Fighting Tradition : : A Marine's Journey to Justice / / Bruce I. Yamashita.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter UHP eBook Package 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Yamashita, Bruce I.,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2003]; ©2003
• Year of Publication: 2003
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (256 p.)

Determined to be a U.S. Marine Corps officer, Bruce Yamashita enrolled in Officer Candidate School, where he was the target of persistent racial harassment by officers and staff. After enduring nine weeks of emotional and physical abuse, Yamashita was "disenrolled" in April 1989-kicked out of the Marine Corps because of the color of his skin. Fighting Tradition is Yamashita's own story of his courageous struggle to expose a pattern of racial discrimination against minorities that has existed at various levels of the Corps. With the support of a broad coalition of community and civil rights organizations, the Hawaii-born law school graduate fought a five-year-long legal, political, and media battle against the military establishment that ended in his commissioning as a captain and the revision of Marine Corps policies and procedures. Fighting Tradition not only is a moving story of personal sacrifice and vision, but contributes also both directly and indirectly to our understanding of the complexities of institutional racism in a politically conservative, demographically shifting society. It is a unique window into the dynamics of race, government, and the law and a stirring reminder of the importance of political mobilization by the individual to achieve justice.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Prologue -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. "A Clear Demonstration of Patriotism and Loyalty" -- 2. "Exactly What I Had Expected" -- 3. "Go Back to Your Own Country!" -- 4. "The White Boys Still Make the Decisions" -- 5. "Neither Fish Nor Fowl" -- 6. "Urah!" -- 7. "Leadership in Action" -- 8. "The Workhorse" -- 9. "Do You Wanna Quit?" -- 10. "I Guess the Sun Is Still Shining" -- 11. Destined to Fail -- 12. "Too Many JAPS around Here" -- 13. "The Writing on the Wall" -- 14. "Disenrolled!" -- 15. "Were You Treated Fairly?" -- 16. First Step, False Hope -- 17. Decision to Fight -- 18. "My Neck Was on the Line" -- 19. Face-Off -- 20. "Totally Unacceptable" -- 21. "Barely above Water" -- 22. The Tide Begins to Turn -- 23. "Smoking Gun" -- 24. The Naval Discharge Review Board -- 25. The Pressure Mounts -- 26. My Chance to Be Heard -- 27. The Floodgates Open -- 28. A Formal Offer -- 29. Standing Firm -- 30. "We Were on Our Own" -- 31. The Commandant Speaks -- 32. "There Will Be No Ratcheting Up" -- 33. Breakthrough -- 34. Calling the Shots -- 35. "The Struggle Goes On" -- 36. "Justice Will Triumph!" -- Index