Free Chol Soo Lee & Asian American Panethnicity

PS140O: Projecting Power

Prof Wasow

2025-02-04

Housekeeping

• “For my friends, anything; for my enemies, the law.” — Oscar R. Benavides, President of Peru (1933-1939)

  • Another example: Biden pardoned son

Quizzes

• Quizzes

  – Week 5, Tues 2/18

  – Week 7, Tues 3/4

  – Week 9, Tues 3/18

  – Week 11, Tues 4/8

  – Update Week 13, Tues 4/22

Wong Kim Ark

Early Life of Wong Kim Ark

• Born in San Francisco, California
• Born either 1870 or 1873
• Chinese immigrants, legally residing in the U.S.
• Close-knit immigrant family
• Strong connection to Chinese roots despite U.S. birth

Cycled Between US & China

• In 1877, Family returns to China temporarily
• Grew up balancing dual cultural identities
• Returns at age 10, brought back by an uncle
• Grows up in San Francisco’s Chinatown

Early Adulthood

• Works as a cook in Chinatown
• Navigates life as a Chinese American in a restrictive society
• In 1895, Denied re-entry into the U.S. after trip to China
• Held on a steamship in San Francisco Bay for four months

Chinese Exclusion Act

• Enacted in 1882
• First major law restricting immigration based on nationality
• Specifically targeted Chinese laborers
• Barred Chinese laborers from entering the U.S.
• Created a precedent for immigration restrictions based on race and nationality

Legal Challenges to the Act

• Early legal battles largely unsuccessful
• Courts often upheld the restrictive measures
• Importance of finding the right plaintiff
• Challenge the denial of citizenship rights to U.S.-born children of Chinese immigrants

Collins, Foote and Wong Kim Ark

• SF Attorney George Collins wanted Justice Department to bring a Chinese birthright citizenship case before Supreme Court
• In 1895 American Law Review, Collins advocated for international law view of jus sanguinis citizenship
• Collins convinced District Attorney Henry Foote, who searched for a viable test case

Selection of Wong Kim Ark

• His U.S. birth provided a strong case for citizenship under the 14th Amendment
• Legal team from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
• Prepared to argue based on birthright citizenship principles

Arguments Presented

• Focused on the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause
• Argued that anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen, regardless of parents’ nationality
• Case escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court
• Presented a pivotal opportunity to challenge existing interpretations

Outcome and Legacy

• Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wong Kim Ark in 1898
• Sets a precedent for jus soli (right of the soil) or birthright citizenship for children of foreign nationals
• Successful use of a well-chosen plaintiff to challenge and change immigration law
• Wong Kim Ark case remains a cornerstone of citizenship law in the U.S.

Trump Challenging Birthright Citizenship

• Aim to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants
• Legal basis questioned, relates to “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”
• Supreme Court’s longstanding interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment
• Recent federal court injunctions against the order

Espiritu: Chapter 1

“Focusing on Asian Americans, this study asks how, under what circumstances, and to what extent groups of diverse national origins can come together as a new, enlarged panethnic group.”

Espiritu: Ethnicity and Panethnicity

• “In November 1969, eighty-nine American Indians seized Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.”
• “Identifying themselves as ‘Indians of All Tribes.’”
• “They occupied the island for nineteen months, intending to turn it into a cultural, educational, and spiritual center.”

Spanish Coalition for Jobs

• “In June 1971, twenty-three Puerto Rican and Mexican American community organizations in Chicago formed the Spanish Coalition for Jobs.”
• “Charging job discrimination, the coalition mobilized as a ‘Latino group’ against two Chicago employers.”
• “These protests led to job openings and job-training programs for Latinos.”

Discuss: Why late 1960s, early 1970s?

Let’s hear from: Patrick, Danielle, Katie, Liz

Asian American Campaigns

• The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s contributed to subsequent radical minority movements (Black, Brown, Red, and Yellow Power)
• “In 1968, activists at the UC Berkeley founded one of the first pan-Asian political organizations: the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA)”

The Scope of Ethnic Identities

• “These events call attention to the changing scope of ethnic identities.”
• “These developments cannot be explained adequately by studies of ethnicity that focus on the quantitative transformations of ethnic consciousness.”

Panethnic Movements

• “Pan (the Greek word for ‘all’) has been used primarily to characterize macronationalisms.”
• “Examples include the quest for religious unity (Pan-Islam), hemispheric cooperation (Pan-Americanism), and racial solidarity (Pan-Africanism).”

Emergence of Panethnic Groups in U.S.

• “In the United States, examples of newly forged panethnic groups include the Native American, the Latino American, and the Asian American.”
• “These groups enclose diverse peoples who are nevertheless seen as homogeneous by outsiders.”

Theoretical Questions on Panethnicity

• “Focusing on Asian Americans, this study asks how, under what circumstances, and to what extent groups of diverse national origins can come together as a new, enlarged panethnic group.”
• “The theoretical question concerns the construction of larger-scale affiliations.”

Importance of Ethnic Change

• “The study of panethnicity deals with the creation of new ethnic boundaries and intergroup cooperation.”
• “It calls attention to the unforeseen persistence of ethnicity and the mutability of ethnic boundaries in the modern world.”

Theories of Ethnicity: An Overview

• “Ethnic consciousness continues to thrive in contemporary societies, despite Marxist and functionalist predictions.”
• “A variety of theories have sought to explain the tenacity of ethnic boundaries.”

Discuss: How might Espiritu respond to Chol Soo Lee?

Let’s hear from: Kayla, Fabian, Praceda, Daniela

Challenges and Reassessment of Ethnicity Theories

• “Whatever their differences, primordialists and instrumentalists both assume that ethnic groups are largely voluntary collectivities defined by national origin.”
• “The phenomenon of panethnicity challenges these assumptions.”

Discuss: In prior movies, where have we seen more primordial or instrumental depictions of race and ethnicity?

Let’s hear from: Andrew, Lily, Brynn, Ariana

Alternate Model

• “However, to conceptualize ethnicity as a matter of choice is to ignore ‘categorization,’ the process whereby one group ascriptively classifies another. Categorization is intimately bound up with power relations.”

Discuss: What are some ways categorization operates in Free Chol Soo Lee?

Let’s hear from: Victoria, Ashley, Andy, Ying Ying

Product of Categorization

• “Panethnicity—the generalization of solidarity among ethnic subgroups—is largely a product of categorization.”
• “This study examines the continuing interaction between internal and external factors that forms and transforms pan-Asian ethnicity.”

Video Essay

Break

Discuss: What institutions influence ethnic identity?

Let’s hear from: Arman, Ramona, Jazzy, Amy

Discuss: How might prison influence ethnic identity?

Let’s hear from: Luci, Tucker, Tennley, Alisa

Does Prison Harden Inmates?

“There are similar punishments and crimes called by the same name, but there are no two beings equal in regard to their morals; and every time that convicts are put together, there exists necessarily a fatal influence of some upon others, because, in the association of the wicked, it is not the less guilty who act upon the more criminal, but the more depraved who influence those who are less so.”
— Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocqueville, 1833

Inmate Intake Form

Computing Security Custody Score

How is “Treatment” Assigned?

Does the “Treatment” Vary?

Summary Statistics

Security Custody Score & Inmate Security Level

Security Custody Score & Rearrest Rate

Espiritu: Chapter 2

Coming Together: The Asian American Movement

• Nineteenth-century Asian immigrants identified by specific regional origins, not as “Asians.”
• Early Asian communities in the U.S. remained culturally and politically distinct.
• Exclusion acts and quotas treated Asian peoples as a homogeneous group, despite their distinct identities.

Early Intergroup Relations and Disidentification

• Asian communities maintained distinct images and often denigrated other Asian groups.
• Disidentification practiced to avoid blame and negative consequences associated with other groups.
• Anti-Asian exclusion movements and wartime pressures highlighted the need for disidentification among Asian groups.

Exclusion Movements and Japanese Distinctiveness

• Japanese immigrants distanced themselves from Chinese to avoid negative associations and potential exclusion.
• Efforts included adopting American clothing and food to differentiate themselves from Chinese immigrants.
• Despite efforts to disassociate, Japanese immigrants faced similar discriminatory actions as the Chinese.

World War II and Japanese Internment

• Post-Pearl Harbor, widespread incarceration of Japanese Americans, including U.S.-born citizens.
• Chinese, Koreans, and Filipinos wore identification to avoid being mistaken for Japanese.
• Inter-Asian solidarity was rare; instead, other groups distanced themselves from Japanese during the war.

Inter-Asian Labor Movements and Pan-Asian Solidarity

• 1920 collaboration between Japanese and Filipino plantation laborers in Hawaii marked early inter-Asian solidarity.
• By combining forces, they conducted a significant strike, although it ultimately failed.
• Pan-Asian cooperation in labor movements was based on class solidarity rather than cultural or racial unity.

Social and Demographic Changes Leading to Pan-Asianism

• Post-WWII changes allowed for increased interaction and communication between different Asian groups in the U.S.
• A significant increase in the native-born Asian population facilitated the emergence of a pan-Asian consciousness.
• Language barriers decreased and intergroup contact increased, setting the stage for pan-Asian unity.

From Immigrant to Native Population

• Shift from an immigrant to a predominantly native-born population changed the dynamics within Asian communities.
• Reduction in nationalistic and cultural barriers among younger, American-born Asians.
• Increased intermarriages and social interactions across different Asian backgrounds.

The Watershed of World War II

• WWII highlighted the racism at home and discredited notions of white superiority.
• Post-war civil rights movements and changes in public attitudes led to decreased residential and social segregation among Asians.
• Asian American residential patterns diversified, leading to more mixed communities.

Conclusion

• The pan-Asian consciousness emerged from a combination of social, political, and demographic changes.
• Young Asian Americans used the pan-Asian identity to express solidarity and mobilize against discrimination.
• The movement was characterized by its youth, student base, and emphasis on political activism and racial identity.

Discuss: How else does power operate in Free Chol Soo Lee?

Let’s hear from: Madeleine, Erika, Harnoor, Qing

Conclusion