Immigration and American Popular Culture: An Introduction (Nation of Newcomers)

313 Pages·2006·2.136 MB·English

by  Rachel Rubin, Jeffrey Melnick

Immigration
and
American
Popular
Culture
nation of newcomers
Immigrant History as American History
Matthew Jacobson and Werner Sollors
general editors
Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America
Ji-Yeon Yuh
Feeling Italian: The Art of Ethnicity in America
Thomas J. Ferraro
Constructing Black Selves: Caribbean American Narratives and the
Second Generation
Lisa D. McGill
Transnational Adoption: A Cultural Economy of Race,
Gender, and Kinship
Sara K. Dorow
Immigration and American Popular Culture: An Introduction
Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick
rachel rubin and
jeffrey melnick
Immigration
and
American
Popular
Culture
An Introduction
a
new york university press
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2007by New York University
All rights reserved
Rubin, Rachel, 1964–
Immigration and American popular culture : an introduction /
Rachel Rubin and Jeffrey Melnick.
p. cm. — (Nation of newcomers)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-7553-0(cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-7553-5(cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8147-7552-3(pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8147-7552-7(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Immigrants—Cultural assimilation. 2. United States—Ethnic relations.
3. Popular culture—United States. I. Melnick, Jeffrey Paul. II. Title.
III. Series.
JV6465.R83 2006
304.8'73—dc22 2006017648
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of Joshua Rubin (1962–2002)

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Aliens, Inc. 1
1. Hollywood, 1930: Jewish
Gangster Masquerade 17
2. Los Angeles, 1943: Zoot Suit
Style, Immigrant Politics 49
3. Broadway, 1957: West Side
Story and the Nuyorican Blues 88
4. Monterey, 1967: The Hippies
Meet Ravi Shankar 129
5. South Bronx, 1977: Jamaican
Migrants, Born Jamericans, and
Global Music 176
6. Cyberspace, Y2K: Giant
Robots, Asian Punks 212
Afterword: Chelsea, 2006:
Wandering Popular Culture 248
Appendix: Timeline 256
Works Cited 267
Index 285
About the Authors 302
vii

acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Werner Sollors and Matthew Ja-
cobson, series editors of A Nation of Newcomers, for the invitation to
undertake this rich and rewarding investigation. Eric Zinner and
Emily Park, at New York University Press, have been ideal editors—
patient, challenging, and supportive—and for this we offer our deep
thanks.
We would also like to thank the Joiner Center for the Study of War
and Social Consequences and the Institute for Asian American Studies
at the University of Massachusetts Boston, as well as the Faculty Re-
search Facility and the Board of Research at Babson College, for their
material support of this project. Deep thanks are also due to Lynn
Weiss, Charlie McGovern, and the American Studies Colloquium of the
College of William and Mary; Reed Ueda and the urban history seminar
of the Massachusetts Historical Society; Paul Watanabe and the John F.
Kennedy Library Summer Institute for Teachers; Mary Jane Treacy and
her class “Multicultural Women’s Studies” at Simmons College; Marc
Lee Raphael and the other panelists at the “‘Jewishness’ and the World
of ‘Difference’” symposium at the College of William and Mary; and
Fred Gardaphe and the other participants at the “Gangster Life and
Violence in America” symposium held at the Humanities Institute at
Stony Brook, for the helpful feedback they provided.
In addition to being our role model in her own scholarship and so
many other things, Judy Smith carefully read this book and offered us
a remarkable mix of powerful support and the challenge to think it all
through in new and different ways. Her intellectual guidance made this
book so much better than it would otherwise have been and her friend-
ship over the years has been so important to us both. Jim Smethurst’s
influence on this book will be apparent to anyone who knows his fine
work in African American and ethnic expressive arts. We thank him
for his meticulous readings, his productive leads, and his consistent
intellectual generosity. Gary Wilder helped us immeasurably as he com-
mented on drafts and kept us focused on the world history framing our
investigation. Aaron Lecklider is a trusted colleague and friend, and
ix