East Meets South (2005)

In 1984, Southern Exposure published a special issue on the history of the Chinese in the South. Focusing on Chinese-American communities in Louisiana and Mississippi, articles in the issue chronicled the post-Civil War migration of so-called "coolie" laborers to the Deep South—brought there initially as replacement for newly emancipated African Americans—and explored the complex three-part racial system that developed in places where these migrants settled. The editor's introduction to the issue explained why it's important to remember this history: "While it is clear that the racist practices spawned during the plantation era are still active in the continued political and economic subordination of African Americans, their impact on other people of color in the South is less visible. Yet a true picture of race relations, and more importantly, a blueprint for progressive change cannot be developed without expanding our understanding of the roots of racial oppression and the impact of racism on all people." Twenty-one years later, these words still ring true—all the more so because the racial landscape of the South has been reshaped so dramatically in the last two decades. The increase in Latino immigration has received a good deal of attention, both here in the pages of SE and in the media at large. In this special issue, then, we turn to a less talked-about aspect of the "New New South": the growth of Asian American communities and its implications for Southern culture and politics.