructive of human life. Institutional racism originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society and thus receives far less public condemnation than individual racism.(5, p.1)

Asian‐American is a quite diversified ethnic group. Each nationality maintain its own culture and identity while most still enjoy a similar central Asian culture. The Asian population is rapidly growing, especially on the West Coast of America where 17 percent (Patel, D.I. 1988) of the total population is composed of Asians. By the year 2000 only 15 percent (Hutchens, S. Jr. 1989) of the additional workers drawn to American corporations will be whites, i.e. most new workers will be from other ethnic groups including Asians. Asian employees present a particular group pattern of behaviour and attitude which results from their cultural backgrounds, e.g. lack of initiative, respect for authority and self‐restraint. They also experience problems in handling the English language and expressions. American management faces the challenge of understanding and effectively managing Asian employees. A competitive edge will be obtained by whoever best understands this new diverse labour force of which the Asian employees are a significant part.