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=                           Ronald_Takaki                            =
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                            Introduction
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Ronald Toshiyuki Takaki (April 12, 1939 - May 26, 2009) was an
American academic, historian,  ethnographer and author. Born in
pre-statehood Hawaii, Takaki studied at the College of Wooster and
completed his doctorate in American history at the University of
California, Berkeley.

His work addresses stereotypes of Asian Americans, such as the model
minority concept. Among his most notable books are 'Strangers from a
Different Shore: A History of Asian-Americans' from 1989 and 'A
Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America' from 1993.
Takaki was a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles
from 1966 to 1971 and University of California, Berkeley from 1971 to
2003.


                             Early life
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Born in 1939 in Hawaii Territory, Takaki grew up in the Palolo
neighborhood of Honolulu.  He was the descendant of Japanese
immigrants who worked on the sugarcane plantations. His father, Harry
Toshio Takaki, immigrated to Hawaii from Mifune, Kumamoto, Japan as a
teenager and worked at a plantation in Puʻunene before studying under
Ray Jerome Baker and opening his own photography studio. Harry died
when Ronald was five, and Ronald's mother married Koon Keu Young, an
immigrant from Guangdong, China who became Ronald's stepfather.  As a
young boy, Takaki cared more for surfing than academics, earning the
nickname "10-toes Takaki." During high school a Japanese American
teacher,  Rev. Shunji Nishi Ph.D encouraged him to pursue college and
wrote him a letter of recommendation for the College of Wooster in
Wooster, Ohio.

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.

Takaki then began graduate studies in American history at the
University of California, Berkeley and completed his master's degree
in 1962 and Ph.D. 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.

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.


                          Academic career
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His initial teaching experience was in 1966 at the University of
California at Los Angeles, where he taught the first Black History
course offered at that institution. When recalling his first day
teaching this course, he stated, "When I walked into the classroom I
discovered it was held in a huge auditorium - 500 seats and every seat
was taken, and students were sitting in the aisles, and there was a
loud chitter-chatter, the students were excited...As I made my way to
the front of the auditorium all of a sudden a silence descended in
this room and their eyes were riveted on me and I could just feel them
saying to themselves, 'Funny, he doesn't look black'." 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 1971, 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 2003.

In a course on Asian American Studies, one of his students was Lela
Lee, creator of the cartoon 'Angry Little Asian Girl'.


                           Personal life
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Takaki married Carol Rankin in 1961; they met as students at the
College of Wooster. They had three children.
Takaki died of suicide on May 26, 2009, in Berkeley, California, after
having multiple sclerosis for nearly 20 years, according to his son
Troy.


                               Honors
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* 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 University, Messenger Lecturer, 1993.


                              See also
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* 'A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America'


                           External links
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*
**[http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/284353-1 'In Depth' interview
with Takaki, February 28, 2009]


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