Transpacific Antiracism: Afro-Asian Solidarity in 20th-Century Black America, Japan, and Okinawa

256 Pages·2013·2.26 MB·English

by  Yuichiro Onishi

Transpacific Antiracism
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Transpacific Antiracism
Afro-Asian Solidarity in Twentieth-Century
Black America, Japan, and Okinawa
Yuichiro Onishi
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2013 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Onishi, Yuichiro.
Transpacific antiracism : Afro-Asian solidarity in twentieth-century
Black America, Japan, and Okinawa / Yuichiro Onishi.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-6264-6 (cl : alk. paper)
1. African Americans — Race identity — History — 20th century.
2. African Americans — Relations with Japanese — H istory — 2 0th century.
3. African Americans — Foreign public opinion, Japanese. 4. Du Bois, W. E. B.
(William Edward Burghardt), 1868– 1963 — Political and social views.
5.  Anti-racism—United States—History—20th century. 6. Anti-racism—
Japan—History—20th century. 7. African Americans—Study and teaching—
Japan—History—20th century. 8. Okinawa-shi (Japan)—Race relations—
History — 20th century. I. Title.
E185.625.O55 2013
305.896'073052 — dc23 2012038064
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
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
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Notes on Japanese Sources and Names xi
Introduction: Du Bois’s Challenge 1
Part I: Discourses
1 New Negro Radicalism and Pro-Japan Provocation 19
2 W. E. B. Du Bois’s Afro-Asian Philosophy of World History 54
Part II: Collectives
3 The Making of “Colored-Internationalism” in Postwar Japan 97
4 The Presence of (Black) Liberation in Occupied Okinawa 138
Conclusion: We Who Become Together 183
Notes 189
Bibliography 217
Index 233
About the Author 243
>> v
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Acknowledgments
I consider myself a fortunate one to have both Peter Rachleff and David
Roediger, great historians of race and labor, as my mentors. This fortu-
itousness, I have come to appreciate, has much to do with the commu-
nity of thinkers, writers, and activists from which both Peter and Dave
came that I found nearly two decades ago. Upon entry, I latched onto
the ways of studying and writing U.S. history tightly bound up with
“history making.” I am deeply indebted to them for their visions, advice,
close reading, utmost sensitivity toward the writer’s craft, and above all
unwavering solidarity. Equally pivotal to my intellectual development
were Jeani O’Brien, Erika Lee, and Ted Farmer. Their enthusiasm kept
me above water while I completed my dissertation at the University of
Minnesota, and their feedback on my work came without missing a
beat to help me achieve analytical sharpness.
Through the years, funding for research came from multiple sources
at the University of Minnesota: the Interdisciplinary Center for the
Study of Global Change; the Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Seminar;
the Department of History; the Program in Asian American Studies;
the Office of Equity and Diversity; and the College of Liberal Arts. Also
vital were the research award from the Professional Staff Congress at
The City University of New York and participation in the Network Sum-
mer Faculty Enrichment Program at New York University, specifically
the seminar titled Modern Jazz and the Political Imagination convened
by Robin D. G. Kelley. Furthermore, comments and research assistance
from Shinoda Toru, Paul Barclay, David Tucker, Furukawa Hiromi,
Furukawa Tetsushi, Takamine Tomokazu, John Russell, and staff at the
Center for the Study of Cooperative Human Relations at Saitama Uni-
versity and the Okinawa City Hall opened up a new horizon of possi-
bilities. My dear friend Toru-san continues to be my interlocutor in all
>> vii
viii << Acknowledgments
aspects of a study in transpacific racial formation and transformation,
and I remain, above all, indebted to Professor Furukawa Hiromi (1927–
2012), who pioneered the transpacific approach to the study of African
American history when others paid little attention.
My first two years as a graduate student in history at the University
of Minnesota were foundational. I took seminars taught by Angela
Dillard, David W. Noble, the late Rudolph J. Vecoli, Rose Brewer, and
David Roediger, through which I not only matured intellectually but
also found a group of fellow graduate students who exhibited commit-
ment to keep race studies in the folds of social movements. With much
respect, I am thinking fondly of Jennifer Guglielmo, Alex Lubin, May Fu,
Adrian Gaskins, Tom Sabatini, Todd Michney, Marjorie Bryer, Jay Wen-
delberger, Ben Maegi, Mark Soderstrom, Robert Frame, Matt Basso, and
Deborah Henry. I also met along the way a number of wonderful peers
and friends. My thanks extend to Kazuyo Kubo, Taku Suzuki, the late
Albert Matongo, the late Josie Fowler, Joel Helfrich, Seulky and Michael
McInneshin, Michael Lansing, Brad Jarvis, David LaVigne, Mike Sizer,
Andy Carhart, Matt Carhart, Jason Eden, and Lisong Liu.
My first academic appointment was in the Center for Ethnic Studies
at Borough of Manhattan Community College of The City University
of New York. I met fantastic colleagues who mentored me, offered first-
rate support, and extended kindness. I want to especially thank Segundo
Pantoja, Ana Daniels, Michelle Rief, Ron Doviak, Chris Stamos, Hsing-
Lih Chou, Rebecca Hill, Khalil Koromantee, Peter Nguyen, James Blake,
John Montanez, and Michael Gillespie. I am also very thankful to my
students. Their passion for learning challenged me and made me want
to become a better teacher. Returning to the University of Minnesota, I
entered the new and old networks of support. I thank my colleagues in
the Department of African American & African Studies and the Asian
American Studies Program: Walt Jacobs, Charlene Hayes, Adrienne
Todd-Walden, Rose Brewer, John Wright, Keletso Atkins, Vicki Coif-
man, Keith Mayes, Alexs Pate, Njeri Githire, Tade Okediji, Angaluki
Muaka, Scott Redd, Jigna Desai, Erika Lee, Josephine Lee, Karen Ho,
Rich Lee, Lisa Park, Teresa Swartz, Mai Na Lee, Kale Fajardo, and Saeng-
many Ratsabout. Encouragement and support also came from Hy Ber-
man, David Pellow, Catherine Squires, and Zenzele Isoke. I particularly
want to extend my thanks to Rose, Jigna, and David for mentorship.
Acknowledgments >> ix
During the past four years, David Roediger, Peter Rachleff, Scott
Kurashige, Sophia Kim, and anonymous reviewers at NYU Press and
the University of Minnesota Press read the entire manuscript closely,
offering criticisms and suggestions to help me achieve clarity and coher-
ence, both conceptually and analytically. For this, my book is stronger.
I also want to express my gratitude to Ben Maegi, David LaVigne, Paul
Barclay, George Lipsitz, Gerald Horne, Nikhil Pal Singh, V. P. Franklin,
Ernest Allen Jr., Jeffrey Perry, Shinoda Toru, Furukawa Tetsushi, David
Haekwon Kim, Mark Nowak, John Wright, Jigna Desai, Josephine Lee,
Teresa Swartz, Kale Fajardo, Kelly Quinn, and the fellow participants
of The Graduate Center/CUNY’s Faculty Fellowship Publications Pro-
gram convened by Virginia Sanchez-Korrol. At different stages, each
one of them read or heard a portion of my work and offered comments
and encouragement. Finally, working with NYU Press, I found much-
needed guidance. Eric Zinner, Ciara McLaughlin, and Alicia Kirin
Nadkarni have helped elevate my work to a whole new dimension. I
am also grateful for Andrew Katz’s copyediting and Robert Swanson’s
indexing in the final stage of manuscript preparation.
Throughout, my father, Onishi Hiroshi, and my sister, Hoshiai Ma-
miko, in Japan never cast doubt. Steadfast support also came from Oni-
shi Keiko, Hoshiai Hiroshi, Takeshi and Hana, Yumiko obachama, my
grandmother Ichikawa Michiko, Yamaguchi Kazuko and Hiroichi, and
above all the late Onishi Kiichi and Tomiko, my paternal grandparents,
who lived a very long life. The entire Mase family has been generous
with me, and Mase Shinobu and Takeshi will be my lifelong friends. So
will Yohji Shionoya, who is, like me, a transplant in Minnesota. Finally,
I have known the Kim family — Janice, Dan, Greg, and omonim, now
my mother-in-law — for a long time, nearly half my life. Your kindness
means so much to me.
My wife, Sophia, from the very beginning, when we first met at
Macalester, has been integral to my journey. A superb writer who pays
as much attention to all-too-often-overlooked details as tone and tex-
ture in both life and writing, especially how they are all layered, the
markings of her influence in my thinking have acquired gravity over
the years. I owe my personal and intellectual formations to her. Now
with our son we continue to widen the path we have always traveled
with much anticipation. This book is in loving memory of my mother,