The 1924 Filipino sugar strike came as a shocking blow to Hawaii's self-image. The tragic deaths at Hanapepe were regarded as an anomaly in Hawaii's peaceful, idyllic image. Yet as Reinecke's research clearly indicates, the sugar industry was building to a climax in the 1920s. In the traditional sense, the strike was a "piecemeal" affair, lacking clear goals and having virtually no leadership or plans. These young, largely illiterate, Filipinos wrought massive changes into a more modern, industrial mode; into what was widely known thereafter as the Big Five. Evidence from the University of Hawaii's new archive collection, the H.S.P.A. Plantation Archives, not available to Dr. Reinecke completes the picture of the strike with evidence of the massive changes in management, recruitment and labor policies. The strike remains as he described it in his title: "The Piecemeal Strike." The new evidence rounds out the transformation of the industry.

Unbending Cane not only provides a well-researched and accurate historical account of one of the most controversial labor leaders to come out of Hawaii before World War II, but also explores the complex layers of the man who took on the powerful sugar barons to seek justice for those working in Hawaii's cane fields.

In the middle decades of the twentieth century, Hawai'i changed rapidly from a conservative oligarchy firmly controlled by a Euro-American elite to arguably the most progressive part of the United States. Spearheading the shift were tens of thousands of sugar, pineapple, and dock workers who challenged their powerful employers by joining the left-led International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union. In this theoretically innovative study, Moon-Kie Jung explains how Filipinos, Japanese, Portuguese, and others overcame entrenched racial divisions and successfully mobilized a mass working-class movement. He overturns the unquestioned assumption that this interracial effort traded racial politics for class politics. Instead, the movement "reworked race" by incorporating and rearticulating racial meanings and practices into a new ideology of class. Through its groundbreaking historical analysis, Reworking Race radically rethinks interracial politics in theory and practice.

First person narratives by Filipino Americans reveal the range of their experiences--before and after immigration.

The history of the United States is the history of people who migrated to America from all parts of the world. As a result American society is composed of many unique cultures and races. Unfortunately, the uniqueness of these cultures is one of the underlying causes of tension and conflict in America, resulting in racism, religious intolerance, and class warfare. In spite of this, the multi-racial nature of American society is an integral part of America's strength as a nation. Thousands of immigrants from unique cultures who speak totally different languages came to find a better life in America. But they were never accepted by the dominate white Christians. The immigrants had to fight for the right to be in America. Racism, race riots, and genocide are integral parts of the lives of immigrants. The racial complexion of America is changing in the twenty-first century. In a short time the non-white population will be the majority. Social, economic, and political changes are already taking place. Unfortunately, the dominate power holders and white middle classes have not adjusted to these changes. The unique system of government and economics developed over the years has reached a point that many believe will end the American Empire. There is a certain bias in this presentation and criticism is aimed at the extreme beliefs and actions of a large segment of Americans, particularly white Christians. They have been the dominant political, social, and economic forces in the country. Any assessment of the American system becomes a criticism of that segment of Americans. Their beliefs and actions represent the Dark Side of America.

Takaki traces the economic and political history of Indians, African Americans, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese, Irish, and Jewish people in America, with considerable attention given to instances and consequences of racism. The narrative is laced with short quotations, cameos of personal experiences, and excerpts from folk music and literature. Well-known occurrences, such as the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, the Trail of Tears, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Japanese internment are included. Students may be surprised by some of the revelations, but will recognize a constant thread of rampant racism. The author concludes with a summary of today's changing economic climate and offers Rodney King's challenge to all of us to try to get along. Readers will find this overview to be an accessible, cogent jumping-off place for American history and political science plus a guide to the myriad other sources identified in the notes.

In an extraordinary blend of narrative history, personal recollection, & oral testimony, the author presents a sweeping history of Asian Americans. He writes of the Chinese who laid tracks for the transcontinental railroad, of plantation laborers in the canefields of Hawaii, of "picture brides" marrying strangers in the hope of becoming part of the American dream. He tells stories of Japanese Americans behind the barbed wire of U.S. internment camps during World War II, Hmong refugees tragically unable to adjust to Wisconsin's alien climate & culture, & Asian American students stigmatized by the stereotype of the "model minority." This is a powerful & moving work that will resonate for all Americans, who together make up a nation of immigrants from other shores.

Hanahana, reduplication of the Hawaiian word, hana, is a pidgin term for work. Originally used by those who labored on the sugar plantations, it later came to be used by other workers in Hawaii. The term, as well as the hard work and way of life it connotes, transcended ethnic and cultural barriers, providing people with a shared understanding of the work experience. Thus, the term's meaning, mixed origin, and common use by workers make it an appropriate title for this anthology, which features oral history narratives of twelve working people. These narratives show us how some workers felt and lived, enrich our understanding of workers in twentieth-century Hawaii, and remind us that history is in the main about men and women like ourselves, who - when given a chance - can present their life stories with eloquence, understanding, and an unmatched sense of realism.