Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

TheConnecticutYankeeintheCourtofKingArthur 153

ThefirstChinesestudentadmittedtohighereducationintheUnited
StateswasYungWing,entolledatYalein1850."By 1999 anestimated
thirty-one thousandstudents from mainlandChinaand Taiwanwere
entolledin highereducationin the UnitedStates.I2 Theeffects on
AmericanandChinesehistoryofthislongandgrowingexchangehave
alreadybeendramatic,andpromisetoreverberateanddevelopthrough
manyyearstocome.
Thiswasonlyoneofmanywaysinwhichthemissionarymovement
contributedto theslowerosionofpopularAmericanprejudicesand
hatreds.Thecauseofinterracialadoptions,forexample,was enthusi-
astically supportedbyNobelPrize-winningnovelist(and missionary
daughter)PearlS.Buck.HavinggrownupinChinaamongtheChinese,
shesimplydidnotsharetheracialprejudicesthatsodistortedAmerican
lifeinhertime.DuringtheKoreanWarshejoinedthemissionarycom-
munityinurgingAmericansofEuropeandescenttoadoptKoreanwar
orphans-onlya generationafterlawswerepassedbanning"Oriental"
immigrationintotheUnitedStates,anda decadeaftermanyJapanese
AmericanswereforcedintointernmentcampsforthedurationofWorld
WarII.
Buckwasbynomeansalone.Missionariesmayhavegoneouttothe
field withprejudicesofvariouskinds,whichsomeofthemmaynever
havedropped,butformanythemissionexperienceutterlychangedtheir
viewoftheworld.Aslocalchurchesdevelopedinmissioncountries,mis-
sionariesincreasinglyhadtolearntoworkfirstwithandthenunderlocal
churchauthority.Witha handfulofexceptions,mostmissionarysalaries
weretoolowtoallowthemissionariestoliveintheremotesplendor
ofthebusinessmenandgovernmentofficials whowentoutfrom the
WesttogovernAfricaandAsiaduringthecolonialeras.Theirfriends,
neighbors,andprofessionalassociateswereincreasinglydrawnfromthe
countrieswhere theylived;theirchildren'splaymateswere"natives,"
and,throughtheirtiestothealumniofmissioncolleges,theirfriends
includedleadersintheemergingnationalistmovementsofthecolonial
world. Patronizingandprejudicedas manymissionaries undoubtedly
were,themissionfieldwasthefirstplaceinwhichlargenumbersofwell-
educatedAmericanslearnedtoworkasequalswithpeoplefromother
culturalbackgrounds,andjustasthemissionboardshadbeenamongthe
firstmultinationalcorporationsinAmericanhistory,sotooweretheythe
firstAmericanorganizationsthatsystematicallymovedtoplacelocalsin
positionsofleadership.
ThattheUnitedStateswaspreparedforworldleadershipafterWorld