President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) is known primarily from his time in the White House and untimely death but many forget that he was also an accomplished writer. In the well-received “A Nation of Immigrants“, he gives his take on how immigration built the nation known as America. Images of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty will surely come to the minds of readers who decided to read Kennedy’s work. However, there is more to the immigrant story in America and often forgotten are the many other groups who have emigrated to the land of opportunity. Roger Daniels decided to take a further look into the Chinese and Japanese experience in America and what he found may surprise many of us.
The story begins in 1849 as California becomes ground zero for the gold rush. We learn right away that over 300,000 Chinese came to America to work in mines and in other trades, such as building cross-continental railroads. By 1882, the gold rush was over, the railroads had been nearly completed and hundreds of thousands of Chinese now found themselves out of work. They were far away from China in a new country that did not rush to embrace them. In fact, what happened after the gold rush opened my eyes to the Asian experience in America and revealed many dark parts of American history.
This book could easily be added as required reading in high school classroom and in a college syllabus. It reads like a textbook but the exception is that is has not been heavily sanitized. Daniels had no intention of sugar coating anything and the facts that are presented here are beyond sobering. Paranoia, suspicion and fear of a “yellow invasion”, gave birth to some of the most discriminatory laws passed in United States history. Beginning with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1870 and the later Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the anti-Chinese movement gained in momentum and threatened the very existence of Chinese-Americans. Similarly, Japanese immigrants who arrived to America by way of Hawaii, soon found that their new home was not so welcoming. The anti-Chinese movement soon became part of larger anti-Asian sentiment spreading across the United States. And contrary to what we may think about Asian immigration, the Pacific played an even more important role than the Atlantic. Exactly how is explained in detail by Daniels.
As the world found itself embroiled in two world wars, the Chinese and Japanese in America were struggling simply for recognition as human beings. California remained the battle ground in the struggle between natives and new immigrants from the Far East. San Francisco was the scene of some of the most absurd moments in the book and will cause readers today to wonder at how such inhumane treatment of others was tolerated and endorsed in the late 1800s into the early 1900s. The Alien Land Act of 1913 is a prime example of some of the draconian laws passed to disenfranchise America’s Asian citizens. However, in spite of outright racist treatment and propaganda, the Chinese and Japanese remained firm in their belief of the American dream. World War II became the moment where life for the Japanese in America was turned upside down and would test the patriotism of even the most ardent believers in the United States.
The book is not a full examination of the Japanese internment in camps during the war. However, Daniels does a thorough job of explaining how the program developed, what President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) knew and the effect it had on the Japanese mindset both during and following the war. High focused is placed on the Japanese American Citizens League, which played an integral role in the affairs of Japanese Americans in many ways, some of which will surprise some. However, its importance cannot be understated. What I did find to be mind-boggling was that the U.S. Military never had a deep suspicion on a whole of Japanese Americans taking up arms in defense of Toyko, but the media and politicians clearly had a different agenda.
Today, the treatment revealed in the book would cause shock and outrage. I have many friends whose families originate throughout Asia. They are as American as I am but the thought of legislation being passed to bar them from citizenship, prevent them from assimilating in society or to prevent them from even entering the country, is beyond horrifying. However, this was the reality for thousands of Chinese and Japanese in the United States before the passage of civil rights bills and Supreme Court decisions that struck down bans of segregation and interracial marriage. America has come a long way but there is still work to be done.
While reading Daniel’s words, I could not help but to feel that some of the divisive rhetoric employed by politicians then is also heard now. Fears of “invasion” and “threats to our way of life” permeated beliefs in the 1800s and 1900s, resulting in regrettable treatment of Chinese and Japanese Americans. And in some cases, that rhetoric proved to be deadly. That same danger exist today. If we are to continue to move forward, then we must remember that less than one hundred and fifty years ago, anyone who was not White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, found that life in America was a contradiction to the belief that all men are created equal. If we fail to remember the past, we are doomed to repeat it. I truly hope we do not. Roger Daniels has given us a guide to study and learn from so that we do make the same mistakes. Highly recommended.
ISBN-10: 0295970189
ISBN-13: 978-0295970189
When I saw this book on Amazon, I was a skeptical as to what I found find inside of it. However, the nearly five star reviews convinced me to inspect it a bit further. I took the plunge and ordered it to see exactly what Shelby Steele had to say about race, a topic that continues to either unite or divide people in America. The phrase “content of our character” is known to many of us. It was the pivotal moment of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s (1929-1968) “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963. Fifty-seven years have passed since that monumental moment in American history and the question remains, do we judge each other on the content of our character? Further, have we progressed as a society or is America still the same place it was when Jim Crow made life miserable for millions of black Americans and others who emigrated to the United States in search of opportunity?
On December 25, 1979, the armed forces of the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in support of pro-Communist forces engaged in a power struggle with insurgent forces known as the mujahideen. Soviet forces marched into the capital city of Kabul and later succeeded in staging a coup in which President Hafizullah Amin (1929-1979) was removed and replaced with Soviet loyalist Babrak Karmal (1929-1966). Thousands of Afghan citizens were rendered homeless as bombs fells and brutal fighting produced collateral damage. For Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller, the war changed her life in ways she could have never imagined.
In November, 2019, I had the opportunity to read “
The looming exit from the European Union by England will undoubtedly be watched by the whole world, which has been kept in suspense by the referendum in 2016 and failure of former British Prime Minster Theresa May to garner enough votes for a formal separation. Current Prime Minister Boris Johnson has declared it will happen and on January 31, 2020, he will be proven right or wrong on the matter. In Northern Ireland, there is fear and uncertainty regarding how the move by England will affect Ulster County, the loyalist stronghold composed of majority that stands firmly behind the Crown. The Irish Republican Army (“IRA”) will be following as well to see how the move will affect its goal for a united Ireland free of British interference. Time will tell how the departure from the European Union will affect both Britain and other nations. Recently, I decided to do some further reading on Northern Ireland and I came across this book by Tim Pat Coogan about an Irish revolutionary I was previously unfamiliar with. His name was Michael Collins (1890-1922) and this is the story of his group of assassins known as the Twelve Apostles and their fight for freedom from Downing Street by famed author Tim Pat Coogan.
In the state of South Dakota, the Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the descendants of the Oglala Sioux Native American tribe. The children of Pine Ridge aspire to enroll in the Red Cloud High School with hopes of attending college. Many of their parent, suffer from alcoholism, a plague that has followed the Oglala Sioux since their first encounter with white settlers in the early 1800s. Poverty and discrimination have resulted in depression and despair which has yet to be fully addressed. The true story of the Native American experience remains misunderstood and in some cases neglected. They current day Oglala are the descendants of indigenous people whose home was a North American continent in which life was simple yet effective with languages largely unwritten and passed down through oral teaching. The Sioux were only one of hundreds of tribes, some of whom are now extinct such as the Canarsie Indians. Chief Luther Standing Bear (1868-1939) was born in Rosebud, South Dakota into the Oglala Sioux tribe and this is his story of his life and his people.
On September 22, 1980, the Iraqi military marched into neighboring Iran under the orders of President Saddam Hussein (1937-2006). Tensions between Hussein and Ruhollah Khomeini (1902-1989) had been brewing over control of the Shatt al-Arab river, Iraqi nationalism and Khomeini’s calls for the Ba’ath party to overthrow the Iraqi government. The conflict raged for eight years before a cease-fired was signed in August, 1988. It is estimated that the war resulted in the deaths of nearly 1.5 million Iraqis and Iranians. On both sides, villages were destroyed, leaving thousands homeless and families permanently separated. Children as young as thirteen were conscripted to serve, becoming trained killers before the age of twenty-one. After the cease-fire, prisoners of war remained held in prisons on both sides before they were slowly repatriated. This book is the story of two of those prisoners who survived the war, living to tell their story about the war that changed their lives.
The African-American experience is a reflection of America’s dark past and its bright future. Jim-Crow, anti-miscegenation laws and other legal conditions, provided roadblocks to the social and economic advancement of black Americans and other minorities. However, over time, individuals once considered minorities have made great strides and achieved great success. In spite of this, black America finds itself confronted with issues that cause many to wonder what is really holding black men, women and children back? When I saw this book on Amazon, I thought to myself that whoever wrote this book is beyond brave and was undoubtedly subject to attacks from all angles by those who wish to refute his conclusions. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the book was written by a black American, John McWhorter, who is a professor in English and comparative literature at Columbia University. He has also worked at the University of California, Berkeley. His experiences while tenuring at UC, Berkeley are what form the backbone of this book.
The history of Native Americans was for many years, untold and in some cases omitted. the trail of tears is just one example of the systematic process of relocation enforced by the United States Government as America continued to expand. The natives were seen as uncivilized in comparison to their American and European counterparts. The natives would readily say their lives were uncomplicated and simple. Many resisted the influence of soldiers on their land and fought to the death to preserve their homes. Others did not resist and accepted the lifestyle and religion of the white man. Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939) was one of those who migrated from one world to another and in this short but interesting autobiography, he recalls his life and his path from the deep woods to civilization.
On July 7, 2014, Israeli began a full scale assault on the Gaza Strip, a self-governing Palestinian territory. the assault claimed the lives of more than 1,600 men, women and children. The conflict was a culmination of long-simmering tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli government has made it clear that it wants Hamas to recognize its right to exist. Hamas has called for a Palestinian state on the land it believes belongs to the Palestinian people. Multiple foreign governments have made an attempt to mediate the dispute, most notably Egypt. The role of the United States has generally been in support of its ally Israel. The vicious assault was captured and uploaded by Palestinians to such sites as Twitter and Facebook. The images on social media only tell part of the story of the realities faced by the Palestinians who found themselves under siege and facing an opponent superior in both weapons and finances. The full story of what was happening inside the Gaza Strip is a much darker and tragic story, revealed here as the Palestinians are given a platform to the break the silence surrounding their experiences under occupation.
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