The African American Encounter with Japan and China - by Marc Gallicchio (Paperback)

About the Book

African American Encounter with Japan and China: Black Internationalism in Asia, 1895-1945

Book Synopsis

In the first book to focus on African American attitudes toward Japan and China, Marc Gallicchio examines the rise and fall of black internationalism in the first half of the twentieth century. This daring new approach to world politics failed in its effort to seek solidarity with the two Asian countries, but it succeeded in rallying black Americans in the struggle for civil rights.

Black internationalism emphasized the role of race or color in world politics and linked the domestic struggle of African Americans with the freedom struggle of emerging nations "of color," such as India and much of Africa. In the early twentieth century, black internationalists, including W. E. B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey, embraced Japan as a potential champion of the darker races, despite Japan's imperialism in China. After Pearl Harbor, black internationalists reversed their position and identified Nationalist China as an ally in the war against racism.

In the end, black internationalism was unsuccessful as an interpretation of international affairs. The failed quest for alliances with Japan and China, Gallicchio argues, foreshadowed the difficulty black Americans would encounter in seeking redress for American racism in the international arena.

Review Quotes

Provides important information about an understudied aspect of U.S. and African American history and is written in clear, accessible prose.

"Journal of American History"

"Provides important information about an understudied aspect of U.S. and African American history and is written in clear, accessible prose.

"Journal of American History""

An important contribution to the growing literature on U.S. perceptions of Asia.

"Choice"

Gallicchio makes a significant contribution to this dynamic field of study. . . . This book is an extremely valuable contribution.

"American Historical Review"

Gallicchio's book is a successful and long-overdue examination of this topic.

"International History Review"

This study insightfully captures the meanings and consequences for black internationalism of shifting African American attitudes toward Japan and China over time. (Waldo E. Martin Jr., University of California, Berkeley)

About the Author

Marc Gallicchio, associate professor of history at Villanova University, is author of The Cold War Begins in Asia: American East Asian Policy and the Fall of the Japanese Empire.