Cold War, Civil Rights & Rise of Radicalism in Asian American Studies
Introduction
- Focus: Cold War, U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and the rise of Asian American radicalism.
- Central premise: These overlapping historical currents catalyzed an alternative narrative of the Asian American experience, fostering a new political consciousness that challenged racism at home and U.S. imperial projects abroad.
Reflection Artist – Blue Scholars: “Yuri Kochiyama”
- Group facts:
- Hip-hop duo from Seattle founded in 2002 by DJ Sabzi & MC Geologic while at the University of Washington.
- Name is a play on “blue collar,” signaling solidarity with hourly, manual laborers.
- Song content (lyrics referenced in slides):
- Imagery of Life Magazine photo depicting Yuri Kochiyama at Malcolm X’s final speech.
- Lines such as “I wonder what you felt when his eyes were going dim” invite listeners to contemplate radical empathy and shared struggle.
- Raises the hypothetical: if Malcolm had not been assassinated, would mainstream America know Kochiyama’s name?
- Pedagogical use: Establishes affective bridge between popular culture and Asian American movement history.
Week 7 Module Overview – “Cold War, Civil Rights & the Rise of Radicalism”
- Learning goals:
- Grasp how Cold War geopolitics intersected with domestic civil-rights upheavals.
- Trace emergence of Asian American political consciousness.
- Conduct retrospective analysis for an alternative Asian American narrative.
- Framing questions: How do foreign policy, race relations, and student activism intertwine?
Ch. 13 – “Making a New Asian America Through Immigration & Activism”
- Multi-issue engagement:
- Asian Americans participated in campaigns for civil rights, women’s liberation, and LGBT rights.
- Anti-Vietnam War activism served as a trans-Pacific lens on U.S. imperialism.
- Outcome: Distinct Asian American Movement defined “Asian American” pan-ethnic identity and mobilized heterogeneous communities for shared goals.
1965 Immigration & Nationality (Hart-Celler) Act
- Intent: Initially conceived as incremental reform; absence of later comprehensive legislation means it remains the immigration foundation today.
- Key changes: Abolished national-origins quotas; instituted hemispheric & family-reunification preferences.
- Consequences:
- Post-1965 Asian & Latin American immigration reshaped U.S. racial hierarchy.
- All sectors—politics, education, health care, intermarriage—affected.
- Asians’ population growth & capital investment transformed everyday life.
Asian American Movement (AAM) of the 1960s–1970s
- Generational shift: New activists expanded elders’ anti-racist struggles.
- Dual participation:
- Part of larger U.S. social-justice coalitions.
- Launched campaigns around specifically Asian American issues (e.g., ethnic studies, anti-eviction, international solidarity).
- Notable cross-movement figures:
- Yuri Kochiyama (Civil Rights).
- Philip Vera Cruz (Farmworkers).
- Grace Lee Boggs (Black Power & Labor).
Spotlight: Yuri Kochiyama
- Biographical timeline:
- Born 1921, San Pedro, CA to Japanese immigrant parents.
- WWII incarceration: Jerome, Arkansas, one of the ten War Relocation Authority camps.
- Post-war: Returned to California amid anti-Japanese hostility.
- Activism arc:
- Community organizer in Harlem; closely allied with Malcolm X (present at his 1965 assassination).
- Bridged East-Coast AAM with African American struggles.
- Later decades: Advocated for political-prisoner releases, fought post-9/11 racial profiling.
- Significance: Embodied intersectional, trans-racial solidarity model.
Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) Strikes – SF State College & UC Berkeley (1968–1969)
- Authored by Harvey Dong; lasting impacts on Chinese/Asian America:
- Structural win: Creation of ethnic-studies curricula & programs.
- Enabled comparative study of Chinese American history focused on discrimination & equality struggles.
- Consciousness shift: Chinese American youth underwent politicization; rejected assimilationist advancement strategies.
Political & Social Context (Late 1960s)
- Global revolutions in “Third World” (Asia, Africa, Latin America) galvanized diaspora pride.
- Rise of Black Power sharpened critiques of U.S. racism.
- Institutional racism in universities manifested as curricular erasure of Asian Americans.
- Result: Heightened Asian American resolve for activism, often linking local conditions to international anti-colonial liberation.
Yellow Symposium
- Campus-based convening of Asian American students.
- Passed resolution backing:
- SF State TWLF Strike.
- Demand for Asian American Studies.
- Establishment of Third World Colleges nationally.
- Symbolic break from individualistic “model minority” aspirations toward collective liberation politics.
Legacy of Asian American Student Activism
- TWLF became training ground; lessons in coalition-building, direct action, negotiating with administrations.
- Settlements empowered marginalized students with partial institutional control.
- Energy channeled into:
- Building Asian American & broader ethnic-studies departments.
- Legitimizing scholarship once dismissed as “identity politics.”
Bruce Lee & the Anti-Imperialism of Kung Fu – A Polycultural Adventure
- Thesis: Studying kung fu moves us from narrow multiculturalism toward antiracist, polycultural frameworks that trace “long waves of linkage.”
- Critique of “racism with a distance”: Celebrates Asian cultures superficially while ignoring intertwined histories (the “mulatto” metaphor for cultural hybridity).
- Context:
- 1965 act reconfigured U.S. racial attitudes—Asians shifting from “yellow peril” to techno-admired “model minority.”
- U.S. Cold-War need for scientific talent spurred selective embrace of Asian immigrants.
- Bruce Lee’s media presence (The Green Hornet 1966–1967) mirrored this ambivalence: visible yet typecast.
Allegory in “The Way of the Dragon” (aka “Return of the Dragon,” 1972)
- Plot elements:
- Lee as Tang Lung, restaurant worker (stereotyped servility) who trains coworkers in back-alley kung fu.
- Fights Chuck Norris (Colt) in Rome’s Coliseum—symbolic East-vs-West showdown.
- Interpretive layers:
- Chinese vs. Western civilization.
- “Paper tiger” of U.S. imperialism challenged by “rising tide of the Red East.”
- Offers allegory of Asian American radicalism and the Vietnam War’s anti-imperialist critique.
Combat Multiracism
- Lee as a product of liberal multiculturalism still illuminates its limits.
- Task: Transition from celebration of diversity toward dismantling structural racism across racialized groups—“polycultural” solidarity.
Class Reflection Prompts
- Identification: How do we diagnose issues within Asian American communities?
- Advocacy: Strategies for mobilization & coalition building.
- Visioning social change:
- What forms can it take?
- Beneficiaries & potential unintended consequences.
Conclusion
- Cold War + Civil Rights era forged heightened Asian American political awareness.
- Student activism proved catalytic, reshaping both personal identities and institutional landscapes (e.g., ethnic studies).
- AAM demonstrated that struggles against racism at home are inseparable from critiques of U.S. global power.
Reminders
- Midterm: Due last week.
- Module 7 forum discussion post & peer review pending.
- Topic-proposal assignment upcoming.