The Color of Success - (Politics and Society in Modern America) by Ellen D Wu (Paperback)

The Color of Success is a groundbreaking book that uncovers the hidden history of how Asians in the United States were transformed from "yellow peril" to "model minorities." Author Ellen Wu provides an unprecedented view of racial reform and the contradictions of national belonging during the civil rights era.

She highlights the contests for power and authority within Japanese and Chinese America, alongside external designs by government officials, social scientists, journalists, and others.

The book reveals how the model minority stereotype emerged in multiple arenas, including battles over zoot suiters leaving wartime internment camps, juvenile delinquency panic of the 1950s, Hawaii statehood, and the African American freedom movement.

Through richly detailed narratives, Wu shows how this far-reaching process continues to have profound implications for how Americans understand race, opportunity, and nationhood.

The Color of Success is an important work that provides a distinct angle of vision for understanding the Asian American journey and its impact on U.S.

political culture.

With rich archival detail and illustrative accounts, this book offers a comprehensive analysis of mid-twentieth-century struggle and racial liberalism, making it a must-read for anyone interested in comparative race relations, acculturation, and national loyalty.