JINN MAGAZINE

PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE

Issue No. 3.23

11/03/97 - 11/16/97

CONTENTS

VECTORS: A Regular Column on the Ideas and Directions Behind Today's News

What Clinton's Big YES to China Means
By Franz Schurmann

President Clinton's decision to in effect recognize China as the world's second superpower was a "yes" that resounded across the Pacific. Underlying Clinton's "yes," writes PNS commentator Franz Schurmann, are a range of problems that could mark Europe and western Asia as the parts of the world where the US needs China's support most. Schurmann is professor emeritus of history and sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was former head of the Center for Chinese Studies, the author of The Organization and Ideology of Communist China and co-editor of The China Reader, among other books.

PACIFIC PULSE: The Pacific Century and Its Impact on the Americas

Jiang Shows U.S.-Style Political Savvy on Trip
By Ling Chi Wang

The much-reported visit of China's president Jiang Zemin to the United States was in part the usual deliberate show. But the Chinese leader showed, according to PNS commentator Ling Chi Wan, that he is both able to understand U.S. politics and willing to meet the U.S. half way in a two-superpower world. Ling Chi Wang is head of ethnic studies at University of California Berkeley and an expert on Asian-American affairs

THE AMERICAS: The Growing Enmeshment of the U.S. and Latin Worlds

Staying off the Fast Track-- Congressional Rebuff on Trade Authority Underlines Need for New Global Controls
By Andrew Reding

Despite cries of protectionism, the refusal to grant President Clinton "fast track" trading authority should be seen as a recognition that the global market now requires serious reforms. PNS associate editor Andrew Reding draws an analogy with the era of robber barons, and suggests some of the remedies applied then might have a role to play today. Reding directs the North America Project of the World Policy Institute in New York.

CIVIL CONFLICTS: Interpretive Reports on Ethnic, Religious, and Inter-National Conflicts Worldwide

Nightmare Case Now a Legend-- Filipino Workers Challenge Silicon Valley's "Clean Industry"
By David Bacon

Although the electronics industry is generally thought of as relatively non-polluting, it does face a continuing problem with disposing of solvents used in manufacture. The problem was brought into focus dramatically by a Filipino immigrant worker who barely survived a near-fatal accident. His case, now a legend, prompted a lawsuit that will be heard early next year. PNS associate editor David Bacon writes widely on labor and immigration issues.

Life in Post Affirmative Action America-- The College Culture
By Caille Millner

In the world after affirmative action what are young people finding to be the major sources of inequity in their personal lives and how are they overcoming them? Caille Millner, an 18-year-old African American from San Jose, California, is keeping a journal on her experiences as she navigates her way through Harvard University where she has just begun her freshman year. These are the first two entries in her journal. Millner writes for YO! (Youth Outlook), a newspaper by and about young people published by Pacific News Service

Finding New Remedies in Post Affirmative Action America-- The Issue is Class
By Richard Rodriguez

Americans have argued for decades about affirmative action, but only lately have we bothered to notice that most of its black and brown and female beneficiaries are middle class. It still doesn't occur to many that affirmative action might be unfair to poor whites, insofar as poor whites do not constitute an officially recognized minority group. As we look for new remedies to address inequities in the culture, we need at the least to begin acknowledging the importance of social class. PNS editor Richard Rodriguez, author of "Days of Obligation," is a writer and essayist who contributes regularly to the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion, Harper's, and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. This is the first in a series of perspectives on finding new remedies for inequity in post-affirmative action America.

Black America "Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired"
By Linn Washington, Jr.

The rest of America may have decided that the discriminatory deprivations of institutional racism are no big deal, but the daily indignities many African Americans experience have now produced a quiet rage. PNS commentator Linn Washington Jr. is a journalism professor at Temple University who writes frequently on race related issues. This is the third in s series of articles on post affirmative action America. Next in the series: perspectives by Michael Datcher, Helen Zia, Andrew Lam, Franz Schurmann and Joan Walsh. If you want us to resend either of the first two of the series (by Richard Rodriguez and Caille Millner), please call George Gundrey at 415-243-4364.

Death of Affirmative Action May Breathe Life Into New Black Nationalism
By Michael Datcher

The end of affirmative action can be seen as a call for an internalized program of action by, within and for the African American community. This "neo-black nationalism," writes PNS commentator Michael Datcher, recalls earlier efforts of other national groups but faces very special problems of its own. Datcher is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and co-editor of "Tough Love: The Life and Death of Tupac Shakur". This is the fifth in a series of articles on post affirmative action America. If you want us to resend any of the others in the series, please call George Gundrey at 415-243-4364.

End of Affirmative Action is a Call for True Expansion of Opportunities
By Joan Walsh

Events since the passage of California's Proposition 209, ending affirmative action, have shown Asian-Americans benefiting more from the change than the whites who overwhelmingly supported the initiative. These gains, writes PNS commentator Joan Walsh, are neither surprising or sinister, but they should stir a reexamination of the idea of educational opportunity. PNS associate editor Joan Walsh, a Bay Area based journalist, authored a recent report for the Rockefeller Foundation entitled "Stories of Renewal: Community Building and the Future of Urban America." This is the forth in a series of articles on post affirmative action America. If you want us to resend any of the others in the series, please call George Gundrey at 415-243-4364.

Asian Americans-- Now Predominantly Immigrants-- Don't Look to Affirmative Action to Get Ahead
By Andrew Lam

Asian Americans in California are today overwhelmingly first-generation immigrants. This explains why few look to government -- "the system" -- to remedy past injustices. So when the Supreme Court let stand Prop 209, most Asian Americans barely batted an eye. PNS editor Andrew Lam, born in Vietnam and raised in California, reflects on how Asian American immigrant communities view getting ahead in post-affirmative action America. Tomorrow, Helen Zia reports that some veteran Asian American activists believe white Californians may become the biggest proponents of affirmative action -- for themselves. (This is part of an ongoing PNS series on remedies for inequity in post-affirmative action America. If you would like us to resend any of the previous articles, call George Gundrey at 415-243-4364).

Pawns or Catalysts for Greater Equity-- Asian Americans Debate Impact of New Clout
By Hellen Zia

As Chinese immigrants discover their political voice in San Francisco and beyond, veteran Asian American activists are debating how to use the community's growing political leverage. Some predict that the new situation could galvanize whites to view themselves as the new minority in need of stronger civil rights protections. PNS commentator Helen Zia is a former editor of Ms. Magazine, a freelance journalist and activist.

Hate Crimes-- Good Intentions Alone Cannot Relieve the Fears of African-Americans
By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Though "hate crimes" are now recognized as a distinct category, and the government has devoted some attention to them, African-Americans continue to live in terror of such actions. Behind this fear, writes PNS commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson, is the reality of a growing white supremacist movement, which has changed its rhetoric but not its ideology. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "Beyond OJ: Race. Sex and Class Lessons for America." His e-mail address is <ehutchi344@aol.com>.

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