"Free Huey" Black Panther Party (BPP) rally, Oakland, 1968. Efforts by the police to harass and intimidate the BPP backfired on a large scale. Anger and greater support from the black community came pouring out, as seen in this rally to free Huey Newton, a BPP founder. But African Americans weren't the only ones angry at blacks' treatment as a community, which Nelson Nagai points out (see text below).
Photo by Jeff Blankfort.

I Came From a Yellow Seed

By Nelson Nagai

Did Asians fear white America? Like Blacks and Chicanos, I think, "Yes." Did Asians' fear turn to rage? I think, "Yes." Asians have a lot to be angry over. As former students in the Stockton Unified School District, my Asian brothers and I were angry that we were held back and designated special education students by white teachers who did not understand our being bilingual. My Asian brothers and I are angry that the Stockton Chinatown, J-town [Japantown], and Manilatown were destroyed by urban redevelopment. My Asian brothers and I are angry that even though we are third- or fourth-generation Americans, we are still treated like foreigners in this country.

In Stockton this Asian rage turned into action in the summer of 1969. One summer night, a fight broke out [at a local pool hall]. The owner told all the Asians to leave the pool hall.

A meeting was called. This meeting brought together Chinese and Japanese, immigrants and American-born. It was decided at this meeting that the Asian community needed a drop-in center for youth -- someplace where they felt they belonged and an alternative to the pool hall.

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