Afro-Asian Intimacies: The Long History of Solidarity and Community Building

Catalog description

In this course, we will examine the historical encounters, shared struggles, cultural connections as well as moments of tension between Black and Asian diasporic groups in the United States. Building on the recent scholarly efforts to uncover the long roots in Afro-Asian struggles and the important voices from these communities, this course explores questions of identities, the specter of interethnic/interracial conflicts, and the promise of cross-racial coalitions. From the outset of American history, Africans and Asians have been linked in a shared tradition of resistance to class and racial exploitation and oppression. The era of slave emancipation witnessed the arrival of Asiatic coolie laborers, a historical transition that has presumably symbolized progress from the barbaric slave trade to racially coded immigration laws. This course will explore how these sites of encounters have created or undermined the Afro-Asian community buildings, from the racial formation of the coolie laborers to new forms of culture and politics. In particular, the emphasis will be placed on the questions of identities and the legacy of cross-racial solidarities that range from the racial formation of coolies, black radicalism’s relationship with the Japanese Empire, the 1960s Civil Rights Movements, the LA Uprisings in 1992, and the contemporary Black Lives Matter and Anti-Asian Hate Movements.