Outside the Paint( When Basketball Ruled at the Chinese Playground) <> Hardcover <> KathleenS.Yep <> TempleUniversityPress "This book accomplishes much more than simply documenting the explosion of basketball’s popularity in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Yep explores several sociological themes throughout the book’s chapters, such as how sports help marginalized segments of society develop a sense of belonging, and how sports gain political importance among segregated groups….For this reason, Outside the Paint is not simply a book about basketball, but a vivid description of how sports affect the identity of groups and their interactions with larger society." —Contemporary Sociology Asian American History and Culture, edited by Sucheng Chan, David Palumbo-Liu, Michael Omi, K. Scott Wong, and Linda Trinh Võ. The "standard" written histories of Asian immigrants to the United States have been imbued with Western cultural biases. As a critique and corrective to earlier work, Asian American History and Culture, edited by Sucheng Chan, David Palumbo-Liu, Michael Omi, K. Scott Wong, and Linda Trinh Võ, aims to develop a history of Asian Americans that is compatible with their own experience, that treats Asian Americans as agents of historical change and as creators of a new culture. In addition, this series intends to focus on the groups that are flourishing in the contemporary U.S.--Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese--about whom little has been written as well as to add to the substantial work done on the Chinese and Japanese in this country. Outside the Paint takes readers back to the Chinese Playground of San Francisco in the 1930s and 1940s, the only public outdoor space in Chinatown. It was a place where young Chinese American men and women developed a new approach to the game of basketbal--with fast breaks, intricate passing and aggressive defense--that was ahead of its time. Drawing on interviews with players and coaches, Kathleen Yep recounts some surprising stories. From the success of the Hong Wah Kues, a professional barnstorming men's basketball team and the Mei Wahs, a championship women's amateur team, to Woo Wong, the first Chinese athlete to play in Madison Square Garden, and his extraordinarily talented sister Helen Wong, who is compared to Babe Didrikson. Outside the Paint chronicles the efforts of these highly accomplished athletes who developed a unique playing style that capitalized on their physical attributes, challenged the prevailing racial hierarchy, and enabled them, for a time, to leave the confines of their segregated world. As they learned to dribble, shoot, and steal, they made basketball a source of individual achievement and Chinese American community pride. Kathleen S. Yep is Assistant Professor of Asian American Studies and Sociology at Pitzer College of the Claremont Colleges. Used Book in Good Condition