It is with great sadness to announce that Professor Emeritus Ronald Takaki passed away on the evening of May 26th, 2009. He is survived by his wife, Carol Takaki, his three children Dana, Troy, and Todd Takaki, and his grandchildren.
Ron Takaki was one of the most preeminent scholars of our nation’s diversity, and considered “the father” of multicultural studies. As an academic, historian, ethnographer and author, his work helped dispel stereotypes of Asian Americans. In his study of multicultural people’s history in America, Takaki seeked to unite Americans, today and in the future, with each other and with the rest of the world.
He was a professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught over 20,000 students during 34 years of teaching.
Born in 1939, Professor Takaki was the grandson of immigrant Japanese plantation workers in Hawaii. He graduated from the College of Wooster, Ohio, in 1961. Six years later, after receiving his Ph.D. in American history from UC Berkeley, Takaki went to UCLA to teach its first Black history course.
As a Professor, Takaki hoped that his students would learn that skills of critical thinking and effective writing could be used in a revolutionary way. Epistemology, critical thinking, or in Takaki’s words “how do you know, you know, what you know about the America and the world you live in?” was a question Takaki posed to his students to challenge the way they looked at history, current policies, and even life.
In 1972, Professor Takaki returned to Berkeley to teach in the newly instituted Department of Ethnic Studies. His comparative approach to the study of race and ethnicity provided the conceptual framework for the B.A. program and the Ph.D. program in Comparative Ethnic Studies as well as for the university’s multicultural requirement for graduation, known as the American Cultures Requirement.
The Berkeley faculty has honored Professor Takaki with a Distinguished Teaching Award.
Takaki has lectured in Japan, Russia, Armenia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Austria, and South Africa.
He has debated Nathan Glazer and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. on issues such as affirmative action and multicultural education.
Takaki is a fellow of the Society of American Historians; its executive secretary, Mark Carnes stated that Takaki “has re-shaped American history.”
In 1997, Professor Takaki helped President Bill Clinton write his major speech on race, “One America in the 21st Century.”
Professor Takaki was the author of 12 books. Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th Century America has been critically acclaimed. Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans has been selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best 100 non-fiction books of the 20th century, and A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America is read on college campuses across the country and has over half a million copies in print.
AsianWeek will be running a series of articles on honoring and remembering Ronald Takaki on AsianWeek.com. If you would like to contribute with written pieces, pictures, or videos, feel free to contact Beleza Chan at belezachan@gmail.com.
Al Robles, Him Mark Lai, and now Ron Takaki…
I read this news with great sadness. As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley (’98), I never took one of his classes, but his name was one all of us liberal arts students knew.
Years later, I had the opportunity to hear him speak, and I was struck by his boyish youthful vigor as he walked us through the life experiences that shaped his scholarship. I feel fortunate to have heard him speak, and I am saddened that he is no longer with us.
I was fortunate enough to have been given A Different Mirror. It’s eye-opening and powerful; I hope that more people read it.
As I read a former colleagues posting of his passing, I can’t help but feel a tremendous responsibility to share his work with the world and pass the knowledge we was able to capture so beautifully in his writings.
Our country has lost a profound , forward thinking visionary and inpirational academician. As a former student I owe him and his literary contributions a debt of gratitude for instilling in me a new way of thinking, observing, and communicating.
Every lecture this man gave, was captivating, dialogue inspiring, thoughtful, provocative, and much much more. I invite the pubic to read Strangers From a Diffrent Shore or A Different Mirror if they never read another word to truly appreciate history and American life from a unique perspective.
Ron your lessons moved me and forced me to think outside of the small world I created, your teaching will be passed on to my son and his children. My deepest condolences to the Takaki family.
Sincerely,
bjr
Thank you, Ten Toes, for the lessons you taught and the inspiration you gave us. It was an honor.
As a former student I feel blessed and grateful that we have had this great mind in the world. Prof. Takaki always taught with a lot of heart, and his legacy lives on in many great scholars and activists whose trajectories were influenced by him.
Dr. Takaki’s legacy will definitely live on in the lives of those of us who continue to fight for social justice, decolonization, and liberation for all peoples everywhere.
Prof Takaki’s class was one of the few I clearly remember for its profound change it had on the way I viewed myself as an Asian American and minorities in America as a whole. I feel privileged to have experienced his teaching and comforted that his words will live on in his books and video lectures.
I grew up amongst a handful of Asian Americans in Southern California during the 70s and 80s. Although we were taught American history, the only mention of Asian people were in the wars with Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Dr. Takaki’s books finally gave Asian Americans a place in American history. I thank Dr. Takaki for giving us a different perspective on American history and for giving Asian Americans a sense of belonging and participation in America.
Though I have never attended Prof. Takaki’s lectures or classes, I’ve been teaching his book to my students for a while. Now another great Asian Americanist is gone, leaving behind continuing social struggles to us all.
As a fellow human being I mourn the loss of a fellow member of the human family.
Still, the question begs to be asked, why is atheism such a common thread in those who kill themselves? This archetypal trend of “self as god” reeks of not being all it is said to be.
So many gifted individuals’ celebrated “counter cultural” dogma seems in the end to be the very thing that consumes them.
The list of godless, anti-family, anti-tradition, intellectual narcissists who end their grand “thesis” with suicide is staggering. (Google it).
A simple glimpse at the Holy Bible, (chronicle of human history and the human condition) gives it to us short and sweet, “Pride (the act of unbelief in a power greater than self) goes before destruction, and an haughty spirit (so called, “Intellectual elite”) before a fall. Proverbs 16-18. KJV
Failure happens when we refuse to align ourselves with the truth. It is appears that like so many before him, Takaki’s false idols he set up for himself, combined with an ungodly reaction to pain were the end of him.
In all honesty, I wish him peace and release from suffering and hope he humbled himself to an higher power before taking his own life. My sincere sympathy to those who survive him and have to live with his decision.
Professor Ronald Takaki was a powerful intellect and an inspiring seeker for understanding and truth. My one personal interaction with him, however brief, gave me the impression that he was a genuinely decent and caring human being. My hearfelt sympathy to his family, colleagues, and students.
I met Professor Takaki at a conference. So kind, he took the extra time to speak with me and sign my book. He truly gave me hope and encouragement. As a Chicano, and an educator, the multicultural lessons of life he added to our conversations are immense. I am saddened by the news this AM. My condolences to the Takaki Family, and to all those who he touched.
I am a better educator and American because of Professor Takaki. Thank you.
I elebrate the life and work of Professor Takaki. We will honor his legacy by remembering that he taught the history of humankind without cropping.
I was a former student of Professor Takaki who took a couple of his classes as an undergraduate at Berkeley. During my senior year, he invited our class over to his home one day and opened up his home to us. He showed us the beautiful artworks his wife painted (which, by the way, were amazing). I remember thinking just how genuine and caring of an individual he was. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from him. He was a very warm, personable, animated, deep, and passionate individual. He will definitely, definitely be missed. My deepest condolences to the Takaki family….
One of the most profound courses I had the pleasure of taking was taught by Prof. Ronald Takaki. It was his Ethnic Studies course. He thrilled me with his intellect and his insight. I was not alone, he also inspired the other 200 or so students in his class. Prof. Takaki surely made the world a better place. May he rest in eternal peace.
Like many others have expressed, I feel sadness learning about the loss of a friend & colleague. His legacy of scholarship will endure and his writings will continue to light the potential of America to be a better nation. Those who have not read his books can pay tribute to his memory by reading them. Your enlightenment will please Dr. Takaki!
I support the right of all individuals to select the way to exit life’s and deplore the arrogance of religious zealots who judge one’s choice to suicide. Who gives any religious zealot the right to judge those who live a godless life?
My choice is to remember Ron as an authentic human being, graced with a very warm heart, deep intelligence, and a caring person. He himself would feel satisfied of what he contributed to make us better human beings. The tasks ahead are now ours to complete.
My deepest condolences to the Takaki family….
Josian Quiles
He was a great educator and all his work was really revolutionary. May he rest in peace. My deepest condolences to the Takaki family.
I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Takaki speak more than a decade ago at the University of Missouri. I remember thinking that I learned more about the real history of the U.S. in the 15 minutes that he spoke than in all my years in elementary, middle or high school. He had a great way of weaving everyone’s stories together and making you understand how the history of different ethnic groups are connected in this country. Though I didn’t have the opportunity to attend of this classes, I thank him for that great lesson.
Deepest condolences to the Takaki family.
I feel extremely sad and depressed to know that professor Ronald ended his life because of a medical conditions. However, his contribution to Asian American Studies and history will remain alive with us forever. As an Asian educator, I am constantly inspired by professor Ronald’s writing, Asian American History and experience, their struggles, their success, and their contribution.
I met Ronald at a lecture he gave at UC Berkeley in the late 90′s. I made sure I was there to thank him for mentioning Puerto Rican’s in his book Pau Hana.
I grew up hearing the oral history of my Puerto Rican family’s experience in Hawaii, but when ever I came across a book on Hawaii, there was never any mention of Puerto Ricans.
After the lecture i thanked him, and he told me how he grew up with Puerto Ricans, and that he couldn’t write a book about plantation life in Hawaii and not mention Puerto Ricans.
I appreciate all his work in cultural studies, but I still am truly thankful for him documenting the Puerto Ricans in Hawaii.
This guy was really racist. His book “A Different Mirror” is full of undertones of “the white man is the devil” and fails to be as fair in representing the white race as he did with all the other races he spoke of. To me, he came off as prejudiced and racist. I don’t really care what anyone else thinks of my opinion.