Interracial Justice Conflict and Reconciliation in Post-Civil Rights America

9780814796962

0814796966

"A voice of reason, wisdom and compassion, Eric Yamamoto brings rich practical experience and analytic insight to the crucial subject of healing and reconciliation between groups divided by histories of oppression and mistreatment. This book is vital reading for anyone interested in creating a just world. --Martha Minow, Harvard Law School, Author of Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History after Genocide"A stunningly original and moving work that dramatically expands the national dialogue on race. . . . Yamamoto presents a multidisciplinary, praxis-oriented approach to confronting conflict among communities of color. He provides us with the concepts, the methods, and the language to understand and grapple with the messy nature of reconciliation between racialized groups. His vision of interracial justice is compelling, inspiring, and essential to averting the fire next time." --Michael Omi, University of California, Berkeley"Remarkable. A must read for all activists." --Yuri Kochiyama"Yamamoto's analysis offers an important insight: A group can simultaneously be oppressed by others more powerful than it and also oppress others less powerful. . . . A pragmatic model for how interracial justice may someday be real." --The Hawaii Herald "Inspiring and energizing, disturbing and challenging, informative and inquisitive,Interracial Justiceis a thoroughly researched, even ground-breaking, tour de force." ÙBerta Esperanza Hernßndez-Truyol, St. John's UniversityThe United States in the twenty-first century will be a nation of so-called minorities. Shifts in the composition of the American populace necessitate a radical change in the ways we as a nation think about race relations, identity, and racial justice.Once dominated by black-white relations, discussions of race are increasingly informed by an awareness of strife among nonwhite racial groups. While white influence remains important in nonwhite racial conflict, the time has come for acknowledgment of ways communities of color sometimes clash, and their struggles to heal the resulting wounds and forge strong alliances.Melding race history, legal theory, theology, social psychology, and anecdotes, Eric K. Yamamoto offers a fresh look at race and responsibility. He tells tales of explosive conflicts and halting conciliatory efforts between African Americans and Korean and Vietnamese immigrant shop owners in Los Angeles and New Orleans. He also paints a fascinating picture of South Africa's controversial Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as a pathbreaking Asian American apology to Native Hawaiians for complicity in their oppression. An incisive and original work by a highly respected scholar,Interracial Justicegreatly advances our understanding of conflict and healing through justice in multiracial America.