Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting. Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity

229 Pages·2002·1.96 MB·English

by  Vijay Prashad

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting
 
“In this brilliant exploration of the often surprising historical solidarities linking
black and South Asian experiences,Prashad demolishes the conservative conceits
of ethnic essentialism and so-called multiculturalism.Using clever examples from
Rastafarianism to Bruce Lee,he shows how struggles against shared oppression in
the crucibles of the Caribbean plantation and U.S.metropolis have shaped a dy-
namic Afro-Asian interface in popular culture.In the usual dead zone of debate
about identity politics,this little book is a refreshing oasis of original insight and
unexpectedaffinity.” — ,authorof
City ofQuartzand Magical Urbanism
“Finally! A book that just might bring an end to all the silly talk of ‘identity poli-
tics.’Vijay Prashad’s powerful,original essays reveal that neither brown skins nor
cultural commonalities explain the long and dynamic history of Afro-Asian soli-
darity.Rather,the answer lay in dreams of emancipation,dreams borne of Empire
but nourished in the imaginations of so-called colored people who had to learn to
trust each other in the trenches.This is one complicated and uncompleted journey
weallneedtoknowabout.” — . . ,authorof
Freedom Dreams and Yo’Mama’s Disfunktional!
In 1992 the U.S. media was treated to of the Black Panthers, African- and Asian-
“conflict” between blacks and Asians derived movements and cultures like all
during the Los Angeles uprising. The others, have been porous rather than dis-
event crystallized white-supremacist crete.
stereotypes of blacks as the “problem” Building on the work of Robin D. G.
minority and Asians as the “model.” Kelley, Prashad argues that these mo-
In this landmark work, historian Vijay ments of exchange and cooperation be-
Prashad refuses to engage the typical tween peoples of Asian and African de-
racial discussion that matches people of scent demonstrate a need to reexamine
color against each other while institution- the way we approach history. Multicultur-
alizing the primacy of the white majority. alism is not enough because it assumes a
Instead he examines more than five cen- certain cultural purity that doesn’t exist.
turies of remarkable historical evidence of Prashad offers instead the theory of poly-
cultural and political interaction between culturalism, in which our recognition of
blacks and Asians around the world, in this history of cultural interchange allows
which they have exchanged cultural and for solidarity forged by antiracism, rather
religious symbols, appropriated personas than a simple lip service to diversity.
and lifestyles, and worked together to
achieve political change. From the Shiv- Vijay Prashad is director and associate
ites of Jamaica, who introduced Ganja professor of international studies at Trinity
and dreadlocks to the Afro-Jamaicans; to College and the author of The Karma of
Ho Chi Minh the Garveyite; to Japanese- Brown Folk. He lives in Northampton,
American Richard Aoki, a charter member Massachusetts.
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e v e r y b o d y w a s
k u n g f u f i g h t i n g
AFRO-ASIAN CONNECTIONS AND
THE MYTH OF CULTURAL PURITY
V I J A Y P R A S H A D
BeaconPress
Boston
Beacon Press
25 Beacon Street
Boston,Massachusetts 02108-2892
www.beacon.org
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
© 2001 by Vijay Prashad
All rights reserved
First electronic reading edition 2002
Composition by Wilsted &Taylor Publishing Services
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Prashad Vijay.
Everybody was Kung Fighting : Afro-Asian connections and the myth of cultural purity /
Vijay Prashad.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8070-5015-6
ISBN 0-8070-5010-5 (hardcover :alk.paper)
1. African Americans—Relations with Asian Americans. 2.African Americans—Social conditions.
3. African Americans—Race identity. 4. Asian Americans—Social conditions. 5. Asian Americans—
Race identity. 6. Racism—United States. 7. Race—Social aspects—United States. 8. United
States—Race relations. 9. United States—Ethnic relations. I.Title.
E185.615 .P73 2001
305.8´00973—dc21 2001001771
Contents
ListofIllustrations vii
TheForethought:RawSkin ix
1 TheStrangeCareerofXenophobia 1
2 TheAmericanIdeology 37
3 CooliePurana 70
4 TheMerchantIsAlwaysaStranger 97
5 KungFusion:Organizethe’HoodUnderI-ChingBanners 126
Notes 150
Acknowledgments 200
Credits 204
Index 205
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Illustrations
IndianOceannobleman 1
MaoandDuBois 37
Coolielines,nineteenthcentury 70
YuriandMalcolm 97
NewHavencourthousesteps 126
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T h e F o r e t h o u g h t : R a w S k i n
Ifthesnakeshedshisskinbeforeanewskinisready,nakedhewillbe
intheworld,preytotheforcesofchaos.Withouthisskin,hewillbe
dismantled,losecoherenceanddie.Haveyou,mylittleserpents,a
newskin?1
MysenseofbeinganIndianintheworldismediatedthroughthestruggles
ofSouthAfricansforliberation.Somucharetheyapartofmethatwhen
ChrisHani,headoftheSouthAfricanCommunistPartyandamajorfigure
intheANC,wasassassinatedin,Iwasbroughttotears.Asateenager,
Irememberjoiningmyclassmatesinemotionaldiscussionsaboutthebattles
againstapartheid.WetalkedaboutGandhi’stimeinthatfar-offlandand
oftherelationshipbetweenIndiaandAfrica.Wesang,‘‘Amarraho,Nelson
Mandela’’(‘‘Beeternal,NelsonMandela’’).
WhenIcametotheUnitedStates,Ifellintothistradition,firstinthe
antiapartheidmovementoftheearlysandthenwithElSalvadorsoli-
daritywork.Iandmanyofmyimmigrantfriendsputourshoulderstothe
wheelofthesestruggles,tojointhediverseworldoftheU.S.Left.Names
likeSanjayAnand,AnnaLopez,NoelRodriquez,KarenMay,SidLemelle,
andsomanyotherscomplicatedouridentificationwiththemainfightsof
theday.ThoseofuswhocamefromothernationsfoundourAmericainthe
heartoftheglobalfightsforjustice.Thistendencytoworkacrossthelines
thatdivideuscontinuesinthefabricofthesocialjusticemovementsinthe
UnitedStates,whetherthroughtheconceptof‘‘allies’’inthequeerliberation
movementorelseincross-ethnicformationssuchasAsiansforMumiaand
theCenterforThirdWorldOrganizing.2
But all people ofcolor do not feel that their struggleis a shared one.
SomeofmySouthAsianbrethren,forexample,feelthatweshouldtakecare
ofourownandnotworryaboutthewoesofothers,thatweshouldearnas
muchmoneyaspossible,slideundertheradarofracism,andcareonlyabout
theprospectsofourownchildren.TomanyofusfromIndia,thisisanun-
comfortablebargain,butnonethelessitisonethatisnotunfamiliarinour
timesamongallpeople.3
Whitesupremacyreigns,asitdidthen,andblacknessisreviled.Who
canbegrudgethedesireamongpeopletoseekfellowshipintheirnewsociety,
tothrowthemselvesintotheculturalworldsoftheplaceinwhichtheylive?