Blog#2 Takaki & AAS

I never realized how little I knew about the mistreatment and victimization of Asian Americans in the United States until reading the pages from Strangers From A Different Shore and Asian American Studies. Of course I was aware that racism exists but I was unaware of the level of persecution that minorities, especially Asian Americans, have experienced up until this point in history. The hatred and discrimination that has been demonstrated by white Americans makes me feel sick and ashamed. It makes me sad to think that these people are still made to feel like intruders in their own homeland. So far this book has really put in perspective for me the obstacles that Asian Americans have faced in their effort to gain acceptance.

When reading Strangers From A Different Shore I found it odd that the Asian immigrants that helped form America are rarely mentioned in texts, while Europeans are almost entirely credited. As stated in the text the early Asians were the ones “who transformed the western deserts into farmlands, built the transcontinental railroad , and toiled in factories from San Francisco to North Adams, Massachusetts.” I didn’t know all this.

In Asian American Studies, I found it hard to read about the hate crimes that occurred between 1995 and 1996 and recent years. I had to put the book down. Innocent people being abused and murdered because of their “racial uniform” is beyond disgusting and I hope that this book and others will help to educate people and eliminate the racism that is so prominent in America today.