Drs Maki, Kiano, and Berthold have done a tremendous service to U.S. historians and future generations of Americans with their well-documented account of the redress movement for Americans of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II. Besides offering a theoretical policy model to explain the successful passage of the redress initiative, the authors provide a dramatic retelling of how thousands of American citizens, groups, and ultimately, U.S. congressmen from different racial and political backgrounds joined together in their attempt to acknowledge one of the most terrible miscarriages of justice in U.S. history. Especially, the passages describing the former internee testimonies and final fight for the bill in the Congress is the stuff of high drama and speaks to the nobility and courage of our country's citizens and leaders. An exceptional book, which I hope, will finally refute any real objections to the redress bill and make clear in some increasingly isolated critics' minds, the distinction between the the WWII Japanese Military -- and loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry who fought hard for the survival and principals of this country.

This is a great book detailing how the case for redress was formed. It contains great info for those studying the great tragedy that hit the Japanese American community during WWII --their internment in American Concentration Camps. And it serves as a reminder for us all that we need to live in harmony in order for our great country the United States to continue to succeed both socially and economically in the future.

This is "the" book on the behind the scenes action of how redress was finally achieved for all Japanese Americans, who were illegally incarcerated in concentration camps for crimes they did not commit. The fact that these camps were unconstitional has been proven countless times (refer: President Reagan's apology in 1988). The credibility of the book is proven by the academic careers of the university professors who wrote this tell-tale book (as opposed to the national enquirer level writing of the person who wrote the book mentioned in the below review) and its use as a textbook in the finest universities in America (Harvard, UCLA, UCBerkeley, to name a few). A must reading for those with an interest in ethnic studies and American history/policy.

I use this textbook with grad students in seminaries for designing interethnic ministries, largely African-American and Euro-American students. Kitano's exposition of principles and cases of racism provides an excellent backdrop for dealing with current situations in new churches in various societal settings, together with other textbooks.

I appreciated this book in the sense that it provides some very useful statistics concerning the various ethnic groups within the Asian American population. Yet, I felt that this book lacked personality and soul. I wanted more than numbers. I wanted to see the big picture about the lives of Asian Americans. I wanted to see them as people.

On top of that, I think that the title perpetuates the stereotype that Asians are foreigners. An "emerging minority?" It implies that persons of Asian descent are just being noticed and just beginning to do things that are worthy of notice. Its true that not much is known in mainstream society about this community, but we have a long history in the U.S. Granted, most of the Asian American population are new immigrants, but our presence and legacy in the U.S. and in the Western hemisphere goes way back.

This book is a nice introduction to the Asian American experience, but I would use it as a supplement and not a primary sourse of information. Takaki (Strangers from a Different Shore), Chan (Asian Americans: An Interpretive History) and Espiritu (Asian American Women & Men: Labor, Laws & Love)do a much better job.