Asian American movement

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The Asian American Movement was a

Third World movements such as the Third World Liberation Front
.

This movement emphasized solidarity among Asian people of all ethnicities, as well as multiracial solidarity among Asian Americans, African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Native Americans in the United States.[1] This movement was also global in nature, as it occurred against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and Decolonization.[2] There was additionally transnational solidarity with people around the world impacted by U.S. militarism.[1]

Initially student-based, the Asian American Movement emerged simultaneously on various college campuses and urban communities. They were largely concentrated in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and New York City but extended as far as Honolulu. The movement created community service programs, art, poetry, music, and other creative works; offered a new sense of self-determination and Asian American unity; and raised the political and racial consciousness of Asian Americans.[3]

Background

Before the 1960s, Asian immigrants to the United States were often perceived as a threat to Western civilization in what became known as "Yellow Peril". This in turn led to the mistreatment and abuse of Asians in America across generations, through historical incidents like the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Japanese internment camps, and the Vietnam War.[4] However, after the Hart–Celler Act of 1965, the increase of immigrants from highly educated backgrounds mainly coming from East Asia led to the perception that Asian Americans were a "model minority." Yet despite these positive assessments, many Asian Americans were still treated as "perpetual foreigners".[4]

The post-World War II baby boom led to a generation of college-aged Asian Americans in the 1960s and 1970s, many of whom participated in social and political movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, the New Left, the Women's Liberation Movement, and the anti-war movement. Of these, the anti-war sentiment was arguably the most influential to the Asian American Movement due to its uniquely Asian context, which helped foster pan-Asian sentiment across the various Asian American diaspora in the US.[5] Asian American groups started to emerge as second and third-generation Asian American activists moved up in the leadership hierarchy of their interest groups. Many of these new leaders associated with each other while growing up in schools and social groups and chose to focus on their collective identities as Asian Americans rather than their national heritage.[6]

Though activism against discrimination was a part of Asian American culture before the 1960s, it was limited in scope and lacked a wide base of support.

assimilationist politics attempted to demonstrate that Asians were worthy of the rights and privileges of citizenship.[1] These social and political activism instances did not directly address issues facing all Asian Americans at the time. Asian immigrants were largely divided in America; before the 1960s, there was very little solidarity between the various Asian immigrant communities. These disparate groups dealt largely with issues concerning their ethnic communities and conclaves, focusing the majority of their efforts on survival in their exclusionary environment.[4]
As a result of these factors, pre-1960s activism never rose to the level of a movement.

Early developments

Richard Aoki at a Black Panther Rally, 1968 by Howard L. Bingham

In the early to mid-1960's, a number of individual Asian Americans activists such as

Karen Ishizuka, the label "Asian American" was "an oppositional political identity imbued with self-definition and empowerment, signaling a new way of thinking.”[8] Unlike prior activism the AAM and by extension organizations like the AAPA embraced a pan-Asian focus within their organization accepting members from Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino communities regardless of whether they were born in America or immigrants.[1]
The promotion of a pan-Asian ideology brought together the formerly separated groups within Asian American communities to combat common racial oppression experienced in the nation.

The AAPA had chapters at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University, both of which participated in the 1968 TWLF strikes that succeeded in establishing Ethnic Studies programs at both campuses. These strikes were soon followed by the demonstrations at the International Hotel in San Francisco's Manilatown, in which student activists collaborated with tenants to resist their eviction and the demolition of the property, although they were ultimately unsuccessful in this regard.[5]

The Asian American Movement drew upon influences from the

anti-war movements, declaring solidarity with other races of people in the United States and abroad. Some promoted the slogan of "Yellow Power," although they were less prone than organizations such as the Black Panthers to encourage conflict with law enforcement.[9]

The influence of the Black Power Movement in the efforts of Asian American activists can be seen in several instances. For example,

Black Power Movement and the anti-war movement.[10] Yuri Kochiyama was also one of the organization's members, who, prior to joining the AAA, played an active role in the Congress of Racial Equality and the Organization of Afro-American Unity.[10]

Global

U.S. imperialism, and built new multiethnic cultural institutions.[1] The Chinese American Museum located in Los Angeles, California
is one example of these multiethnic cultural institutions that was influenced by the Asian American Movement.

Accomplishments of the Asian American Movement

The activism of Asian Americans during the Asian American Movement resulted in a variety of social, cultural, and political accomplishments. One of this movement's achievements was the consequence of student activism on college campuses. In solidarity with other ethnic groups, including Native American students, Latino American students, and African American students, Asian American student activists went on strike at colleges and universities including San Francisco State University and University of California, Berkeley in the late 1960s, demanding for courses that integrated the diverse histories and cultures of these various ethnic groups.[3] The outcome of this activism was the establishment of college and university Asian American Studies and Ethnic Studies courses.[3]

Curtis Choy (filmmaker and member of the Kearny Street Workshop) films his documentary "The Fall of the I-Hotel," August 1977 by Nancy Wong

Another accomplishment of the Asian American Movement was the emergence of cultural institutions that sought to celebrate and authentically represent Asian culture. Community-based arts organizations such as

Asian American Theater Workshop in San Francisco, Northwest Asian American Theatre in Seattle, and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York.[3] These theater companies highlighted the works of Asian American writers, directors, actors, and crew members.[3] In addition to community-based arts organizations and theater companies, Asian Americans also founded their own production companies, such as Visual Communications in Los Angeles, to tell authentic Asian American stories.[3]

In addition to the establishment of new college courses and community-based organizations, another outcome of the Asian American Movement was the formation of a pan-ethnic identity and the embracing of

Oriental in the United States, a derogatory term that was used for not only objects but also people of Eastern culture.[2] The coining of the term Asian American by Asian American activists and University of California, Berkeley graduate students Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka in 1968 not only replaced the term Oriental, but also helped collectively unite different Asian American groups under a single identity and continues to be used today, representing a long-lasting consequence of the Asian American Movement.[2]

Legacy: Modern day Asian American movements

Asian American protestors by Marcela McGreal

The resurgence of Asian American pride came to a swell during the

2020 pandemic
exacerbated already tense racial tensions within the United States that were highlighted through the treatment of African-American and Asian-American people.

Stop Asian Hate became the slogan for a number of rallies and protests of the violence carried out against Asian Americans, Asians, and those of Asian descent across the United States. The root of these demonstrations was a result of the blame directed on those that were seen as connected to China, the alleged origin of the global pandemic.[14] These demonstrations in protest against hate toward Asian Americans were also ignited by the targeted violence and fatal attacks on people of Asian descent across the United States, including an elderly Thai man in San Francisco, California, and six Asian women at a spa in Atlanta, Georgia.[14] These demonstrations, beginning in 2020, signify a contemporary Asian American Movement and the continuation of Asian Americans fighting for social justice in the United States.[14]

Key Asian American figures

Key organizations

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780199329175
    .
  2. ^
    JSTOR j.ctt1bw1jcp
    .
  3. ^
    OCLC 641536912
    .
  4. ^
    OCLC 231680155.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  5. ^
    OCLC 646068267
    .
  6. ^ Helweg, Arthur W. "Asian American Movement." Racial & Ethnic Relations in America, edited by Kibibi Mack-Shelton and Michael Shally-Jensen, Salem, 2017. Salem Online, https://online-salempress-com.libwin2k.glendale.edu
  7. ^ "U.S. History in Context – Document". ic.galegroup.com. Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  8. ISBN 978-1-78168-864-9
    .
  9. S2CID 227033570
    .
  10. ^
    JSTOR 29768485
    .
  11. JSTOR 2600949
    – via JSTOR.
  12. PMID 35657278
    .
  13. ISSN 2076-0760
    .
  14. ^
    JSTOR 48590574
    .
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