The Asian American Political Alliance
“Asian Americans were never your quiet, passive-aggressive, model minority. We’re still not. We’re out there raising hell—fighting for our families, our communities, and ourselves. Try putting this in your chop suey.”
Declaration of the Asian American Political Alliance, 1969. The 1960’s was a period that stained the United States’ history with anger and discontent. Indeed, it was a time were African Americans, Chicanos and other ethnic minorities felt lost in a culture of standardized racism and discrimination. Generally speaking, people were in the search of their identities while struggling to balance the importance of their immigrant roots with their integrity to America. The second or even third generation of young immigrants gradually became involved in this cause by getting involved in various movements mostly lead by college students. Indeed, College Campuses were the most favorable environments for youth activism since it represented a place where people from different religious and cultural backgrounds came together to strive for a common goal of being successful in life through academic enrichment. One particularly interesting youth activist group was the Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) born in Berkeley in 1969.
Based on the example of the AAPA , this paper will first analyze the goals and reasons that motivated the youth to take action, and then describe the means and tactics used. Finally, it will show the impact that the movement had on the American society through a cross-cultural comparison of the movement with another example from overseas. The Asian American Political Alliance (AAPA) was founded by two UC Berkeley students Yuji Ichioka and Emma Gee who gathered asian americans students together to help them combat the oppression and fight for the restoration of their history and heritage