As an integral part of the Civil Rights movement, the Asian-American movement played an important role in the formation of an Asian-American identity.
The movement was born in the late 1960s as some radical Asian-American youths, especially college students, participated in the antiwar movement and became aware of the need to unite and struggle for racial equality, social justice, and political empowerment in their own lives. Emulating the Aerican Americans, they focused their efforts on establishing a pan-Asian identity and targeted racial discrimination that had long excluded them from mainstream society. The history of Asian Americans fighting against oppression and racial discrimination differed from ethnic group to ethnic group because of the existing cultural and class diversity, but the movement represented the first time in American history that combined action was taken in the name of Asian Americans rather than of Chinese Americans or Japanese Americans.
Asian Americans had been historically discriminated against and oppressed in American society. From the mid-19th century onward, the entry of Chinese immigrants, the earliest Asian immigrant group, was restricted by harsh legislation, which culminated in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. From the 1860s onward, a series of local and federal laws driven by anti-Chinese sentiment consistently denied the rights of Chinese immigrants to become citizens, own certain kinds of property, attend first class schools, or marry outside of their race. These laws later affected other Asian immigrants as well. The incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II was an extreme case of how war hysteria and racial discrimination could lead American society to deviate from its ideology of democracy and equality.
During World War II, however, images of Asian Americans, particularly Chinese and Filipinos, were enhanced because of both their contributions to America’s war effort and the contributions of their countries of origin. In the postwar era, the racially based immigration and naturalization laws against Asians were gradually lifted, and the number of Asian Americans entering professional fields appreciably increased. However, the situation of Asian Americans in the postwar era still called for improvement. When soldiers were fighting Asians in the Korean War in the 1950s and in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s, some Asian Americans feared the possibility of being unjustly treated as the Japanese Americans had been in World War II. In addition, although Asian Americans were stereotypically depicted as members of a “model minority,” problems such as unequal employment opportunities and media stereotypes still negatively affected them.
Early activities of the movement copied what other radical Americans did in the turbulent antiwar protests. Meetings, demonstrations, and the publication of leaflets and broadsides of radical ideas argued the participants’ case. Activists also formed various study groups to discuss the problems that plagued their ethnic communities. These activities enabled them to reassess their position in American society and address issues that in their belief resulted from racial discrimination, class oppression, imperialism, and sexism. Their activities brought profound changes to the ideology of the Asian Americans. From the late 1960s onward, Asian Americans were more active and united in struggling for their interests than ever before.
The second stage of the movement in the 1970s included a turn to communist ideology. Even though the conservative tone in the Asian-American community remained strong, a small number of college students adopted ideology from communist countries such as China. They believed in a total facelift of the American social system to change the fate of the country and its people. They formed communist study groups to promulgate communism and prepare for a proletariat revolution. The revolution they expected never materialized.
In later years, the Asian-American movement was marked by Asian Americans’ active participation in electoral politics. From the 1980s onward, more Asian Americans became actively involved in running for public office.
The movement did not directly engender substantial changes in terms of the economic and political situation of the Asian-American community, but it did promote class and ethnic consciousness. The movement gave birth to a new field of higher learning in colleges—Asian-American studies—and created a network of organizations and activists dedicated to the betterment of the Asian-American community.
Further reading: William Wei, The Asian American Movement (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1993).
—Mingyi Weng
World History
