Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White

I can honestly say this: I will never, ever be able to listen to a racist comment about Asian Americans again - even an unintended one -without thinking of what I've learned in this book. There were times I cried while reading, considering the life-long "otherness" foisted on Asian Americans by white Americans, including myself.A few chapters into this book, I was sitting in an exit row on a plane that was getting ready for take-off. The flight attendant came down the aisle to ask the perfunctory questions of us in those seats, of our willingness to die for the cause and all. The flight attendants are required to get a verbal `yes' from each passenger in the exit row. Sitting across the aisle from me was a middle aged Asian American business man, dressed impeccably, clearly a frequent flier (as most people in the exit row are). After explaining the situation, the flight attendant turned to this man and asked, "do you speak English?" he responded, "yes", with the complete lack of accent only available to a 2nd or 3rd (or longer) generation Asian American. I almost jumped out of my seat, with my new awareness of what it would be like to be asked questions like this (and worse), have assumptions made, and be treated as "other", and "not us", for your entire life. (I actually turned to the man, and a bit shaky with my brand-new righteous indignation on behalf of all Asian Americans, said, "I apologize for the stupidity of Caucasians." He gave me the odd look I deserved.)Here's the rub: how do I - how do we - engage in this critical conversations without somewhat perpetuating or adding to the "otherness" sin against Asian Americans? By the very fact that I am trying to figure out how to be a part of change - in my own heart, first, and in our culture in some way - I am concurrently, and by necessity, bringing attention to the uniqueness (read: otherness) of the Asian American experience. How can I pursue the friendship I think I would really enjoy with the Asian American youth worker in san diego I met through all this mess, have conversations about stuff like this, and yet still not treat him as my token Asian American friend, as my personal guilt-assuager, or as my "project" - all positions that do violence to him.The book actually addresses this tension, explaining (at length) why the ideal of "colorblindness" doesn't work. but, either I didn't quite understand that part, or I thought the final conclusion of "live in the tension" wasn't quite satisfying enough.Anyhow. I really do recommend this book, especially for anyone who would like to grow in their understanding of the Asian American experience and the issues that continue to surround the racism we don't tend to talk about in America.

Normally, when I finish a book and/or no longer want to keep it, I would donate it to the local Goodwill store. This book is special; it went straight to the recycle bin after skimming it for an hour. Maybe I can save someone a few bucks and a couple hours of their life by writing this review...Yes - the themes in the book are real - people all have their own personal prejudices forged by their experiences and stereotypes they have of others which they may be unaware of. And that some of these stereotypes are affecting the Asian-American community in a negative way. However, instead of presenting the raw facts, the author presents a highly opinionated, and, at times angry, perspective on the matter in a rather immature manner.I could no longer continue reading the book after I read chapter 2 when the author criticizes how Asian-Asians (rather than Asian-Americans) are reinforcing the "perpetual foreigner" stereotype by asking "Which country are you from?" He appears to lack cultural empathy - not realizing that Asian-Asians are mostly unaware of the cultural sensitivities of (Asian-) American culture. In another instance, he seems surprised that "conservative" White midwesterners were appalled at the injustice of the murder of Vincent Chin, as though he were implying that they are racists.That is not to say that this book isn't full of facts (with citations and all) that prove that Asian-American, even to this day, suffer from the consequences of racism (whether consciously intended or not). Sadly, (and ironically) the facts are tainted by the author's own prejudice, which practically reduces his message to that of an angry rant. And there are plenty of those on the Internet.

Wu provides information on how racism affects Asians as well as Blacks in the U.S. in a way that many who write about anti-racism and racial issues do not. Blacks, Asians, and those who are viewed by Whites as less than "American" (by those who use being middle class or upper class White as their norm for being a U.S. citizen) by others need to be allies against this racism.

Decent read, content was very good. Goes into great depth on breaking out of the normal black-white dichotomy discourse

I greatly enjoy this author, I heard his story during the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity a few years back. He give great insight on the issues on race and ethnicity beyond just black and white. I highly recommend this book.

Great book. As an educator people often ask for books that are easy to read & comprehend around social justice. I would recommend this for sure. I've referred to it many times.

A very good book