History of the Asian American Civil Rights Movement

During the Asian American civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s, activists fought for the development of ethnic studies programs in universities, an end to the Vietnam War, and reparations for Japanese Americans forced into  internment camps during World War II. The movement had come to a close by the late 1980s. The Birth of Yellow Power By watching African Americans expose institutional racism and government hypocrisy, Asian Americans began to identify how they, too, had faced discrimination in the United States. â€Å"The ‘black power’ movement caused many Asian Americans to question themselves,† wrote Amy Uyematsu in â€Å"The Emergence of Yellow Power,† a 1969 essay. â€Å"‘Yellow power is just now at the stage of an articulated mood rather than a program—disillusionment and alienation from white America and independence, race pride and self-respect.† Black activism played a fundamental role in the launch of the Asian American civil rights movement, but Asians and Asian Americans influenced black radicals as well. Black activists often cited the writings of China’s communist leader  Mao Zedong. Also, a founding member of the Black Panther Party—Richard Aoki—was Japanese American. A military veteran who spent his early years in an internment camp, Aoki donated weapons to the Black Panthers and trained them in their use. Impact of Internment Like Aoki, a number of Asian American civil rights activists were Japanese American internees or the children of internees. The decision of President Franklin Roosevelt to force more than 110,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps during World War II had a detrimental impact on the community. Forced into camps based on fears that they still maintained ties to the Japanese government, Japanese Americans attempted to prove that they were authentically American by assimilating, yet  they continued to face discrimination. Speaking out about the racial bias they faced felt risky for some Japanese Americans, given their past treatment by the U.S. government. Laura Pulido, wrote in Black, Brown, Yellow and Left: Radical Activism in Los Angeles: â€Å"Unlike other groups, Japanese Americans were expected to be quiet and behave and thus did not have sanctioned outlets to express the anger and indignation that accompanied their racially subordinated status.† Goals When not only blacks but also Latinos and Asian Americans from various ethnic groups began to share their experiences of oppression, indignation replaced fear about the ramifications of speaking out. Asian Americans on college campuses demanded a curriculum representative of their histories. Activists also sought to prevent gentrification from destroying Asian American neighborhoods. Explained activist Gordon Lee in a 2003  Hyphen  magazine piece called â€Å"The Forgotten Revolution,† â€Å"The more we examined our collective histories, the more we began to find a rich and complex past. And we became outraged at the depths of the economic, racial and gender exploitation that had forced our families into roles as subservient cooks, servants or coolies, garment workers and prostitutes, and which also improperly labeled us as the ‘model minority’ comprised of ‘successful’ businessmen, merchants or professionals.†Ã‚   Students Efforts College campuses provided fertile ground for the movement. Asian Americans at the University of California, Los Angeles launched groups such as the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) and Orientals Concerned. A group of Japanese American UCLA students also formed the leftist publication Gidra in 1969. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, branches of AAPA formed at Yale and Columbia. In the Midwest, Asian student groups formed at the University of Illinois, Oberlin College, and the University of Michigan. Recalled Lee: â€Å"By 1970, there were more than 70 campus and†¦community groups with ‘Asian American’ in their name. The term symbolized the new social and political attitudes that were sweeping through communities of color in the United States. It was also a clear break with the name ‘Oriental.’† Outside of college campuses, organizations such as I Wor Kuen and Asian Americans for Action formed on the East Coast. One of the movement’s greatest triumphs was when Asian American students and other students of color participated in strikes in 1968 and 69 at San Francisco State University and the University of California, Berkeley for the development of ethnic studies programs. Students demanded to design the programs and select the faculty who would teach the courses. Today, San Francisco State offers more than 175 courses in its College of Ethnic Studies. At Berkeley, Professor Ronald Takaki helped develop the nation’s first Ph.D. program in comparative ethnic studies. Vietnam and Pan-Asian Identity A challenge of the Asian American civil rights movement from the outset was that Asian Americans identified by ethnic group rather than as a racial group. The Vietnam War changed that. During the war, Asian Americans—Vietnamese or otherwise—faced hostility. Lee said, â€Å"The injustices and racism exposed by the Vietnam War also helped cement a bond between different Asian groups living in America. In the eyes of the United States military, it didn’t matter if you were Vietnamese or Chinese, Cambodian or Laotian, you were a ‘gook,’ and therefore subhuman.† The Movement Ends After the Vietnam War, many radical Asian American groups dissolved. There was no unifying cause to rally around. For Japanese Americans, though, the experience of being interned had left festering wounds. Activists organized to have the federal government apologize for its actions during World War II. In 1976, President Gerald Ford signed Proclamation 4417, in which internment was declared a â€Å"national mistake.† A dozen years later, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which distributed $20,000 in reparations to surviving internees or their heirs and included an apology from the federal government.

The Asian Education System versus the U.S. System

According to the World Rank Research Team, Japan is at the top of industrial advances that lead to a very high amount of patents in the country (211). Japan is overtaking America in producing new inventions and conducting scientific research (World Rank Research Team 211). Producing and creating new inventions are the results of very productive, smart individuals, who had a great education throughout their school careers. The Asian education system is known world-wide for having many advantages compared to others like the United States. But they also share their own disadvantages. The United States education system is great to a certain extent, but not very efficient. According to William S. Robinson in â€Å"New Math-Science Study Rates U.S.†¦show more content†¦Japanese parents do not like seeing their children fall behind in school, and they go to an extreme level of parenting which is a main key point of stress onto their children. Fallows uses a quote â€Å"Pass with four, fail with five† referring to the amount of hours their children should sleep (204). Four hours of sleep lets the student have more time to study than five hours of sleep. Extreme levels of parenting lead to excessive pressure on their children, and many teachers and parents â€Å"complain bitterly† about their education system, but little is done to change it (Fallows 204). Pressure on students may lead to stress and depression that can change their lives forever. It can affect teenagers, and young adults by encouraging them to do illegal things such as drinking, smoking, and doing drugs because pressure would change their behaviors, attitudes, and even their morals. Besides all the negativity, the United States and Asia have advantages that make them different from one another. The United States education system may not be efficient enough, but there are also advantages of having the system we have now. The main advantage America has in its education system is freedom. Having the freedom in class to speak and express our opinion is very important in the American culture. Such as, speaking out loud and being free to give an opinion in class. For example, children in kindergarten can It promotes a free flow of ideas thatShow MoreRelatedAmerican Education System Versus Asian Education System Essay772 Words   |  4 PagesAmerican Education System versus Asian Education System Today the American education system is no longer the best in the world. With declining test scores and poor academic achievement, people have questioned whether our current educational system is working for us? On the other side of the Pacific, the situation is totally different. Students of Asian countries achieve higher academic achievements, and they rank at the top on math and science tests. 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Lao Tzu Essay Example For Students

Lao Tzu Essay Born in the Chinese province of Henan, Lao Tzu lived from c. 604-c.531 BCE. He was a philosopher attributed with the writing of the Tao-Te-Ching and the reputed founder of Taoism. (Tao meaning the way of all life, Te meaning the fit use of life by all men, and Ching meaning text.) Lao Tzu was not his real name but rather an honorary title given to him by his followers meaning Old Master. Lao Tzu believed that human life is constantly influenced by outer forces; not unlike everything else in the universe. He knew that simplicity was key to all truth and freedom. He always encouraged those who followed him to observe and to seek to understand the laws of nature. Lao Tzu believed that one should develop intuition and build up personal power, which would then be used to lead life with love sans force. As he often contemplated the natural world, Lao Tzu felt that it was man and his doings that created an affliction on the otherwise flawless order of things. Thus he counseled his followers to turn away from the silliness of human pursuits and to return to their na tural wellspring. Lao Tzu taught that straining and striving are not only useless but also counterproductive. One should venture to do nothing in the sense of discerning and following the natural forces; to follow and shape the natural flow of events. All this is known as the Taoist doctrine of wu-wei. It can be understood as a way of mastering circumstances by understanding their nature and then shaping ones actions to comply. The Taoist philosophy followed an interesting circle. On one hand, that Taoists rejected the regulation of life and society and preached instead to turn away from it to a solitary meditation of nature. On the other hand, they believed that by doing this one could ultimately have power enough to harness the whole universe. That by doing nothing one could accomplish everything. In this way Lao Tzus philosophy reached out to political rulers and advised them of how to govern their land. Thus Taoism, in a sense became a sort of political philosophy following these lines: The Taoist has no ambitions, therefore he can never fail. He who never fails always succeeds. And he who always succeeds is all-powerful.According to legend, nearing the end of his life, Lao Tzu set off into the desert toward what is now Tibet, sadden and disillusioned that men were so unwilling to follow the path to natural goodness. When he arrived at the final gate at the Great Wall of China, the gatekeeper convinced Lao Tzu to record his teachings and the principles of his philosophy before he left. He then composed in five thousand characters, eighty-one sayings that make up the Tao Te Ching. This ancient Chinese text is the most translated classic worldwide next to the Bible. From his solitary contemplation of nature, removed from human affairs, Lao Tzu conjured a philosophy that has, both in critical as well as a constructive sense, a direct and practical political message:Why are people starving?Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes. Therefore the people are starving. Why are the people rebellious?Because the rulers interfere too much. Therefore they are rebellious. Why do people think so little of death?Because the rulers demand too much of life. Therefore the people take life lightly. Having to live on, one knows better than to value life too much. -Lao Tzu_Words/ Pages : 642 / 24

Marketing Boards Essays - Marketing Board, Agricultural Cooperative

Marketing Boards Introduction Marketing Boards are government involved ways of regulating farmer's production and price, while protecting the overall profit of every farmer in that particular production. Since there is nothing farmers can do about the inelastic nature of the demand for farm products, the key to supporting and stabilizing farm prices and incomes lies in controlling the supply of farm products. In other words, farmers would benefit greatly from an oligopolistic (banning firms together) price and supply agreement among themselves. Farming is a highly competitive industry ? it consists of many small, independent producers selling substantially similar products in a big marketplace. Given these realities, it has proven very difficult to achieve any kind of agreement or coordinated action on the part of farmers, even when it would be in their best interest to do so. Attempts have been made to use farm cooperatives to restrict production and thus support and stabilize prices; however, these efforts rarely work. Such agreements are voluntary and lack means of enforcement; as a result, too many farmers don't participate or break the agreements. This is when farmers turned to government assistance to help with their low and unstable incomes and marketing boards was proposed. In the following we will discuss what marketing boards are, how they work, how they effect the Canadian economy, and how widespread they are. We will focus on particular Canadian producers who use marketing boards and how they are both positive and negative in contributing to the economy. We will also look at how marketing boards are effecting the consumers. In total outlook, the purpose of this review is to provide a clear and explicit focus for the research to be undertaken as well as to establish the scope of the study.