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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Critical Coalitions: Theory and Praxis Julie A. Su and Eric K. Yamamoto WHY ARE PROGRESSIVE law professors so often absent from the in-the-trenches legal struggles of communities of color-where trial courts, community halls, city councils, churches, corporate-accountability campaigns , government bureaucracies, and state initiatives are the terrain for race controversies ? And why are political lawyers so often missing from gatherings of progressive academics-where critiques ofrace, culture , and law provide critical insight into the limitations and possibilities ofcontemporary civil-rights practice in pursuit of racial justice? Of course, progressive scholars and political lawyers do interact. But in our estimation, not nearly enough. We write in the hope ofblurring the line, to explore both the power and difficulty of collapsing categories ofpolitical lawyer and scholar'! We write as a front-line civil-rights lawyer who is also engaged in race and coalitional theory development, and as a scholar-teacher who is also practicing civilrights and human-rights law. Why is it so hard for scholars and frontline lawyers to collaborate, to translate their work for one another, to directly inform each others' efforts? Eric's writing on a critical race praxis begins to address this larger question.2 In this chapter, we take on a more discrete task-to sketch the complex dynamics of one particular coalitional effort and assess its implications for the development ofcritical coalitional theory. Intellectually and politically, we agree on the potential, as well as the sharp limitations , ofcivil-rights law and litigation practice in contemporaryAmerica. Where we disagree , mildly, concerns what to do in light of these limitations. ForJulie, a pressing question is, "Given the concrete realities facing subordinated communities, what strategies work best and how can those strategies help individuals gain the power to make real changes in their lives?"3 For Eric, a primary question is, "How can we, over time, remake civil-rights law and practice into a viable instrument for progressive change?" For both of us, an important question is, "What might Critical Race Theory offer to and learn from groups engaged in forging alliances and building coalitions?" In framing this question we are implicitly making several assertions about the development ofcritical coalitional theory. Theory development should be forward-Iooking-that is, it should 380 CRITICAL COALITIONS explore how race-theory insights illuminate and aid ongoing and future coalition-building efforts. Developments should integrate theory and action-reflecting our belief that theory-building both shapes and is shaped by coalitional practice and that theory solely for its own sake is oflimited efficacy in progressive social-change work. Issues of gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, and multiracialism are crucial to the dynamics of racial coalition-building in a political climate that is hostile to the civil rights of subordinated peoples. And finally, we are asserting that among coalition partners, intergroup healing and reconciliation are sometimes a necessary first step to, and always an ongoing process in, forging lasting alliances. We ground these assertions, this chapter's thematic points, and our call for continuing development ofcritical coalitional theory in the following, more detailed account of the explosive, frustrating, and empowering coalition -building struggles of Thai and Latina garment workers in Los Angeles. The account reflects Julie's own experiences. Thai and Latina Garment Workers in Los Angeles The Thai Garment Workers On August 2, 1995, federal, state, and local law-enforcement officials in a suburb ofLos Angeles uncovered seventy-one Thai garment workers behind a barbed-wire compound , posted with armed guards. The discovery sent shock waves across America and around the world. From impoverished rural Thailand, these garment workers dreamed the immigrant dream: a life of hard work with fair pay, decency, self-sustenance, and hope. What they found instead was an industry-the garment industry-that thrives on oppressive sweatshop labor, while closing its eyes to inhumane treatment of workers. What these workers also found were government bureaucracies so intent on maintaining the status quo and on self-promotion that they contributed to the exploitation of these immigrant workers. The Thai workers were enslaved in a twostory apartment complex in El Monte, California . There they were forced to work, live, eat, and sleep for as long as seven years, sewing garments that were later sold in the nation's top retail stores. Eighteen-hour days laboring over sewing machines were the norm. The workers consumed large quantities ofcoffee or splashed water on their faces to stay awake. When they were permitted to go upstairs to sleep, they...

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