Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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In Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, Angelo N. Ancheta demonstrates how United States civil rights laws have been framed by a black-white model of race that typically ignores the experiences of other groups, including Asian Americans. When racial discourse is limited to antagonisms between black and white, Asian Americans often find themselves in a racial limbo, marginalized or unrecognized as full participants.

Ancheta examines legal and social theories of racial discrimination, ethnic differences in the Asian American population, nativism, citizenship, language, school desegregation, and affirmative action. In the second edition of this influential book, Ancheta also covers post-9/11 anti-Asian sentiment and racial profiling.He analyzes recent legal cases involving political empowerment, language rights, human trafficking, immigrant rights, and affirmative action in higher education--many of which move the country farther away from the ideals of racial justice.On a more positive note, he reports on the progress Asian Americans have made in the corporate sector, politics, the military, entertainment, and academia.

A skillful mixture of legal theories, court cases, historical events, and personal insights, this second edition brings fresh insights to U.S. civil rights from an Asian American perspective ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Esssential Read to Understand the Asian American Experience
Ancheta offers a sketch of the history of discrimination against Asian Americans. Ancheta moves to outline what he defines as a legal subordination of Asian Americans. Deftly articulating the insidious impact of nativism on race relations and the production of citizenship, Ancheta leaves no one out as he takes aim at the very Constitution itself outlining that it, "can... restrict the scope of anti-discrimination laws" (Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience 52). Ancheta argues that not all anti-discrimination laws consider the inherent racial bias contained therein. Ancheta sees race as a dynamic, social construction as opposed to something intrinsic or natural. Feeling that Ancheta was going to take this further, I was disappointed in that it seems clearer than ever that the rulings were devoid of any real basis in law and fact but rather relied on "familiar observation and knowledge" as if some `common-sense' or hegemony ruled over such things as objective science and the law (Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience 67). Ancheta writes, "In United States v. Thind, the Supreme Court ruled that Asian Indians were barred from naturalization, even though scientific evidence at the time indicated that Indians belonged to the Caucasian race" (Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience 24).The popular conception of Caucasian, the Court noted, clearly excluded Indians: "It is a matter of familiar observation and knowledge that the physical group characteristics of the Hindus renders them readily distinguishable from the various persons in this country commonly recognized as white" (Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience 67). The Court also indicated that the racial bar applied to other Asians as well: "There is much in the origin and historic development of the statute to suggest that no Asiatic whatever was included" (Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience 24). Some critics argue that Ancheta ignores a wider global perspective. I argue that despite the very international scope of the book, globalization and such issues is not within the thesis or framework of the book.

Ancheta points to the shifts in the demographic landscape as perhaps the single most significant force responsible for problematizing the black-white bifurcation. As a case in point, in Ho v. San Francisco "model minority" is a handicap to those defined as such. In perhaps the most telling of cases in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923). Ancheta posits that we have come far since the 1790 Nationality Act that allowed only "Free White" aliens admitted to U.S. Citizenship yet more work has to be done. Even well into the turn of the century, in Ozawa v. United States (1922) and in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923), Japanese Americans as well as Asian Indians both failed in their push to be classified as white so that they could obtain citizenship. Since only whites could become citizens, there was a race to prove that one was "white."

Excellent read
Why America Should See More than Black & White By Samuel R. Cacas

Race, Rights & The Asian American Experience By Angelo N. Ancheta, Rutgers University  Press:  1998, 224 pp, Hardcover.

        While taking a civil rights class in law school during the late 1970s, I felt cheated by what I felt was a significant gap in the course and text material which almost exclusively focused on the achievements for and by African Americans.  As a very politically conscious Asian American in college, I knew that while immigrant groups like Asians were a very minuscule minority population-wise in this country, they had still made a significant contribution to the eradication of "Jim Crow" policies and other racial segregation laws.

    And I would often expound on such contributions  during class.  For instance, the Yick Wo v. Hopkins case - in which a  Chinese American laundry owner in San Francisco successfully sued to  overturn a racially discriminatory city ordinance - has been cited in countless legal briefs and court cases involving the Fourteenth Amendment1s Equal Protection clause.  Or U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark which has long been the major legal precedent establishing birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.  While my civil rights teacher and fellow classmates were warm and respectful to my tendencies, I still felt the contributions of non-Black minority groups deserved to be covered more thoroughly in print. So reading civil rights lawyer Angelo Ancheta's "Race, Rights & The Asian American Experience" was a refreshing affirmation of my daily, righteous meanderings in that civil rights class.         Ancheta pulls no punches in citing his motivation for writing this ground-breaking text on civil rights and race relations.  In the book¹s preface, he relates his racial experiences growing up in San Francisco during the 1960s:  racist landlords that limited the sections of the city where his family could live, discriminatory employment practices which prevented ! his parents from the career they desired, and the endless anti-Asian racial taunts he endured throughout elementary and high school.  And even when such experiences receded as he grew older, Ancheta was still exposed to significant, though subtle, forms of racism such as law school classmates who marveled that Ancheta - a second generation, American-born Filipino American - could not understand Chinese or Japanese.     The book's bifurcated focus - how Asian Americans are affected by civil rights laws and how civil rights laws are affected by Asian Americans - forms the basis for why all Americans should read this book even if they are not of Asian descent.  If anything, they will come away with a more encompassing mind-set on civil rights that accommodates the racial experiences of the fastest-growing minority group in this country. A major polemic addressed throughout the book is the problem that civil rights protections available to Asian Americans are most often contingent upon the rights granted to African Americans.  In effect, says Ancheta, Asian Americans "have been treated primarily as constructive blacks," forced to make "unseemly, curious choices" when they sue for their civil rights, such as asserting that they are white in order to attend the best public schools.     But Ancheta emphasizes that periods where Asian Americans were treated by courts as "honorary whites" were "short-lived and more unusual." And not always beneficial.  The recent exclusion of Asian Americans from affirmative action programs due to their repeatedly being lumped with whites is an example of the latter, according to Ancheta, even where "Asian American still face racial discrimination and remain underrepresented." Such exclusions are built into all civil rights protections and policies which are premised largely premised on the color discrimination premised on the treatment of African Americans.  While such bias may apply to Asian Americans, Ancheta contends, the stigma!of being labeled foreign-born - even if one is American-born - has been one of the primary bases for Asians in this country being the target of hate violence, media-based stereotypes, as well as benefit-entitlement laws like California's Proposition 187 premised on citizenship, among others. Ancheta¹s solutions for such racial inequities which feed on the anti-Asian tendencies in the law and among most Americans is very concrete:  develop new laws or amend old ones that rely on theories that comprehend the complexity of race relations beyond the black-white racial paradigm.     Essentially this means including immigration status in hate crime laws. As well as recognizing that discrimination can be based on ethnicity and being labeled and treated as foreign-born, not just race.  In asserting such remedies where the interracial friction involves African Americans as victimizers, such as the current conflicts occurring between Asian Americans and African Americans in San Francisco's housing projects, Ancheta encourages transracial, innovative solutions such as the Asian Law Caucus suing the city housing authority instead of racially targeting individual tenants.  After all, he posits, "expanding the civil rights agenda to include Asian Americans cannot come at the expense of African Americans."     While presented in tightly written, sometimes analytical prose, this book could probably be well understood to the average lay person not well-versed in the law.  Many of the principles Ancheta expounds on are based on real-life stories that Ancheta and other Asian Americans have lived.  Stories, along with perspectives, often missing in the media1s coverage of important issues such as immigration, affirmative action, and hate violence.  Their absence in headlines as well as history books are complemented by the law¹s insensitivity to immigrant groups such as Asian Americans.  And Ancheta addresses that insensitivity very eloquently. ... Read more

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Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy reveals the struggles of Asian American women at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder where hunger, illness, sweatshop labor, exposure to hazardous chemicals and even involuntary servitude are everyday realities. Asian American women of all socio-economic classes suffer from domestic violence whose root causes stem from the particular forms of patriarchy that exist in Asian cultures. Their health and lives are endangered due to stereotypes about Asian women. The lack of research or the lumping together of the over 24 subgroups of Asian Americans into a homogeneous whole misleads the public as to the extent of injustices inflicted on Asian American women. The book captures their suffering and also the fighting spirit of Asian American women who have waged social and economic justice campaigns to right the wrongs against them. The book is a call to action to Asian Americans, policy makers, civil rights organizations and the philanthropic community to support Asian American women in their struggles to advance their social justice agenda.

The second edition was updated by Asian American women activists, advocates and organizers who have dedicated their lives to the elimination of the human and civil rights violations described in this book.

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Customer Reviews (2)

A superb primary source worthy of the highest recommendation for public and college library collections
The sequel to the speech anthology/CD compilation "Say It Plain", Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African American Identity collects memorable speeches (all as recorded at live events) pertaining to the African American struggle for liberty and equality from 1960 to the present day. An accompanying MP3 allows one to listen to the impassioned voices of great leaders speaking directly to the hearts and minds of the people about racial equality and civil rights. Individual speeches include Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet", Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Where Do We Go from Here?", Toni Morrison's 1993 Nobel Prize Lecture, Condoleeza Rice's "Speech to National Council of Negro Women", and Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" 2008 speech. Like its predecessor, "Say It Loud!" is a superb primary source worthy of the highest recommendation for public and college library collections.

A Multicultural Perspective
The presentation is interesting whether or not you
agree with the authors. The book discusses
Malcolm X and his famous "By any means necessary"
reference to dislodging racism. In my own experience,
a more inclusive teaching of global history and
culture would accomplish this aim. The current texts
tend to be Eurocentric; however, this is changing ever
so slowly with the inclusion of Latin America, Asia
and select countries like South Africa.

Malcolm's famous pilgrimage to Mecca is cited.
In addition, Malcolm X believed that the local residents
should own, operate and control the economic entities
within their neighborhood and sphere of influence.
I agree. Residents should own and control the economic
factors of production within their community.

There is an excellent discussion of Lorraine Hansberry.
Her best known work, A Raisin in the Sun, was inspired
by the family's legal battle against racially segregated
housing laws in the Washington Park Subdivision of the
South Side of Chicago .

The chapter on Dr. Martin Luther King was excellent.
In particular, he stated that "the Negro lives in the
basement of the Great Society". There has been
improvement in my lifetime. Specifically, African
Americans have more representation at the very top
of the United States Government.i.e. Presidency,
Cabinet, Supreme Court, The Congress, Governorships
etc.

On his death, nearly 100 cities exploded in random
violence. Dr. King's Citizen Education Program
emphasized literacy, consumer education and
Planned Parenthood. Operation Breadbasket in Chicago
resulted in 2200 new jobs and nearly $18MM in incremental
yearly income. Dr. King sought to achieve "A Higher
Synthesis" which will have integrated the best of
theoretic Socialist systems and the Free Market.

Obviously, Socialism had negations in the form of
too much government control, Gosplan under the old
Soviet Union, unrealistic quotas and sporadic expropriations.
The Free Markets have negations in the form of
too much corporate greed, over-consumption of
scarce resources, labor exploitation and
insufficient coordination of government oversight.

The latter part of the book discusses President Obama
and his call to provide health care to the sick,
jobs to the jobless and education to a broader
segment of society and its children.

I believe that the book succeeds in presenting a
fair recitation of African American History through
the prism of the famous people quoted and discussed
at length.



... Read more

Product Description
Immigrants from South Asian countries are among the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. This work, designed for students and interested readers, provides the first in-depth examination of recent South Asian immigrant groups--their history and background, current facts, comparative cultures, and contributions to contemporary American life. Groups discussed include Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalis, and Afghans. The topics covered include patterns of immigration, adaptation to American life and work, cultural traditions, religious traditions, women's roles, the family, adolescence, and dating and marriage. Controversial questions are examined: Does the American political economy welcome or exploit South Asian immigrants? Are American and South Asian values compatible? Leonard shows how the American social, religious, and cultural landscape looks to these immigrants and the contributions they make to it, and she outlines the experiences and views of the various South Asian groups. Statistics and tables provide information on migration, population, income, and employment. Biographical profiles of noted South Asian Americans, a glossary of terms, and selected maps and photos complete the text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great history
South Asian Americans provides a great history of one this country's fastest growing ethnic groups. It looks back through South Asian AMerican history from South Asia to America starting around the early 1900s to the present. It deals with ethnic and religious differences within the group as well as how they have adjusted to Ameirca. It explores how immigration policy has affected the numbers coming to this country. One of the more unique features of the book is that it deals with Indians that came to California in the early 1900s. Generally we think of south asians as being more recent immigrants but this book deals with how the came in early 1900s. These immigrants helped to shape the racial dynamics of California like the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese before them. ... Read more

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Sisters in the Struggle tells the stories and documents the contributions of African American women to the most important social reform movements in the United States in the twentieth century. Only recently have historians and other researchers begun to recognize black women's central role in the battle for racial and gender equality.

These essays describe the early ideological development of Ella Baker, who helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee in 1960. Fannie Lou Hamer's use of her personal anguish to mold her public persona; and Septima Clark's creation of a network of "Citizenship Schools" to teach poor black southerners to read and write to help them register to vote. We learn of black women's activism in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, the Black Panther Party, and the Free Joan Little Movement in the 1970s. It also includes personal testimonies from women who made headlines with their courageous resistance to racism and sexism- Rosa Parks, Charlayne Hunter Gault, and Dorohy Height.

Sisters in the Struggle presents a detailed analysis of the multifaceted roles played by women in civil rights and Black Power organizations, as well as the major political parties at the local, state, and national levels, while documenting the formation of a distinct black feminist consciousness. It represents the coming of age of African American women's history and presents new studies that point the way to future research and analysis.

Contributors: Bettye Collier-Thomas, Vicki Crawford, Cynthia Griggs Fleming, V. P. Franklin, Charlayne-Hunter Gault, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Duchess Harris, Sharon Harley, Dorothy I. Height, Chana Kai Lee, Tracye Matthews, Genna Rae McNeil, Rosa Parks, Barbara Ransby, Jacqueline A. Rouse, Elaine M. Smith, and Linda Faye Williams. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This is an essential book on the Civil Rights Movement
Sisters in the Struggle focuses on the often forgotten women without whom the Civil Rights Movement would not have been possible.

NEVER RECEIVED THE BOOK
I have not received the book, "Sisters in the Struggle"Please credit my account.

Highly recommended
Through the words of scholars and female Civil Rights-Black Power activists, this book provides an excellent overview of the movement.It is a necessary read for anyone who does not understand that black women were essential to the Civil Rights-Black Power movement or who does not understand why black women created their own organizations (i.e., NACW, NCNW, Combahee River Collective, etc.) to insure that their issues were addressed.Each of the essays also provide a wonderful source of general background information to help you understand the historical context without overloading you with info.

A Historical Timepiece
SISTERS IN THE STRUGGLE chronicles the contributions of African American women at the height of the social reform movement in the twentieth century.It provided a different perspective than what is customarily shed on this era.

The book depicts the selflessness of some important historical figures such as well-known Rosa Parks whose stubborn refusal to give up her bus seat sparked an inferno in the Civil Rights Movement.Mary MacLeod Bethune's achievement of founding Bethune-Cookman College in 1904 to offer higher education opportunities to African American women is chronicled.The life and times of Charlayne Hunter-Gault, who struggled to tear down the racial dividers at the University of Georgia and won the right to enroll in 1961, as well as many other historical accounts.

This book was a book club selection.Due to the text-book like offerings, we choose a subsection of the book on which to focus.All in all, the book contributed to a lively discussion as to how women of today are still `in the struggle.'Although dry at times, the book does provide an insightful peek into our history.

Reviewed by Nedine
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers ... Read more

Product Description
Since the first three documented Chinese arrived in this country in 1848, more than six million Asians have followed. The huge immigrations of recent years have prompted a surge of interest in the new Asian American experience, about which little writing exists to date. In Asian Americans, these immigrants and their families present their own stories--why they came to America and what it means to be Asian in America today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

As if Studs Terkel met Asian America
Studs Terkel meets Asian America.The author, affiliated with Queens College at the time the book was compiled, records oral histories from first through fourth generation Asian Americans from China, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, and Pacific Islands. (Chinese immigrants began to officially arrive in 1848; they were not allowed to apply for citizenship until 1943.Japanese and Koreans were not allowed citizenship until 1952; Filipinos and Asian Indians beat them by six years) These histories are grouped into three major section: Living In America; Americanization; and Refections on Interracial Marriage.In "Living In America", selections include Will Hao on being a true Hawaiian, and Andrea Kim on being born and raised in Hawaii, but not being Hawaiian.Sam Sue, a Chinese American lawyer, talks about growing up bitterly in Clarksdale Mississippi during a time of segregation.The Americanization section includes stories of escape and exodus, the bumpy road of acculturation, 3 stories just on run-ins with traffic cops (driving while Asian), and over 9 stories on Americanization, racism, tension, being Asian versus being American, and even on being a minority within a minority.Cao O discusses life as an ethnic Chinese in Vietnam and being Chinese-Vietnamese in America and dealing with social service agencies in Chinatown that is staffed by Hong-Kong born Chinese.In "No Tea, Thank You", Setsuko K. discusses the subtleties between the generations, such as politeness and their hidden meanings (when "no" means "yes", and "yes" means "no").In a sub-section of nine stories about family, Cao O discusses the idea of `obligation', while Hideo K talks about the "Company as Friend".Tony Ham discusses Mah-Jonng as a family social focus.In a sub-section on religion, there is an interesting piece on Koreans and church membership.In one of eight stories on "Interracial Marriage", Jody Sandler writes talks about "So He's Not a Jewish Doctor", in which a 23 year old Woodmere Long Island Five Town girl marries an Asian America and faces pressures from family and friends, and contrasts Tony's values with those she grew up with in Five Towns.

Profound study of Asian-Americana
This book by Joann Lee is an excellent book on Asian-Americans. It tells the life stories of Asian-Americans without so much stereotypical baggage found elsewhere.

It shows Asian-Americans as people. Instead of the shallow, stereotypical views found in the movies, it gave me a deeper view of what it feels like and means to be a person of Asian descent living in America. And it does so honestly. It gives the reader a view into a very intimate but often overlooked part of life in America.

I recommend this to all who are interested in this topic.The book reads well and easily.

Enjoy!

Asain Americans: An OrAl History
An excellent overview of what it is to be Asian American in America today.Joann Lee writes beautifully and puts you in touch with the individual struggles and victories of her subjects.A must read.

Honest Look in Asian American Culture
This book provided many personal accounts of Asian Americans.The people and their experiences are very different from one another, but they are all considered as one category 'Asian American' perhaps because of similarsocial problems they've encountered living in america.The accountsportrayed truthfuly, and give an honest look at racism and prejudice, andthe complexity of the issue.very inspiring ... Read more

Product Description
This book describes the historical and legal experiences of Americans of Asian ancestry who began to come to the United States in the mid-19th century. Like all immigrants in America, they arrived with hopes of making a better life and home in a free country. Instead, Asian-Americans have been mistreated and discriminated against by their fellow Americans--even by Congress and the Supreme Court, which should have made and judged laws without prejudice. This study examines the way immigration and naturalization laws were unfairly administered against Asian immigrants and throws light on a less than admirable period of American legal history. It will be of great interest to scholars in Asian American studies, legal history, and American history. ... Read more

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What role did religion play in sparking the call for civil rights? Was the African American church a motivating force or a calming eddy?

The conventional view among scholars of the period is that religion as a source for social activism was marginal, conservative, or pacifying.

Not so, argues Johnny E. Williams. Focusing on the state of Arkansas as typical in the role of ecclesiastical activism, his book argues that black religion from the period of slavery through the era of segregation provided theological resources that motivated and sustained preachers and parishioners battling racial oppression.

Drawing on interviews, speeches, case studies, literature, sociological surveys, and other sources, Williams persuasively defines the most ardent of civil rights activists in the state as products of church culture.

Both religious beliefs and the African American church itself were essential in motivating blacks to act individually and collectively to confront their oppressors in Arkansas and throughout the South. Williams explains how the ideology of the black church roused disparate individuals into a community and how the church established a base for many diverse participants in the civil rights movement.

He shows how church life and ecumenical education helped to sustain the protest of people with few resources and little permanent power. Williams argues that the church helped galvanize political action by bringing people together and creating social bonds even when societal conditions made action difficult and often dangerous. The church supplied its members with meanings, beliefs, relationships, and practices that served as resources to create a religious protest message of hope.

Johnny E. Williams is an associate professor of sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. His work has been published in Sociological Forum and Sociological Spectrum. ... Read more