Asian American Movement

Asian American Movement

James Poe & Rhoan Egemo

AMSTUD 4

Summary

The Asian American Movement was sparked by decades of civil unrest caused by anti-Asian discrimination. Originating from the idea of “Yellow Peril” and a growing anti-Asian attitude fueled by the events of the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Japanese internment camps, life for Asian Americans became increasingly difficult in America. Amid the growing fears Asians of different backgrounds and cultures united under a Pan-Asian identity to denounce the U.S’s neo-imperialism by staging many mass protests in major cities and universities.

Motivations

During the ’60s and 70’s, the increase of civil rights movements and African American activism played an important role in the Asian American Movement. Many Asian Americans spoke out about their shared experiences of racial injustice and discrimination and fought for equal treatment and representation. Many groups such as the AAPA (Asian American Political Alliance) were formed by college students generally situated on the east coast who wanted changes in their own institutions.

Federal Government Response

One of the most significant results of the AA movement was the broadened ethnic curriculum they brought into many campuses after the student strikes of 1968 and 1969. Aside from this, the movement didn’t lead to many legislative changes or improvements. Since the Vietnam war was one of the main unifying causes of the Asian American movement, the movement started to dissolve following the war's end. Japanese Americans did still continue to promote the values of the Asian American movement as they had experienced the greatest discrimination during the Japanese internment camps in WWII. This led to the government declaring the internment camps a “national mistake” in 1976, and signing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which distributed $20,000 in reparations to those who were negatively impacted by the Japanese internment camps.

LASTING EFFECTS

The Asian American movements of the 1970's and 1980's have heavily influenced Asian Americans identity today. During these movements, the identity and nomenclature of Asian American was created. This came to encompass many ethnicities that shared similar discrimination in America and brought them together. The movement also resulted in ethnic and Asian study departments being established at universities. Overall the Asian American movements strengthened the community and established their identity in American society that they still fight under for equality today.

Student Strikes

Vincent Chin

Events

AAPA participated in the Third World Liberation Front Strikes (College student strikes). This led to changes in the college curriculum as many diverse/minority groups participated in the strikes. The U.C Berkeley student protest of 1968 focussed upon emphasizing the underrepresented racial groups of African, Asian, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans into the school curriculum. While it did not result in the creation of a third world college it did result in the creation of the department of ethnic studies. This protest served to forever shift the eurocentric American curriculum to become more diverse.

Vincent Chin was an Chinese Asian American citizen who was murdered in 1982 by two Caucasians who blamed the Japanese for the declining American automotive industry. Following his murder, the killers received an extremely light sentence and fine sparking mass outrage in the asian community. His murder served to further inspire and fuel the AA movement, as well as increase pan-Asian ideals and sentiments. Chin's murder served to inspire a mini-revival of the AA movement with the introduction of the ASJ. The trial of Chins killers was marked a landmark case as it was the first to recognize and protect Asian Americans as a class protected by federal law.

Leaders

Yuji Ichioka

Yuji Ichioka coined the term Asian American and founded the AAPA (Asian American Political Alliance). He was a major figure during the Asian American movement and partook in the Third World Liberation Front student strike. After the strike, he was successful in founding an Asian American studies department at UCLA and taught the first course there. Yuji Ichioka's group, the AAPA, brought together multiple Asian ethnic subgroups and gave them a greater voice. "There were so many Asians out there in the political demonstrations but we had no effectiveness. Everyone was lost in the larger rally. We figured that if we rallied behind our own banner, behind an Asian American banner, we would have an effect on the larger public. We could extend the influence beyond ourselves, to other Asian Americans,” - Yuji Ichioika

Richard Aoki

Richard Aoki played a important founding role in the AAPA (Asian American Political Alliance) and the Black Panther Party. He was a field marshal in the Black Panther group and used his military experience to help protect communities from police brutality. As one of the founding members of the AAPA, Aoki brought together the shared troubles of the Asian and African American communities. He also took part in the Third World Liberation Front student strike and after a ethnic studies department opened up he was one of the first people to teach it. "Based on my experience, I've seen where unity amongst the races has yielded positive results. I don't see any other way for people to gain freedom, justice, and equality here except by being internationalist." - Richard Aoki

Citations

Kambhampaty, Anna Purna. “AAPI History: Activist Origins of the Term 'Asian American'.” Time, Time, 22 May 2020, time.com/5837805/asian-american-history/. Little, Becky. “How the 1982 Murder of Vincent Chin Ignited a Push for Asian American Rights.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 5 May 2020, www.history.com/news/vincent-chin-murder-asian-american-rights. Maeda, Daryl Joji. “The Asian American Movement.” Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, Oxford Research Encyclopedia, 9 June 2016, oxfordre.com/americanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.001.0001/acrefore-9780199329175-e-21. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “Biography of Richard Aoki, Asian-American Black Panther.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 20 Aug. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/asian-american-black-panther-richard-aoki-2834877. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. “Important Events of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 3 Mar. 2020, www.thoughtco.com/asian-american-civil-rights-movement-history-2834596. “Our History.” Asian Americans for Equality, 10 Mar. 2019, www.aafe.org/who-we-are/our-history.