Amazon.com Review
Yellow by Frank H. Wu is an eclectic, incisive investigation-cum-meditation that, though focusing on Asian Americans, recasts the United States’ ongoing debate about racial identity in all forms. Wu suggests that the widespread stereotyping of Asian Americans, while “superficially positive,” is inherently damaging. Mixing personal anecdotes, current events, academic studies, and court cases, Wu not only debunks the myth of a “model minority” but also makes discomfiting observations about attitudes toward affirmative action, what he calls “rational” discrimination, mixed marriages, racial profiling, and the “false divisions” of integration versus pluralism and assimilation versus multiculturalism. Though its conclusions are unremarkable, Yellow is thought provoking. The book’s strength–besides its clarity and thoughtfulness–is a lack of tendentiousness. Wu prefers to suggest, not posit; muse, not shout; and ask questions, not necessarily answer them. –H. O’Billovitch
From Library Journal
Most discussions of race and affirmative action focus on the relationship between Caucasian Americans and those of African descent. With this important book, Wu, an associate professor of law at Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC, and a columnist for A. Magazine, attempts to expand the discussion by including Americans of Asian descent. Starting with his own childhood experiences, Wu talks about the difficulties of being Asian in America, discussing the stereotypes associated with Asian Americans and the reasons why they are often blamed for discrimination. He then goes on to discuss crimes committed against Asian Americans because of their race and way of life, explaining that police investigations are often more thorough when Asian Americans are accused of criminal wrongdoing. This fascinating blend of Wu’s personal experiences and his experiences as a lawyer, professor, and reporter provides a different and much-needed perspective on an important and often neglected subject. The only drawback is the lack of bibliography. Even so, this title belongs in all academic libraries. Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Wu, an associate professor of law at Howard University School of Law, offers a provocative perspective on race relations in America. While many would look on Asian Americans as America’s “model minority,” Wu demonstrates how even positive references to Asians can have damaging effects on Asian American psyches. Indeed, he discusses at length “the model minority myth” (that Asians are “intelligent, gifted in math and science, polite, hard-working, family-oriented, law-abiding, and successfully entrepreneurial”). Although Wu sometimes seems overly sensitive, he makes a valid point that while white Americans might have felt superior to poor, uneducated (if held back) blacks, “Asian-Americans are the first group that seems to jeopardize the dominance of white Americans.” He calls for coalition building among Asian Americans, but one that does not selfishly seek political power. Rather, he proposes a principled coalition–what Cornel West has called the “ethics of ethnicity.” Wu has contributed another chapter to the continuing saga of American democracy. Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
About the Author
Frank H. Wu is a law professor at Howard University Law School.
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