Asian American History and Displacement Lecture

Flashcards covering the 'First Wave 5' Asian American groups, historical displacement events including the Korean War and the US Secret War in Laos, the I-Hotel eviction, and definitions of refugees and Islamophobia.

Which five ethnic groups comprise the "First Wave 5" of Asian Americans?

Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Filipinos, and Koreans.

Korean War Dates. How many people were killed and displaced?

- $1950$ to 1953

It killed four million people and displaced over nine million.

Korean War: How many families remain separated by the division of the Korean peninsula?

• eleven million families separated by the division of the peninsula

• children were orphaned

What is the significance of the $38$ th parallel in Korea?

• 35 years of Japanese colonization (1910-1945)

• escalated due to U.S. involvement

• purpose is to contain the spread of communism

• subsequent civil war.

How many Korean women were widowed by the war and how did they sustain their livelihoods?

• $300,000$ widows a

• peddling goods like shrimp, sweet potatoes, or rice cakes.

The US Secret War in Laos 1964 to 1973

• bombing campaigns and covert operations, during which over two million tons of bombs were dropped on the country.

• the Plain of Jars community in Xieng Khouang Province, (strategically important and heavily bombed area) experienced population decline

• 150,000 people before the 1960s to only 9,000 after the war.

US Senate hearings regarding "Laotian and Cambodian refugees"?

• The conflict caused many deaths among Lao and Hmong people

• (1969–1972) about refugees from Laos and Cambodia

• hearings publicly revealed the U.S. bombing campaign

• Officials often downplayed the bombing, calling it limited or internal

• U.S. military actions forced many Lao and Hmong people to flee their homes

• Many refugees later resettled in the United States

Who were the primary residents involved in the International Hotel (I-Hotel) eviction in San Francisco?

Predominantly low-income, elderly Filipino tenants who fought a nine-year battle against eviction.

What happened during the final eviction of the I-Hotel in $1977$?

All $196$ residents were forcibly evicted by riot police.

When was the I-Hotel site eventually redeveloped for affordable housing?

In $2005$, though many original residents had already been displaced from the city.

refugee

Someone who has no choice when departing their homeland, is fleeing war, political, economic, or climate crises, and may be unable to return or bring possessions.

Islamophobia

Suspicion and fear of Islam, Muslims, and anyone who "looks" Muslim.