Suchergebnisse

The history of the concept of the "yellow peril" in US relations with China & Japan is traced from the late 1880s to the present. This concept became embedded in the public consciousness as the US established itself as a world power. Popular literature & press stories on Asia & Asians heavily reinforced the racial stereotypes. The yellow peril manifested itself as China, 1880-1907, when China was considered a military threat to the West, & Chinese immigrants were pouring into the western US. The Japanese took on the role after their 1904/05 war with Russia. The People's Republic of China & North Korea, & then China & Vietnam, followed in the role. A temporarily prosperous Japan became a threat again in the early l980s, but since then, the role has been China's. The effects of the yellow peril mystique on Asian Americans & racial discrimination are discussed. M. Pflum

A response to Andrew Gyory's "A Reply to Stanford Lyman" (2000). Gyory's assertion that the author's work is representative of a developing ideological cold war among historians of race & immigration in the US is deemed inaccurate; specifically, it is contended that the issue of American exceptionalism has been debated for almost two centuries. Gyory's separation of Chinese workers into "contracted" & "immigrant" groups fails & actually serves to undermine the differentiation of "coolies" from "contract laborers." Gyory's claim that the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was molded & used by politicians to gain working-class votes is challenged. In addition, Gyory's central assertion that Eastern white American workers were able to set aside their racial prejudice during the 1870s is questioned on the grounds of inadequate evidence. Indeed, the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act itself is viewed as challenging Gyory's contention. J. W. Parker

Scholarship that has either defended or criticized Gunnar Myrdal's (1944) comprehensive study of the African American experience is reviewed. Although Myrdal's study is praised for discussing the black experience in the US, sociological methodology, & the role of women in US society, his text is further distinguished for offering an integrated social & psychological solution to problematic US race relations in the notion of the "American Creed." It is contended that Myrdal's strongest critics during the mid-20th century were those individuals who defended segregation, eg, J. Edgar Hoover. Myrdal's rank-order thesis that expounded southern society's aversion of miscegenation is compared with more contemporary attitudes toward racial intermarriage. It is asserted that the explosion of race relations prompted the reexamination of Myrdal's work during the mid-1960s & mid-1990s. The tendency for contemporary scholarship to concentrate on the material aspects of Myrdal's argument while disregarding the spiritual elements is noted. Three forms of criticism against Myrdal's work are identified: (1) the rejection of the American Creed's ability to end racism; (2) the perception of the US as two nations; & (3) the valuation of multiculturalism & repudiation of assimilationism. However, it is stated that some scholars have continued to argue Myrdal's perspective by opposing affirmative action & multiculturalism. Using John Higham's argument that the US has experienced three Reconstructions, it is concluded that a fourth Reconstruction is needed to resolve race relations in the US. J. W. Parker