The month of May marks Asian-American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a celebration recognizing the contributions, culture, and history of people of Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent in the United States. Originally established as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week in 1978, the celebration was extended to be a month long in 1992, and the month of May chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States in the 1800s. The Law Library is joining in the celebration with a display of books relating to AAPI history and culture, straight from our own stacks. Please stop by to take a look at the display, and even check out a book for yourself! The display is located next to the reference desk on the 5^th floor.

Here’s a list of the books that are currently on display:

NCRR: the Grassroots Struggle for Japanese American Redress and Reparations by Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress

After the mass incarceration of Japanese-Americans into internment camps during the period of the United States’ involvement in World War II, the National Coalition for Redress/Reparations (NCRR) was established in order to advocate for justice for the victims and their families. This book dives into the origins of the NCCR, their grassroots efforts that ultimately led to the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, and their continuing impact in this country.

Margins and Mainstreams: Asians in American History and Culture by Gary Y. Okihiro

Throughout a series of essays, Okihiro examines Asian-American history through the lens of what it means to be on the “margins” of a multicultural society and expected to conform to the “mainstream.” Using comparative analysis relating the experiences of Asian-Americans to that of other marginalized groups in the United States, Okihiro calls for a reshaping of the field of Asian-American studies.

Late Bloomers: a novel by Deepa Varadarajan

This is the debut novel of GSU College of Law faculty member Deepa Varadarajan! Late Bloomers focuses on the complex and interwoven lives of an Indian-American family in the wake of the parents’ divorce after thirty-six years of marriage.

The Rise and Fall of America’s Concentration Camp Law: Civil Liberties Debates from the Internment to McCarthyism and the Radical 1960s by Masumi Izumi

Izumi connects the precedent set by Japanese Internment in the United States to the passing of the Internal Security Act of 1950, an act that legalized preventative detention in the United States, and was used to expand the use of surveillance during the era of McCarthyism. 

Local story: the Massie-Kahahawai Case and the Culture of History by John P. Rosa.

Rosa uses the backdrop of the Massie-Kahahawai case of 1931-1932 to analyze the ways in which Asian immigrants, Native Hawaiians and white American military personnel interacted in US-annexed Hawaii.

Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki

Takaki uses the format of narrative history to give a sweeping account of the diversity of the Asian-American experience in the United States, from the era of the transcontinental railroad to the modern day.