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Making Sense of the Stories of Mississippi Chinese World War II Veterans
| The purpose of this presentation will be to identify key themes gleaned from the Mississippi Chinese World War II veterans’ stories. The military narratives reveal historical, social, and cultural insights about the circumstances of these men’s lives in the American South in the 1940s. In particular, their stories shed light on the following issues from the perspective of these Chinese narrators: the tri-racial relations in the American South, the absence of educational opportunities, limited military roles based on ethnic stereotyping, “double identities” created by “Paper Son” immigration practices, and consequences of military service.
By analyzing representative themes in the narratives of these World War II veterans, the speaker will show how their military experiences related to their identities/roles and daily lives as members of the Chinese diaspora, thereby yielding a rich and complex cultural life in the Mississippi Delta in the 1940s.
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