Ronald Takaki
Encyclopedia
Ronald Toshiyuki Takaki was an academic, historian
, ethnographer and author. Born in Oahu
, Hawai'i, his work addresses stereotypes of Asian Americans, such as the model minority
concept.
.
His undergraduate experiences there caused him to begin asking the kinds of questions which evolved into the foundation of his career. As one of only two Asian Americans on campus, he gained a new awareness of his ethnic identity. He was awarded a bachelor's degree in history in 1961.
His graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley
led to a Masters degree in 1962 and a Ph.D in American history in 1967. His dissertation was on the subject of American slavery, focusing on the rationale for slavery. This work later became his first book: A Pro-Slavery Crusade: the Agitation to Reopen the African Slave Trade.
, where he taught the first Black History course offered at that institution. One of his students on the first day asked what the class was going to learn about "revolutionary tactics," and he later recalled that his immediate response was to suggest that he hoped students would learn skills of critical thinking and effective writing—and that these could be quite revolutionary.
In 1972, he accepted a teaching position at Berkeley where his general survey course, "Racial Inequality in America: a Comparative Perspective," led the development of an undergraduate ethnic studies major and an ethnic studies Ph.D. program. For the next three decades, he continued to be an important contributor in the growth of the program. He was involved in developing the school's multicultural requirement for graduation: the American Cultures Requirement. The long-time Professor of Asian American Studies
retired in 2004.
His views, his teaching and his published works led to opportunities to share his ideas in venues around the world.
on 26 May 2009 in Berkeley, California
after suffering from multiple sclerosis
for nearly 20 years, according to his son Troy.
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 50+ works in 70+ publications in 3 languages and 2,000+ library holdings.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, ethnographer and author. Born in Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
, Hawai'i, his work addresses stereotypes of Asian Americans, such as the model minority
Model minority
Model minority refers to a minority ethnic, racial, or religious group whose members achieve a higher degree of success than the population average. It is most commonly used to label one ethnic minority higher achieving than another ethnic minority...
concept.
Early life
Ronald Takaki was raised in a low-income area of Oahu, Hawaii. He was the descendant of Japanese immigrants who worked on the sugar plantations. He was raised by his mother and Chinese stepfather following his father's death at age seven. As a young boy, Takaki cared more for surfing than academics, earning the nickname "10-toes Takaki." During high school a Japanese American teacher encouraged him to pursue college and wrote him a letter of recommendation for the College of Wooster in Wooster, OhioWooster, Ohio
Wooster is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio approximately SSW of Cleveland and SW of Akron. Wooster is noted as the location of The College of Wooster...
.
His undergraduate experiences there caused him to begin asking the kinds of questions which evolved into the foundation of his career. As one of only two Asian Americans on campus, he gained a new awareness of his ethnic identity. He was awarded a bachelor's degree in history in 1961.
His graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
led to a Masters degree in 1962 and a Ph.D in American history in 1967. His dissertation was on the subject of American slavery, focusing on the rationale for slavery. This work later became his first book: A Pro-Slavery Crusade: the Agitation to Reopen the African Slave Trade.
Academic career
His initial teaching experience was at the University of California at Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, where he taught the first Black History course offered at that institution. One of his students on the first day asked what the class was going to learn about "revolutionary tactics," and he later recalled that his immediate response was to suggest that he hoped students would learn skills of critical thinking and effective writing—and that these could be quite revolutionary.
In 1972, he accepted a teaching position at Berkeley where his general survey course, "Racial Inequality in America: a Comparative Perspective," led the development of an undergraduate ethnic studies major and an ethnic studies Ph.D. program. For the next three decades, he continued to be an important contributor in the growth of the program. He was involved in developing the school's multicultural requirement for graduation: the American Cultures Requirement. The long-time Professor of Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Asian ancestry in America. Closely related to other Ethnic Studies disciplines such as African American Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Native American Studies, Asian American Studies critically examines the...
retired in 2004.
His views, his teaching and his published works led to opportunities to share his ideas in venues around the world.
A life in broader context
Takaki's personal experiences inspired him to devote his life to working for equality for Asian Americans and others. A seminal event in his life developed when his wife's family refused to accept him because they could only see him as a "jap" -- not as a native-born American citizen just like any one else.Death
Takaki committed suicideSuicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
on 26 May 2009 in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
after suffering from multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
for nearly 20 years, according to his son Troy.
Honors
- Association of Asian American Studies (AAAS), Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009.
- Bay Area Book Reviewers Association, Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002.
- Asia Pacific Council, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2002.
- Society of American Historians (SAH), 1995.
- Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Messenger Lecturer, 1993.
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Ronald Takai, OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 50+ works in 70+ publications in 3 languages and 2,000+ library holdings.
- 1971 -- A Pro-slavery Crusade: The Agitation to Reopen the African Slave Trade. New York: Free PressFree Press (publisher)Free Press is a book publishing imprint of Simon and Schuster. It was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan and Charles Liebman in 1947 and was devoted to sociology and religion titles. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe...
. 10-ISBN 0-029-32430-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-029-32430-1; OCLC 135218 - 1978 -- Iron cages: race and culture in nineteenth-century America. New York: Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. 10-ISBN 0-394-48310-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-394-48310-8; OCLC 5171987 - 1984 -- Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920. Honolulu: University of Hawaii PressUniversity of Hawaii PressThe University of Hawaii Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaii.The University of Hawaii Press was founded in 1947, with the mission of advancing and disseminating scholarship by publishing current research in all disciplines of the humanities and natural and social...
. 10-ISBN 0-824-80956-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-824-80956-0; OCLC 13847902 - 1989 -- Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans. Boston: Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
. 10-ISBN 0-833-56169-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-833-56169-5; OCLC 80125499 - 1993 -- Violence in the Black Imagination: Essays and Documents. Oxford: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. 10-ISBN 0-195-08249-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-195-08249-4; OCLC 26858128 - 1993 -- A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 10-ISBN 0-316-83112-3; 13-ISBN 978-0-316-83112-3; OCLC 243768090
- 1994 -- Issei and Nisei: The Settling of Japanese America, with Rebecca Steoff. New York: Facts On FileInfobase PublishingInfobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. The company was founded in 1941 with its headquarters based in New York...
. 10-ISBN 0791021793; 13-ISBN 9780791021798; OCLC 28675449 - 1994 -- From the Land of Morning Calm: The Koreans in America. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 10-ISBN 0-791-02181-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-791-02181-1; OCLC 29478707
- 1994 -- From Different Shores: Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10-ISBN 0-195-08368-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-195-08368-2; OCLC 28332474
- 1994 -- Ethnic Islands: The Emergence of Urban Chinese America. New York: Chelsea House. 10-ISBN 0-791-02180-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-791-02180-4; OCLC 28965757
- 1995 -- Lives of Notable Asian Americans: Business, Politics, Science with Angelo Ragaza. New York: Chelsea House. 10-ISBN 0-791-02189-0; 13-ISBN 978-0-791-02189-7; OCLC 31239410
- 1995 -- India in the West: South Asians in America. New York: Chelsea HouseInfobase PublishingInfobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. The company was founded in 1941 with its headquarters based in New York...
. 10-ISBN 0-791-02186-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-791-02186-6; OCLC 30360857 - 1995 -- Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb. Boston: Little Brown and Company. 10-ISBN 0-316-83124-7; 13-ISBN 978-0-316-83124-6; OCLC 35272716
- 2001 -- Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II. Boston: Back Bay. 10-ISBN 0-316-83156-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-316-83156-7; OCLC 47828820
- 2002 -- Debating Diversity: Clashing Perspectives on Race and Ethnicity in America. Oxford: Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
. 10-ISBN 0-195-14651-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-195-14651-6; OCLC 48013647
External links
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: 3-hour interview, 1 March 2009.