Discussion (1L): Asian Americans Justice Struggles

Over the past eighteen months, coronavirus-related racism and anti-Asian hate violence have renewed perennial conversations about Asian American identity and advocacy in the United States. What does it mean to be Asian American? What is and has been the place of Asian Americans in broader social movements for racial justice? And what can the historical experiences of Asian Americans in resisting injustice teach us about Asian American activism, legal advocacy, and political struggles today? This seminar will explore these questions, among others, through reading and conversation around four key timeframes: 1) the Chinese Exclusion era of the late nineteenth century, which initiated decades of Asian immigrant exclusion but also spawned surprising legal resistance by early migrants; 2) the 1960s and 1970s, in which Asian America was created as a political project in tandem with Black and Third World liberation movements; 3) the post-9/11 period, where segments of the Asian American community confronted the recurrent framing of Asian Americans as security threats during the war on terror and beyond; and 4) the present moment, in which Asian Americans make and contest their place within multiracial movements addressing a host of pressing contemporary challenges. Throughout, this seminar will make visible the role and struggles of Asian Americans, broadly defined, in U.S. law, history, and social movements. Elements used in grading: Full attendance, reading of assigned materials, and active participation. The seminar will meet four times during the Fall quarter. Class meets 4:15-6:15pm, September 13, September 27, October 11, 4th session TBA.