Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The term ‘Asian American’ was coined in the 1960s along with the creation of Ethnic Studies as a field and the emergence of the Asian American movement. The term indicates a certain political and historical sensibility. Asian Americans come from many different Asian ethnic backgrounds, of course, but the term suggests that these groups share certain things, including both cultural patterns and particular histories in the U.S. Self-identification as ‘Asian American’ is a matter of personal choice. Not all Americans of Asian descent identify themselves as Asian American; some immigrants choose to self-identify in this way to indicate their ties to other Asians in the U.S. and Americans of Asian descent.