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| Asian American Movement (1960s–1970s) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Asian American Movement (1960s–1970s) |
| Date | 1960s–1970s |
| Place | United States |
| Causes | Civil rights activism; anti-imperialism; opposition to Vietnam War |
| Goals | Pan-Asian solidarity; ethnic studies; community control; anti-racism |
Asian American Movement (1960s–1970s) The Asian American Movement (1960s–1970s) was a multiethnic social and political movement that mobilized activists of Chinese American, Japanese American, Filipino American, Korean American, South Asian American, Southeast Asian American, and Pacific Islander American origins in the United States. It emerged alongside contemporaneous struggles such as the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power movement, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and opposition to the Vietnam War, seeking institutional reforms, community services, and new cultural expressions.
Origins trace to postwar migrations after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and to earlier legal landmarks like Chinese Exclusion Act repeal efforts and the legacy of Japanese American incarceration. Influences included writings by Gary Okihiro, organizing by veterans of the United States Armed Forces, student activism at campuses such as University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and Columbia University. Key antecedents were community responses to events like the Watts riots and solidarity links with international struggles in Philippines, Korea, and Vietnam.
Organizations included the Asian American Political Alliance, Yellow Power movement groups, the Organization of Chinese Americans in some local forms, the International Hotel tenants' defense committees, the Asian American Studies program activism networks, and community-based groups like the Asian Law Caucus and Chinese Progressive Association. Prominent leaders and organizers included Yuji Ichioka, Emma Gee, Richard Aoki, Grace Lee Boggs, Ishmael H. De Leon, Larry Ishida, Patrick Uchida, Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Philip A. Guerrero, Helen Zia, Grace Lee Boggs (also listed earlier), and student leaders active at San Francisco State and University of Washington.
Notable actions encompassed the student-led strike at San Francisco State College (1968–1969), the strikes and occupations at Columbia University and the Third World Liberation Front, the 1977 defense campaigns for the International Hotel in Manilatown, and protests against the Vietnam War in cities like New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago. Other mobilizations included labor actions associated with the United Farm Workers and strikes led by Filipino American agricultural workers tied to leaders such as Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz, community defense actions during manifestations influenced by the Watts riots, and solidarity delegations to international forums involving United Nations-related gatherings.
Activists sought ethnic studies programs, community control of institutions, immigrant rights, and redress for historical injustices such as the legacy of Executive Order 9066. They advanced platforms combining anti-imperialist critiques of administrations like Lyndon B. Johnson's and organizers challenged local authorities in cities including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Cultural projects connected with artists and writers such as Ron Takaki, Maxine Hong Kingston, John Okada, Wendy Ng, and theater groups that staged works alongside publications influenced by the Black Panther Party's community programs and by radicals from Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Successes included the establishment of institutional programs, notably the creation of the first accredited Asian American Studies programs at San Francisco State University and curricular changes at campuses like University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia University. These programs institutionalized scholarship by scholars such as Ronald Takaki (Ron Takaki), Gary Okihiro (also cited earlier), Evelyn Nakano Glenn, Emma Gee (as organizer-scholar), and others. The movement fostered pan-Asian identity formation across communities including Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Filipino Americans, Korean Americans, and South Asian Americans, influencing subsequent generations engaged with issues raised by organizations like the Asian Law Caucus.
The movement built alliances and sometimes tensions with the Civil Rights Movement, Black Panther Party, Brown Power organizers such as those in the Chicano Movement, and antiwar coalitions including groups centered in New York City and San Francisco. Joint campaigns involved cross-organizational collaboration with the United Farm Workers and exchanges with international solidarity activists connected to Philippine independence advocates, Korean independence movements, and student radicals linked to May 1968 in France.
Long-term effects include the proliferation of ethnic studies across the United States, legal and policy victories affecting immigration and housing, heightened visibility of Asian American political actors in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, and a foundation for later movements addressing racial justice, such as contemporary advocacy by organizations descended from earlier groups like the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. The movement's archives, preserved in institutions such as the Bancroft Library and community centers in Manilatown, continue to inform scholarship and activism.
Category:Social movements in the United States Category:Asian American history Category:1960s in the United States Category:1970s in the United States