Trespassers?. Willow Lung-Amam

      UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

      University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.

      University of California Press

      Oakland, California

      © 2017 by The Regents of the University of California

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: Lung-Amam, Willow S., author.

      Title: Trespassers? : Asian Americans and the battle for suburbia / Willow S. Lung-Amam.

      Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2016050509 (print) | LCCN 2016052202 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520293892 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520293908 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520967229 (ebook)

      Subjects: LCSH: Asian Americans—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County) | Suburbs—California—Santa Clara Valley (Santa Clara County)

      Classification: LCC E184.A75 L86 2017 (print) | LCC E184.A75 (ebook) | DDC 305.895/073079473—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016050509

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       For Mom

      CONTENTS

       Acknowledgments

       Introduction: Landscapes of Difference

      1 • The New Gold Mountain

      2 • A Quality Education for Whom?

      3 • Mainstreaming the Asian Mall

      4 • That “Monster House” Is My Home

      5 • Charting New Suburban Storylines

       Afterword: Keeping the Dream Alive in Troubled Times

       Appendix: Methods for Revealing Hidden Suburban Narratives

       Notes

       Bibliography

       Index

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Writing can sometimes be a lonely process, but completing a book is not. It takes the time, effort, and resources of many people. My deepest regards go out to the many colleagues, mentors, funders, students, editors, friends, family members, and firm believers who have supported this project from the beginning. This book has been a long time in the making, and I have benefited in countless ways from their support and encouragement.

      I am grateful for my closest readers and advisers. Randy Hester taught me what it means to be an activist-scholar and to measure my work by its impact on the world. Margaret Crawford first introduced me to the suburbs as an interesting place of study and has remained a steadfast enthusiast of great ideas and always pushed me to think bigger. Louise Mozingo grounded me in both the worlds of theory and practice, taught me to never hold my tongue, and always made time for me, even in the midst of completing two books of her own. Paul Groth taught me how to read and interpret ordinary landscapes and be a meticulous writer and scholar. Mai Nguyen kept close eyes on me and never failed to remind me about the grace and grit required to break down barriers. There is no one who put more wind in my sails during the final stages of this project than Carol Stack. A gifted writer and compassionate soul, Carol saw things in these pages and in me that I did not know or trust were there. I called on her for big things and small but mostly to hear her perpetually cheery voice and glimpses into the life of a true public intellectual.

      This book has traveled with me across the country and through several institutions. To colleagues and friends at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of Maryland at College Park who have read drafts, given me feedback, and supported my scholarship in so many other ways—thank you. I could not have been luckier to find such remarkable mentors so early on in my career. I am especially indebted to my longtime colleague and friend Shenglin Elijah Chang, who has always taught me to work hard and enjoy the journey that is our life’s work. Becky Nicolaides, Andrew Wiese, and John Archer, whose books all sat beside me and were copiously referenced, also provided me heavy doses of support and feedback along the way. Katrin Anacker, Tom Campanella, Wendy Cheng, David Freund, Bruce Haynes, Jeffrey Lowe, Marie Howland, Jim Cohen, Carol McKibben, Christopher Neidt, Herbert Ruffin, Alex Schafran, and Abel Valenzuela, you too have influenced this book in ways that you may not fully realize but are deeply appreciated.

      I have been especially thankful to be a part of scholarly groups that have critically shaped how I think and write about issues of social justice. A special thanks goes to the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues at Berkeley, which provided not only financial support but also an intellectual home for a lonely social change scholar. Thanks especially to Christine, David, and Deborah for caring about the whole me, for your insightful and close reads, and for being among my best critics and cheerleaders. At the University of North Carolina, this role was taken up by my cohort of Carolina Postdoctoral Research Fellows. And at the University of Maryland, I have found a comfortable intellectual home in many places but most especially among the scholars and mentors I have connected with through their ADVANCE programs. Thanks especially to KerryAnn, Stephen, and Carol for never giving up or giving in. To my writing buddies both far and near—Andrew, Marisa, and Tonya—thank you for being there, do or die, and thanks to Kanisha for all the sweet potato fries and small victories that we have shared together along the way.

      I have presented portions of this work at countless conferences, symposia, and invited talks. A hearty thanks is due to the Urban History Association and the Society of American City and Regional Planning Historians, whose conferences have been among my favorite places to present my work and, as I often tell my students, provide some of the best graduate student mentorship and writing support that I have found.

      My thanks also go to funders at the University of California at Berkeley (the University of California Dissertation Year Fellowship, the Dean’s Normative Time Fellowship, the Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship, the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, and the University of California child care system) that eased both the time and financial burdens of writing; the University of North Carolina’s Carolina Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and Department of City and Regional Planning; and the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, which has never wavered in its support of my scholarship.

      To the staff and editors at the University of California Press. Naomi, you are everything that I wanted and did not know that I needed for a first book—a steady guide and a stanch ally. And to the many anonymous reviewers of the book and previous versions of chapters published elsewhere, your exhaustive feedback has been generous beyond measure.

      Thanks go to the many departmental staff members and graduate students who have