Resistance in Paradise: Rethinking 100 Years of US Involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

204 Pages·2012·5.13 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 432 482
SO 029 368
Wei, Deborah, Ed.; Kamel, Rachael, Ed.
AUTHOR
Resistance in Paradise: Rethinking 100 Years of U.S.
TITLE
Involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia, PA.;
INSTITUTION
Philadelphia School District, PA. Office of Curriculum
Support.
ISBN-0-910082-33-2
ISBN
1998-00-00
PUB DATE
NOTE
202p.
American Friends Service Committee, Community Relations
AVAILABLE FROM
Division, 1501 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 ($12).
Guides - Classroom
Guides
Classroom -
Learner (051)
PUB TYPE
Teacher (052)
MF01/PC09 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
American Studies; Foreign Countries; *Imperialism;
DESCRIPTORS
Interdisciplinary Approach; International Relations; Latin
Americans; *Minority Groups; Pacific Americans; *Political
Attitudes; Political Power; Primary Sources; Resource
Materials; Secondary Education; Self Determination; Social
Studies; *United States History
Caribbean History; *Caribbean Islands; Foreign Intervention;
IDENTIFIERS
*Pacific Islands; Spanish American War
ABSTRACT
This teaching resource presents multiple perspectives of
U.S. history by introducing the voices of peoples who may feel disconnected
from the American Dream. Secondary level students are encouraged to
understand how the vision of history is shaped according to who is looking
and who is being seen. Organized in seven chapters, the document opens with
an introductory chapter examining the events and aftermath of the 1898
Spanish American War and U.S. intervention in Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawai'i,
American Samoa, the Philippines, and Cuba. Subsequent chapters present brief
historical overviews of each of the countries that came under U.S. rule at
that time. For each chapter, lessons, suggested learning activities, and
student handouts of readings are provided. The readings include primary
source materials from newspaper articles and political cartoons, historical
documents, and personal testimonies. A broad range of fictional and
non-fictional contemporary pieces are provided. The materials and activities
are appropriate for interdisciplinary use in history, social studies, or
Engli/sh courses and include role plays, debates, writing exercises, classroom
discussions, and the creation of stories, poems, and cartoons. A glossary,
list of historical and geographic names, and contributors notes conclude the
document.
(MM)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
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Points of view or opinions stated in this
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BEST COP? AM
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RESISTANCE
IN
PARADISE:
Rethinking 100 Years of U.S. Involvement
in the Caribbean and the Pacific
Edited by
Deborah Wei and Rachael Kamel
Na... .0"
American Friends Service Committee
in cooperation with
Office of Curriculum Support
School District of Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Cover illustration: "Hono," lithograph by Samoan artist Michel Tuffery.
(Another Tuffery lithograph, "Vaka E'a," appears on the student handout
pages after each lesson.) Both are copyright © 1991 by Michel Tuffery. Used
by permission.
Design: Gerry Henry
Resistance in Paradise is published by
American Friends Service Committee
in cooperation with
Community Relations Division
Office of Curriculum Support
1501 Cherry St.
School District of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA 19102
21 & Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19102
ISBN 0-910082-33-2
Copyright for reprinted material is retained by original holder.
All other material is copyright @ 1998 by the American Friends Service
Committee. All rights reserved.
The following material is used by permission:
Field, Michael. "Papuata Girls Boarding School," America Samoa, Nonviolence
and the Mau (University of Hawaii / Polynesian Press, 1994). Reprinted with
permission.
Field, Michael. "Black Saturday" from Mau: Samoa's Struggle for Freedom
(University of Hawaii / Polynesian Press, 1990). Reprinted with permission.
Figiel, Sia. "We" from Where We Once Belonged (Pasifika Press, 1996). Re-
printed with permission.
Mariposa (Fernandez, Maria Teresa). Ode to the Diasporican© 1995. 720 E.
213th Street, Bronx NY 10457. [phone]. Reprinted with permission.
McMullin, Dan Taulapapa. "The Shark" from The Demon Anchors, published
in Folauga, a Samoan-Language Journal for Young People. Vol. 2
(Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Ltd., 1998). Reprinted with
permission.
Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund. "Hawai'i's Natural Heritage" from Natural
History of the Hawaiian Islands, 1995. Reprinted with permission.
Smith, Wayne. Comments from "Island Under Siege: The U.S. Blockade of
Cuba" by Pedro Prada published by Ocean Press. Reprinted with permis-
sion.
Trask, Haunani Kay and Miliani Trask, "The Aloha Industry," Cultural
Survival Quarterly (Winter 1992). Reprinted with permission.
Verharen, Theodore. "0 le Solo o le Va o le Foagoago o le Lalolagi" from The
Samoan Islands, Vol. I, English translation from a German translation by Dr.
Augustin Kramer. (University of Hawaii Press, 1994) pp. 541-542. Reprinted
with permission.
Walker, Alice. "A Letter to President Clinton" from Anything We Love Can Be
Saved. Copyright @ 1997 by Alice Walker. Reprinted by permission of
Random House, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
4
Contents
Foreword
A Letter to the Teacher
vii
1. Reframing the Spanish-American War
in the History Curriculum
1
Baltazar Pinguel, Deborah Wei, Stephen R. Shalom
Lesson 1.1 History and Point of View
14
Lesson 1.2 Words, Words, Words
16
Lesson 1.3 Political Cartoons and Historical Context
19
Lesson 1.4 The Treaty of Paris
24
UNIT ONE: THE CARIBBEAN
2. Cuba
29
Juan Antonio Blanco, Rachael Kamel, Deborah Wei, Liz Hottel,
Deborah Menkart, Eric Joselyn
Lesson 2.1 Our America
40
Lesson 2.2 The Platt Amendment
44
Lesson 2.3 Role Play on the U.S. Embargo of Cuba
46
3. Puerto Rico
63
Johnny Irizarry, Maria Mills-Torres, Marta Moreno Vega, Anita Rivera
Lesson 3.1 Race and Identity
74
Lesson 3.2 La Borinqueria (The Song of Borinquen)
79
Lesson 3.3 Puerto Rico's Political Status
82
UNIT TWO: THE PACIFIC AND ASIA
4. American Samoa
87
Dan Taulapapa McMullin
Lesson 4.1 The Oral Tradition
94
Lesson 4.2. Economic Dependency
96
Lesson 4.3 Whose Education?
99
Lesson 4.4 The Influenza Epidemic of 1918
103
Lesson 4.5 Black Saturday
106
5
5. Guam, Mariana Islands
109
Anne Perez Hattori, Keith Lujan Camacho, Erwin Bordallo Manibusan,
Joaquin Cepeda Sablan, Mary Perez Hattori Sasaki
Lesson 5.1 Land Seizures
115
Lesson 5.2 The Sovereignty Movement
119
Lesson 5.3 Domination and Disrespect
122
Lesson 5.4 Culture and Resistance
124
6. Hawai'i
131
Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Wayne Wah Kwai Au, Noenoe Silva,
Nancy Aleck, Bonnetta Adeeb
Lesson 6.1 Annexation: Support and Opposition
137
Lesson 6.2 A Cause for Celebration?
142
Lesson 6.3 Tourist Hawai'i
144
Lesson 6.4 Protest Poetry: A "No Fight" Fight Poem
149
Lesson 6.5 Pe le vs. Progress
151
7. The Philippines
159
Baltazar Pinguel, Eliza Fabillar, Stephen R. Shalom, Teresita Bautista,
Rene Ontal, Oscar Penaranda
Lesson 7.1 The U.S. Annexation of the Philippines
168
Lesson 7.2 Letters Home from U.S. Soldiers
172
Lesson 7.3 U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines
175
Lesson 7.4 Martial Law
179
Glossary
185
Historical and Geographical Names
191
Notes on Contributors
197
RESISTANCE.IN.PARADI'SE
Foreword
In the summer of 1996, staff and volunteers of the American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC) met to plan how to strengthen the organization's work with
Asian and Pacific Islander communities, both in the United States and in their
countries of origin. Those present at the meeting were well aware that the year
1998 would mark the hundred-year anniversary of the emergence of the United
States as a global power, holding sway over territories in the Caribbean and the
Pacific, far beyond the North American continent.
In a few short months in 1898, in what is known as the Spanish-American
War, the United States replaced Spain as the ruling power in the Philippines,
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Hawai'i and American Samoa were annexed by
the United States in the same year. Within AFSC, the discussion of the significance
of the centennial of these events led to a vision of creating this curriculum guide.
From the outset, the aim of the guide was to help students and teachers in the
United States understand how this history, and its enduring impact, is perceived
from the vantage point of these island nations.
As with other AFSC efforts, a paramount concern was that the story should be
told mainly by members of the affected communities. Among the more than two
dozen authors of this volume are many people whose lives have been shaped by the
history they relate, whether as immigrants, as political exiles, as activists fighting for
the sovereignty of their homelands
or as all three. They have joined together for
this project, along with a multiracial group of educators and activists, in a collabora-
tive writing team that defined the format and content of the guide and prepared the
individual chapters.
Through the collective vision and sustained efforts of this team, this book has
become a reality. Many of the writers featured here have never met each other
personally. Belief in the common goal of breaking silences, of giving voice to per-
spectives that are often neglected in mainstream U.S. education, has carried this
project forward to completion.
Acknowledgments
Many people joined the authors and editors of this guide in making this book a
reality. First and foremost, Thoai Nguyen, national coordinator of AFSC's Asia
Pacific Program during the preparation of the guide, worked tirelessly to provide
overall coordination to the project. Invaluable feedback and support were provided
by members of the program's advisory committee, including Pat Benson Duldulao,
Joanne Dufour, Vera Haile, Ramsay Liem, Elena Mangahas, Mariagnes Medrud,
Craig Shimabukuro, Sally Soliai, Roy Takurni, and Deborah Wei.
7
RESIST ANCEINPARADISE
Additional members of the writing team included Melinh Jenkins, Kathy Kelly,
Mariagnes Medrud, and Klancy Miller. Bill Bigelow and Debi Duke helped to
conceptualize the book in its early stages. Ramon Bosque Perez helped with impor-
tant information.
In addition to those named above, many other colleagues and friends
reviewed the manuscript and gave helpful suggestions for improving its accuracy
and clarity, including Kilali Alailima, Nancy Aleck, Frank Bonilla, Bahiya Cabral,
Ruth Cadwallader, Nelson Carasquillo, Pat Clark, Karen Cromley, Harold Jordan,
Lisa Nakamura, June Shimokawa, Mike Yarrow, and Isaac Wheeler.
Other AFSC colleagues who helped with resources, contacts, and advice
included Ed Nakawatase, Dick Erstad, Saralee Hamilton, and Sultana Alam. The
support and guidance of Joyce Miller, director of AFSC's Community Relations
Division, was crucial to the success of this project. AFSC Board members Donald
Gann, Paula Rhodes, and Mariagnes Medrud also lent vital support to this effort.
The contributions of Linda Love, director of AFSC's Literature Resources Unit,
are too numerous to detail. Editorial and research assistance were provided by Sally
Chan, Amanda Bergson Shilcock, and Bela August Walker.
Many collegial organizations lent their support and assistance to this effort,
including Rethinking Schools, the Network of Educators on the Americas, the Nation-
al Coalition of Education Activists, the American Social History Project of the City
University of New York, and the Caribbean Cultural Center. Funding support for
this project was provided by the Fund for the Four Directions, the Thomas and
Mary Shoemaker Fund, and the AFSC Board of Directors.
Most important, this guide is possible only because of the persistence and faith
of the peoples of Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Samoa,
and the efforts of people of conscience who have sought social justice throughout
our histoiy together as people on this planet. It is to their strength and dedication
we owe the greatest of debts.
8
vi
INP AR ADISE
RESIST ANCE
A Letter to the Teacher
been more a matter of "cheerleading" than of
We all want our work to be meaningful, and
critical analysis. Such an approach has used
we want students to value the content that we
history as a vehicle for building national myths,
teach. In history as a discipline, we know that
celebrating wars won, and extolling national
today's students sometimes feel that this material
values. In today's world, it seems more impor-
has little to do with their lives. One of the ways
tant to equip students to appreciate the place of
that we can counteract that perception is to make
the United States in the community of nations
history more real for students by using the actual
and their own place in a diverse, multiracial
voices of the people we are studying and by
society.
showing the very real connections of "history
then" to "history now."
Because this guide gives voice to perspec-
tives that are not often presented, it can pose
This guide connects us with actions taken a
challenges in the classroom. Exploring new
century ago that directly shape the world in
information, especially information that evokes
which we live today. Nineteen ninety-eight
strong feelings, can be a difficult experience for
marks the hundredth anniversary of the first U.S.
teachers and students alike. It can also be a door
foreign interventions beyond the North American
to new understandings about ourselves, both as
continent, affecting Guam, Puerto Rico, Hawai'i,
individuals and as members of a nation. Under-
American Samoa, the Philippines, and Cuba.
standing one another's experiences, however
Most of this history is unknown by U.S. students
difficult it may be, is, we believe, the first step
but it is painfully familiar
and their teachers
toward true sharing.
to the people in each of these countries.
Their stories suggest answers to questions
How to Use This Guide
that we often grapple with today. Why is the role
This guide opens with an introductory
of the United States not always welcomed by all
chapter, addressed mainly to teachers, that
peoples? Why do some students, and their
examines the events of 1898 and their aftermath.
families, feel unconnected to the "American
Student lessons at the end of the chapter explore
Dream?" How can we form common bonds of
general themes regarding the role of interpreta-
understanding across differences of experience,
tion in history.
language, religion, and culture in its broadest
sense?
The remainder of the book is dedicated to
chapters on each of the countries that came
The information and activities included here
under U.S. rule in this period. Each of the coun-
should assist you as a teacher to build connec-
try-specific chapters includes a brief historical
tions with students, as well as introducing con-
overview followed by a series of lessons, includ-
tent that may not have been fully explored in
ing suggested activities and corresponding
traditional textbooks. The use of primary sources,
handouts for students. Both the overviews and
and a willingness to explore topics in a more
the handouts are written to be accessible to
complete context, enable us to help students
students at the secondary level. Terms that may
discover the "real story," and to hear multiple
be unfamiliar are signaled in each chapter
voices telling it.
overview and in each lesson, and are defined in
Too often, the teaching of U.S. history has
vii
9
RESISTANCE.
PARADISE
AD
a glossary at the back of the guide.
historical record, students can learn to under-
stand how our vision of history and of the world
Student readings include a wealth of primary
we live in is reshaped according to who is looking
sources: newspaper articles and political cartoons
and who is being seen.
from the time of the Spanish-American War,
historical documents, personal testimonies, and
You may also opt to use the primary sources
more. Also included are a broad range of contem-
reproduced here in other ways that best meet
porary pieces, both fiction and nonfiction. The
your students' needs. Please consider sharing
overall approach is multidisciplinary; many of
with us your "best practices" with this material;
the materials and activities included here can be
we all have much to learn from one another as we
used for classes in history, social studies, or
explore new resources and consider new ideas.
English. The suggested activities include role
In general, we welcome your reactions, ideas,
plays, debates, writing exercises, classroom
and suggestions for this guide. We are commit-
discussions, and the creation of stories, poems, or
ted, as you are, to helping students better under-
cartoons, among others.
stand the world, so that they can assume their
Many of the lessons included here engage
role as active participants in it. Our hope is that
students in developing their own critical read-
this guide will help you to achieve that goal.
ings, whether of historical narratives, media
representations, or policy debates. By listening to
voices that have mainly been left out of the
1 0