Third World Liberation Strikes (1968-69): Comprehensive Study Notes
Historical Context
- Post–World War II trajectories in Chinese American communities
- Pre-1960s focus: individual professional advancement & acculturation.
- Late-1960s shift: collective struggle against institutional racism on campus & in ethnic enclaves.
- International influences feeding U.S. campus radicalism
- Third-world revolutions in Asia, Africa, Latin America.
- Rise of Black Power & anti-imperialist critiques (e.g., Vietnam War).
- “Internal colonialism” paradigm → Asian, Black, Chicano, Latino & Native peoples inside the U.S. seen as an oppressed “third world.”
Early Cross-Racial & Pan-Asian Coordination (1968)
- Spring 1968: Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) forum at UC Berkeley (UCB).
- >90 participants; speakers from Black Panther Party, Chicano movement, Intercollegiate Chinese for Social Action (ICSA).
- Themes: Black identity, Asian American identity, third-world unity.
- Outcomes: set ideological groundwork for later TWLF (Third World Liberation Front) collaborations.
The Yellow Symposium (11 Jan 1969)
- Sponsors: AAPA, Chinese Students Club (CSC), Nisei Students Club (NSC).
- Coverage & attendance
- Pan-Asian draw (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino) from across CA.
- Speakers: Stanford Lyman (history of Chinese/Japanese in America); Paul Takagi (U.S. Asian policy); Isao Fujimoto (assimilation critique).
- Unscheduled intervention: ICSA’s George Woo
- Warned against “identity without action” → called it “mental masturbation.”
- Pushed for concrete support of SF State TWLF strike & reversing the community “brain-drain.”
- Debates
- Minority resistant bloc: preferred gradualist integration of Asian Am. courses inside mainstream departments.
- Majority: embraced Black-Power-inspired “self-determination” (community control over whole schools/colleges).
- Resolution passed
- Full support for SF State strike.
- Demand for Asian American Studies & 3rd-world colleges system-wide.
- 12 Jan 1969: statewide AAPA meeting
- Delegates from 13 campuses (CA, NY, HI) formed a loose national AAPA network; Berkeley AAPA designated info hub.
Organizational Vehicles
SF State
- ICSA (Chinese), PACE (Filipino), AAPA (Japanese affil.), LASO/MASC (Latino), BSU (Black).
- Community-rooted approach (esp. San Francisco Chinatown activism).
UC Berkeley
- AAPA (pan-Asian), MASC (Chicano), AASU (Black), NASU (Native).
- Pan-ethnic ideology crucial because Asian Americans were <1\% of total U.S. population (~2\times10^8 at the time).
Strike Chronology & Tactics
San Francisco State College (SFSC)
- Start: 6 Nov 1968.
- Trigger issues: BSU’s 3-year deadlocked negotiations; suspension of lecturer & Panther member George Murray.
- TWLF structure: 12-member central committee (2 delegates/organization); whites limited to support role per “self-determination” principle.
- Key confrontation points
- 2 Dec 1968: President Hayakawa personally yanks cables from TWLF sound truck; police riot ensues.
- Jan 1969: \approx400 white supporters arrested in one sweep.
- Community & labor escalation
- 300 faculty strike; clerical, commons & library workers honor picket lines; Teamsters refuse deliveries.
UC Berkeley (UCB)
- Start: 22 Jan 1969 (77 days after SFSC action began).
- Pre-strike impasse:
- AASU Black Studies proposal watered down after 9 months; students excluded from decision channels.
- MASC’s table-grape boycott & arrests of 11 Chicanos by Pres. Hitch (Oct 1968).
- AAPA acquired 1 overflow course (Asian Studies 100X) but foresaw similar co-optation.
- Early tactics
- Informational pickets → escalation: sealing Sather Gate bridge (4 Feb).
- Police violence: 20 arrests & 20 injuries 4 Feb; beatings of Cordell Abercrombie, Jim Nabors & others.
- Serpentine marches (5 Feb) to avoid static busts.
- State repression
- Gov. Reagan: declared “state of extreme emergency”; later deployed National Guard, helicopter-dropped CS gas, martial-law stance.
- End-Feb: 127 arrests; immediate interim suspensions.
- Internal debates
- 20 Feb: AAPA vote 20–7 to “cool it” → directive for non-violence at 22 Feb Regents meeting (largest but peaceful rally; 3{,}000 present & >20 agencies arrayed).
SFSC TWLF (5 points)
- Establish School of Ethnic Studies with student power over hiring/curriculum.
- Allocate 50 faculty lines (20 for Black Studies).
3–4. Open admissions of non-white students spring & fall 1969. - Retain George Murray & any faculty chosen by non-white students.
UCB TWLF (excerpted)
- Funding for Third World College with 4 departments (Asian, Black, Chicano, Native).
- Third-world representation “from Regents to custodial.”
- Immediate implementation specifics (e.g., 30 work-study Chinatown/Manilatown; 10 EOP counselors; permanent Center for Chicano Studies).
- Third-world control over all programs touching their communities.
- Full amnesty for strikers.
Enrollment & Faculty Statistics (UCB)
- 1966 survey (total 26{,}000 students):
- African American =226\;(0.87\%)
- Chicano =76\;(0.29\%)
- Native American =61\;(0.23\%)
- Combined non-Asian third-world share: 1.4\% vs CA population \approx19\%.
- 1970 snapshot (total \approx26{,}300):
- African American =1{,}020\;(3.9\%)
- Chicano =381\;(1.4\%)
- Latino =166\;(0.6\%)
- Native American =89\;(0.3\%)
- Asian American =2{,}543\;(9.7\%)
- White =15{,}813\;(60.1\%)
- 1980 faculty: African American =1.8\%; only 2 Black women tenured or tenure-track.
Negotiation Flashpoints (UCB)
- 8 Feb: tentative agreement on implementing committee (2 students + 2 faculty/ethnic group) reached, then disavowed.
- 10 Feb: Dean Knight committee endorsed TW faculty drafting power; TWLF rejected due to student exclusion.
- 19 Feb: Heyns halts talks, citing compromise of “academic integrity.”
- 26–27 Feb: Arrest & severe beating of Manuel Delgado; National Guard first deployed.
- 4 Mar: Academic Senate (vote 550–4) backs interim Ethnic Studies Department reporting directly to Chancellor; promises evolution “toward a college.”
- • President Hitch gives final approval; TWLF suspends strike but warns of reactivation if progress stalls.
Outcomes
- SF State
- Creation of first U.S. School of Ethnic Studies → degree-granting in American Indian, Asian American, Black & La Raza studies.
- UC Berkeley
- Budget for single Department of Ethnic Studies with 4 divisions; no autonomous college (viewed by many as stalemate).
- Broader legacy
- Ethnic/Asian American Studies now in >250 U.S. institutions.
- Strikes trained future community organizers (e.g., Harvey Dong: Asian Community Center, Everybody’s Bookstore).
- Model of inter-racial solidarity influenced International Hotel eviction fight, Alcatraz Native occupation, etc.
Continuing Challenges
- Need to balance campus legitimation vs. community linkage.
- Persistent program marginalization & budget threats.
- Post-1965 immigration & 1975 refugee influx reshaped Asian American demographics, testing pan-ethnic unity frameworks.
Key Individuals & Subsequent Biographical Notes
- Harvey Dong: BA 1972, PhD 2002; participant in UCB strike; later lecturer & Chinatown labor organizer.
- Jeanie Dere: Author of “A Wei Min Sister Remembers.”
- George Woo (ICSA): Critiqued hollow identity politics.
- Bryant Fong: Yellow Symposium organizer & oral source for strike historiography.
- Victoria Wong: Co-founder AAPA; articulated “second awakening” of seeing Asian peers sharing radical outlook.
- Richard Aoki: Emphasized egalitarian TWLF decision structure; later interviewed 2001.
- Roz Payne: Photographer (iconic “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power”) with long activist lineage.
- Jon Jang, Diana Hong, Chih-ming Wang, Leland Wong: Artists/scholars extending cultural-political legacies.
Ethical & Philosophical Takeaways
- “Self-determination” redefined education: curriculum driven by, and accountable to, the communities studied.
- Rejects merit-test tracking in 1960 Master Plan as institutional racism.
- Coalitional politics shown effective but fragile; requires ongoing negotiation between particularist and universalist goals.
- Strike length at SFSC: >5\text{ months}.
- UCB TWLF arrests by 22 Feb 1969: 127.
- Police at 22 Feb Regents meeting: >600 (riot police + highway patrol) + 50 armed guards; 1{,}000 more on standby.
- Teaching Assistants Local 1570 strike vote timeline: 27 Jan (defeated) → 18 Feb (passed).
Study Tips & Connections
- Cross-reference with Civil Rights (SNCC exit of white members 1964) for genealogy of self-determination strategy.
- Compare Master Plan’s standardized testing ethos to modern debates on SAT/ACT equity.
- Review Black Panther & UFW campaigns to understand intersectional frameworks feeding TWLF.
- Trace later Asian Am. immigration waves to analyze evolving definitions of “Asian American.”