Spring 2008 - Asian American Studies
Transcription
Spring 2008 - Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies at Northwestern University newsletter spring 2008 Photo: Ricky Pai 2007 2008 2007 2008 2007 2008 In This Issue Winter was a busy quarter for Asian American Studies. During the Winter, we sponsored a public lecture by Professor Moon-Ho Jung, winner, the Merle Curti Award, Organization of American Historians, titled “We Were Not All Immigrants: Toward a Radical Vision of (Asian) American History” . The following week over 100 people attended a forum on human trafficking organized by Asian American Studies along with KAN-WIN and the Northwestern University Conference on Human rights The beginning of March saw us hosting Professor Laura Kina’s artist lecture, “Aloha Dreams: Hapa Heritage Tourism and the Quest for Racial Paradise” And upcoming in April, is “Hiphopistan”, a 3-day showcase and forum with live performances and workshops on South Asians in Hip-Hop cosponsored by departments from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. The The Colloquium on Ethnicity and Diaspora, initiated this year by postdoc Shanshan Lan and PhD candidate Shuji Otsuka now meets once /month, and each time draws together a diverse group of scholars to discuss topics relevant to the field of Ethnic Studies. Asian American Studies Program Northwestern University 1-117 Crowe Hall 1860 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208 847.467.7114 [email protected] Forum on human trafficking of Asian women held at the McCormick Tribune Center Forum on Feb 7 Human Trafficking Forum held at Northwestern University in February by Jinah Kim are Not for s r e t is S r u “O e Panelists: ing the issu in m a x E : le sa Rachel Durchslag (Chicago Alliance of Asian s n io t a c li p Against Sexual Exploitation) and im Kaitlyn Lim (Polaris Project) s into the im t ic v d e k c Heather Benno (National Immigrant traffi Justice Center/Heartland Alliance) U.S.” Kavitha Sreeharsha (Legal Momentum) Timothy Lim (Professor, Cal State Los Angeles) February 7, 2008 Northwestern University T he Asian American Studies Program, KAN-WIN*, and the Northwestern University Conference on Human Rights hosted academics and activists in a panel called Our Sisters Are Not For Sale to help share experience and broaden knowledge about the global scourge of human trafficking. Experts estimate that 600,000-800,000 men women and children arae trafficked across *Korean Women In Need international borders each year, 14,500-17,500 into the United States, a criminal phenomena that extends into nearly every racial and ethnic community across the country. Trafficked subjects are denied basic human rights, isolated and enslaved; their bodies are treated as an object to be owned and their labor imagined as the right of someone else. By taking the broader view of trafficking as “force, fraud, or coercion” these panelists enable a painful, but necessary realization of the multitudes of economies and lifestyles that depend on exploited trafficked labor. Panelists also dispelled several myths about who is trafficked, what drives trafficking continued on back page News and Events Photo: Shuji Otsuka News and Events by Heidi Kim W Professor Moon-Ho Jung delivering his talk, “We Were Not All Immigrants: Toward a Radical Vision of (Asian) American History” at Northwestern University. HO (OR WHAT) WAS A COOLIE? Asks Moon-Ho Jung, associate professor of history at the University of Washington, in his book, Coolies and Cane: Race, Labor and Sugar in the Age of Emancipation (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). Asian immigrants to the United States, most scholars agree, were not “coolies,” or forced laborers. In truth, no one was. Why then did the term appear so often in government reports, political speeches, and abolitionist and proslavery publications of the nineteenth century? In a provocative thesis that has the potential to transform the way we understand the Civil War and Reconstruction, Jung suggests that coolies were a “conglomeration of racial imaginings,” representative of both slavery and freedom. Jung delivered a talk at Northwestern University on January 25, 2008, entitled, “We Were Not All Immigrants: Toward a Radical Vision of (Asian) American History.” He also participated in a discussion of his book with graduate students and faculty from two reading groups, Critical Race Studies and the Colloquium on Ethnicity and Diaspora. In the age of emancipation, he explained, plantation owners intended to replace slaves with so-called coolies so they recast these migrant workers as “voluntary immigrants.” The coolie, however, remained as a racialized figure fueling the anti-Chinese movement, which culminated with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. According to this racial logic, slave laws were a precursor to anti-immigration laws of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The threat of the coolie, therefore, transformed the United States into a (white) “nation of immigrants.” The idea for the book resulted from Jung’s long-standing interest in the links between Asian American and African American history. He credits the work of W.E.B. DuBois and Walter Rodney for providing “new ways of understanding the world.” As an undergraduate at Cornell University, he majored in Government and took courses in Ethnic Studies. He stayed for graduate school where he worked with Gary Okihiro, one of the leading Asian American historians in the country. By connecting “seemingly disparate histories,” Jung said, we can see the “radical possibilities” of moving beyond binaries such as black and white, slave and free, alien and citizen. He also hopes we can “interrogate the naturalized borders of the United States.” In his study, for example, the production of sugar connects Louisiana, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia. The so-called coolies were a “global migrant labor force,” unworthy of “equal rights and opportunities.” He suggests framing Asian American history as a “story of labor migrations and struggles,” rather than as one of “immigration and assimilation.” Shuji Otsuka, a graduate student in history who teaches for Asian American Studies, raised some interesting theoretical points. He observed that Tye Kim Orr, featured in the book’s opening vignette, is not representative of the book’s main subjects, the so-called coolies. Orr, an ethnic Chinese born and raised in a British colony in Southeast Asia, traveled to London, where he persuaded missionaries to fund his work among the Chinese in British Guiana. After an affair with a “colored” woman, he fled to Trinidad, Cuba, and finally Louisiana, where he taught at a school operated by the Freedmen’s Bureau. He eventually found a niche recruiting laborers from Asia for plantation owners in Louisiana. To be sure, in terms of education, religion, and social status, he differed from many of these workers. Orr’s story is nonetheless extraordinary. And we may very well lack a framework to understand his experience. Otsuka wondered, “How do we make sense of migrant subjectivity as they traverse national boundaries?” In other words, “how do we construct a narrative without reducing it to the larger framework of the liberal nation state and/or Chinese nationalism?” Moon-Ho Jung, who recently received the Merle Curti Award from the Organization of American Historians for the best work in social, intellectual, and/or cultural history, smiled and modestly replied, “I wish I had spoken to you before I wrote the book.” Indeed, re-conceptualizing Asian American history is no easy task. Jung’s work may only be the beginning of that “radical vision.” t intervals of about a month, a diverse group of scholars can be found sitting around the table in the Asian American Studies conference room in Crowe Hall, almost absent-mindedly eating lunch while engaged in passionate discussion of a book or dissertation chapter. The Colloquium on Ethnicity and Diaspora (CED) is a new venture begun in the fall of 2007, bringing together graduate students and faculty with shared interests in ethnic studies to create a dissertation workshop and reading group. Initial funding was supplied by the Initiative for Comparative Race and Diaspora, with additional generous funding from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, The Graduate School, and the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities. Co-organizer Shuji Otsuka, a doctoral candidate in the History department, had originally envisioned a small interdisciplinary seminar for graduate students to share their work. Co-organizer Shanshan Lan, a Mellon Fellow in Anthropology and Asian American Studies, had also been thinking about founding a reading group modeled after an informal Asian American studies reading group that used to exist among Chicagoland faculty a few years ago. Otsuka and Lan combined their ideas to create this group with two different functions, which so far has attracted enthusiastic participants from departments including African American Studies, Anthropology, English, History, Sociology, Radio/Television/Films graduate program in Screen Cultures, and Performance Studies. In an email, Senior Associate Dean Simon Greenwold of the Graduate School wrote, “It is the pleasure of The Graduate School to support interdisciplinary programs, as we recognize that the boundaries between traditional departments and disciplines have in many cases evolved or devolved in the past twenty-five years, and that much of the most interesting intellectual work being done today is in the interstices between and among these traditional areas of study.” So far, the CED’s dissertation workshop has helped several participants reformulate and redraft chapters. Stephen Mak, doctoral candidate in History, said, “It was clear to me that the scholars at this forum wanted me to succeed. They held me to the highest standard and offered some of the best feedback I have ever received.” Otsuka agreed, saying, “I thought the feedback I received on my chapter was invaluable on several fronts, most notably in terms of argument enhancement, wise encouragement, and interdisciplinary critique. The workshop provided a road-map of where my research needs to go, giving me confidence in my work as I navigate the job market.” The reading group side of the CED has been similarly active. Past works have included the award-winning book Between Two Empires: Race, History and Transnationalism in Japanese America by Eiichiro Azuma and a special event with Moon-Ho Jung, author of Coolies and Cane (see article). At least two more book discussions are planned for the remainder of the school year, including University of Chicago professor Adam Green’s Selling the Race: Culture, Community, and Black Chicago, 1940-1955 and State of Exception by noted Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben and Kevin Attell. Greenwold is also concerned with helping to build community. “We also believe at TGS that intellectual community building is critical to the success of our students and faculty. Doctoral education is not easy and it takes a long time. We believe it is critical to provide resources to students and faculty who are interested in building social networks around their intellectual affinities, networks that we think will improve the quality of the intellectual and social life at Northwestern.” Lan, who presented her work to the CED in February, concurred with these sentiments. “Knowing that people are willing to spend time reading my stuff, and coming to the CED meeting to offer their comments is really encouraging. They not only help sharpen my intellectual sensitivity, but offer emotional and moral support so that I can have more confidence in my research project.” Jinah Kim makes a presentation to the Coloquium on Ethnicity and Diaspora (CED). Photo: Greg Jue A Prize Winning Historian Moon-Ho Jung Visits NU By Stephen Mak New Colloquium Brings Ethnic Studies Scholars Together Photo Album News and Events Far left: The Registration table at the “Our Sisters Are Not For Sale!” panel on human trafficking, February 7. r Sale! “Our Sisters Are Not Fo d implications Examining the issue an s into of Asian trafficked victim the U.S.” — Feb 7 Photo: Ricky Pai Left: Young-Ju Ji (left), Executive Director of KAN-WIN and Ji-Yeon Yuh, Director of Asian American Studies open the program. ere Moon-Ho Jung, “We W rd wa To : Not All Immigrants n) sia (A a Radical Vision of Jan 25 American History” — NU students, faculty, members of the community and representatives of community service organizations mingle at the pre-program reception. Nitasha Sharma and Ji-Yeon Yuh at the Winter potluck hosted by Ji-Yeon at her home. Shuji Otsuka (left) and Moon-Ho Jung at the special seminar on Moon-Ho’s book , Coolies and Cane: Race, Labor, and Sugar in the Age of Emancipation which won the Merle Curti Award. Photos: Alan Chan re Laura Kina artist lectu urism and To e Heritag “Aloha Dreams: Hapa radise” —March 5 the Quest for Racial Pa Shalini Shankar and her family Carolyn Chen and Dylan Penningroth Laura Kina, painter, Professor of Art, Media and Design and Program Director of Asian American Studies, De Paul University, delivered an artist lecture at NU titled “Aloha Dreams: Hapa Heritage Tourism and the Quest for Racial Paradise”. On the screen is one of her paintings “Loco Moco” after the popular Hawaiian dish of hamburger, eggs and gravy on a bed of white rice. Asian American Political Alliance members honored at 40th anniversary conference of the TWLF Strike at UC Berkeley I by Greg Jue n 1968-’69, Asian, Black, Latino and Native American students at San Francisco State College and University of California, Berkeley led the “Third World Liberation Front” (TWLF) strikes that shut down both campuses. They demanded a Third World College, and with support from students of all nationalities and the community, won their demands after months of struggle. These student-led strikes brought Ethnic Studies into the world. I was a participant in the ’69 TWLF Strike at UC Berkeley, and on March 1, I was invited, along with other TWLF strikers to address the “Peeling Off the Label” conference at UC. A major focus of the conference was the ‘69 TWLF Strike. This was a wonderful experience, getting down on questions facing the student movement today, learning from the past to serve the present, and a reunion with old friends whom I hadn’t seen for over 30 years. A number of people active in those days went on to become prominent figures in the Asian American movement and beyond. Perhaps the best know among them is Richard Aoki, an Asian American student leader in the ’60s, and a founding member of the Black Panther Party in Oakland. As I arrived at the MLK Center on the Berkeley campus, I stopped and stared ...at anyone with gray hair. It had been a long time, and most people I didn’t recognize at first! The conference started off with a bang. After a performance by a great Taiko drum group, it was time to introduce ourselves. One of the original AAPA* members stood up and addressed the crowd of 350 students, “We know that many things have changed, and revolutions have not turned out as we had hoped, but I urge you to take another look at those revolutionary movements. Don’t give up on revolution!” At this, Richard Aoki reached into his pocket and pulled out a copy of Quotations from Chairman Mao (The “Red Book”) and waved it over his head—evoking images of the revolutionary movements of the ’60s when most people I knew carried a Red Book in their pocket. Another AAPA member stood and pointed out that things are worse today than in the ’60s — there is even more of a need for a radical student movement today!” In the workshops, the exchange between the panelists and students was very broad. Students expressed a desire to learn from those who were direct participants in the social movements that swept the world in the late ’60s. The panelists were very curious as to what students were thinking today. “How are you looking at the world? What kind of world do you want to see come out of your efforts?” Many spoke from personal experience — doing the right thing despite the consequences, or in the words of Chairman Mao, “Serve the people” (vs. “serve yourself”). One panelist spoke about how he had just gotten to Berkeley in 1969, got involved in the strike, was assigned to be a Field Marshall, and lost his scholarship in the process. Others spoke of breaking off relations with their parents, losing friends who didn’t agree with the strike, getting tear gassed and pepper-sprayed, and getting arrested. But the main thing is that for each person, it was a matter of acting on principle, fighting for what was right. *AAPA (pronounced “Ah-pah”): Asian American Political Alliance Photos by Andre Nguyen Richard Aoki holds up the “Red Book” during the API Issues conference honoring the Asian American Political Alliance of 1968 After the Strike there was a huge movement from the campus to the community. This was also a part of the “serve the people” orientation that guided us. We set up revolutionary community programs in San Francisco Chinatown, Manilatown, Japan Town, Oakland Chinatown. We had a bookstore that distributed revolutionary literature, a co-op garment factory, a food program, and much more. In 1968, we mobilized students to go to Manilatown and fight alongside the manongs and other elderly Filipino men whose home was the International Hotel. As young men, they had come to America, to work in agriculture, the shipyards, the merchant marine. Elderly and retired, but still full of spunk, they were fighting a major eviction battle, because the large corporation that bought the I-Hotel planned to tear it down and build a parking lot for Chinatown tourists. Time was short and we all wished we could have gone on a lot longer. After a great meal, there was a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of AAPA. Each AAPA member was honored on stage as students ceremoniously gave each of us a bouquet of flowers. We posed for a group photo, flowers in one hand and all raised their other hand in a clenched fist. Original members of AAPA pose for a 40th anniversary photo. Returning to Manzanar N by Heidi Kim orthwestern’s Special Collections in Deering Library houses a unique and under-utilized collection of documents from the Japanese American internment during World War II. Ranging from loose clippings to Born Free and Equal, a famous book of Ansel Adams photographs of the Manzanar Relocation Center, these documents shed light on one of the most infamous civil rights violations in U.S. history. Manzanar, located inland in southern California, held over 10,000 Japanese Americans within its barbed wire fences. The original collection was kept by Thelma Kellesvig, who taught domestic science at Manzanar and who I also found a mention of in the camp’s newspaper as a member of the local draft board, showing that she must have had a large role in daily life at Manzanar. Her carefully kept scrapbook is currently in fragile condition but on the libraryís list for restoration. It mostly consists of invitations and programs from camp entertainments, photographs of her students and the surrounding landscape, and clippings, including the famous 1944 Life magazine feature on the Japanese American internment. Kellesvigís photographs are a rare commodity, because Japanese Americans were not allowed to keep their cameras during World War II (for fear of spying activity). Most unofficial internment camp photographs were taken by specially licensed visitors or, in rare cases, by Japanese American military servicemen visiting their families. The posed photographs show happy-looking teenage schoolgirls. The university purchased the collection in the 1970s and has been adding to it piece by piece ever since. A full listing can be found by doing a search by call number in NUCat, the online library catalog, for “Manzanar.” Our Sisters Are Not For Sale! systems that devalue women’s worth continued from page 1 industries, and where and for whom men, women, and children are trafficked. Kavitha Sreeharsha argued that while the sex worker is the predominant image of the trafficked subject, in fact many men, women and children are also trafficked to work in dangerous, degrading and slave like conditions as domestic, seasonal and factory workers. Without oversimplifying the diversity of reasons and complex relations behind human trafficking, panelists targeted the demand for sex workers, patriarchal and undercut economic opportunity at home, poverty, and the fact that many communities in the United States turn a blind eye to the coercive sex work occurring in their neighborhoods. While the trafficked subject is most directly impacted by the cumulative and daily coercion by the traffickers, the panelists urged their audience to understand trafficking as a systemic problem that society as a whole needs to address. On the state and federal level, education of law enforcement agencies and social service providers, as well as re-framing of immigration laws, are necessary to protect — not criminalize — trafficked populations. Thinking about trafficking systematically means also pressuring our own communities to truly commit to ending violence against women and children. By recognizing that trafficking is sustained in our own communities and by humanizing and connecting with trafficked subjects we can each play a small part in furthering global justice. As Ji-Yeon Yuh, the Director of the Asian American Studies Program urges, it is important that we “not ask how big of an impact we make but that we strive to make an impact no matter how small.” A look at Winter Quarter classes Professor Nitasha Sharma’s Asian/Black Relations in the U.S. has been increasingly popular since it was first offered in Spring 2007. It has since been approved as a permanent course by the Curriculum Review Committee and will be offered in 2 parts, Asian Am 218 and Asian Am 310 after Professor John Cheng delivers a lecture to his Asian American History this academic year. class, Asian Am 214 which reached record enrollments this quarter.