Strangers from a Different Shore

Asian laborers were initially welcomed in California. What factors contributed to a shift toward exclusion and harassment? How did those in power seek to exploit racial tensions for their own advantage?

Takaki explains how some Asian immigrants in the US created their own communities and social networks. How did these networks arise as a response to discriminatory practices, and how did they shape the development of Asian American histories and cultures?

Takaki shows how labor agents often made impossible promises about American life in their efforts to lure Asian workers to the US. How does the contrast between expectation and reality function as a motif in the book?

How did powerful institutions and individuals benefit from Asian immigration to the US? What strategies did employers use to maximize the profits they drew from Asian labor? How did political leaders exploit anti-Asian racism for electoral gain?

Choose a primary source written by a private individual and cited in the book, and explain what this source teaches the reader about this individual’s experience in the US.

Takaki credits Asian American resistance to discrimination as a force which broadened civil rights and shaped modern American society. How did Asian Americans resist legal and cultural oppression, and how did their acts of resistance inform and learn from other social justice movements?

What role did federal and state governments play in oppressing Asians in the US? How and why did this eventually change? 

Choose an occupation mentioned in the book and explain how this profession functioned. What does this job tell us about the role of Asian Americans in the American economy and society? What would daily life have been like for this kind of professional? Why would some immigrants pursue this kind of work?