An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China

By Clarence Adams

Throughout his life, Clarence Adams exhibited self-reliance, ambition, ingenuity, courage, and a commitment to learning--character traits often equated with the successful pursuit of the American Dream. Unfortunately, for an African American coming of age in the 1930s and 1940s, such attributes counted for little, especially in the South.

Adams was a seventeen-year-old high school dropout in 1947 when he fled Memphis and the local police to join the U.S. Army. Three years later, after fighting in the Korean War in an all-black artillery unit that he believed to have been sacrificed to save white troops, he was captured by the Chinese. After spending almost three years as a POW, during which he continued to suffer racism at the hands of his fellow Americans, he refused repatriation in 1953, choosing instead the People's Republic of China, where he hoped to find educational and career opportunities not readily available in his own country.

While living in China, Adams earned a university degree, married a Chinese professor of Russian, and worked in Beijing as a translator for the Foreign Languages Press. During the Vietnam War he made a controversial anti-war broadcast over Radio Hanoi, urging black troops not to fight for someone else's political and economic freedoms until they enjoyed these same rights at home.

In 1966, having come under suspicion during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, he returned with his wife and two children to the United States, where he was subpoenaed to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities to face charges of "disrupting the morale of American fighting forces in Vietnam and inciting revolution in the United States." After these charges were dropped, he and his family struggled to survive economically. Eventually, through sheer perseverance, they were able to fulfill at least part of the American Dream. By the time he died, the family owned and operated eight successful Chinese restaurants in his native Memphis.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1558495959
• ISBN13: 9781558495951
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 8.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

An American Dream

Clarence Admas was one of my mom's best friend during the Foreign Langauges Press (Beijing) time between 1961 and 1966. I was a yound child at the time and played with Della a lot as childhood friends. Even I was young, Adams had clearly left me a deep impression as a hard working and happy man. This book, An American Dream, through his personal acconts, taught me the race issues that existed in United States and I also learned how his choice was made to pursue freedom and happiness. I fully understand how he chose China now. Both China and United states are(were) not "perfect" countries and they are all in their learning curve based on their own cultural, historical backgrounds including ecomonic conditions, etc.. We all should go beyond labeling people or country. This book builds a small but effective bridge on mutural understanding of our past. For Adams, I admire his determination to make his life in the United States against overwelming odds to find a job in Memphis. This shows that for people who want to to work will be able to find a job. Success is indeed a life choice. Adams' life is a successful story on surving the Korean war, making the right choice for himself in 1954, did well in China, and again did well in Memphis againt unthinkable difficulties. Clarence Adams' character is truly memorable. I suggest people who want to understand China, want to understand racial issues in the United States and want to learn history ... this is book provides an unvarnished personal accounts. For people want to find out more, please search Internat "They Chose China"... a documentary film.

An Amazing Story

I came across Clarence Adams' story by chance. I was doing research on a documentary he was featured in, and intrigued by the little I read about him, I made a point of tracking down his book. When I got hold of An American Dream, I read it in one sitting. It's a phenomenal story! Adams' strength of character and guts shine through on each page. I wish I could have met him. If you're interested in modern China, the Korean war, or civil rights in America or if you just like reading about heroes, you'll enjoy this book. I encourage you to add it to your collection.

Highly Recommended!

I found this book so interesting, that I finished it in a matter of hours. I have a deep respect for Clarence Adams and the choice he made to refuse repatriation to his country and seek a new life elsewhere. History now shows that the fear of Communism (through wars abroad and McCarthyism at home) was blown out of proportion. Furthermore, Clarence Adams grew up in a time of segregation and injustice against racial minorities. It makes only logical sense for him to seek a better life somewhere else. I do not view him as a traitor or turncoat. In fact, by exercising his rights to have 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,' he is more "American" than many of the detractors and exaggerators of the American Media Machine as well as some members of the military and government. Some may say that his fight was at home for Civil Rights and that he should have been here. However, that view is only spoken through hindsight. For Clarence Adams, he had no idea that equal rights would even be acheived in his lifetime. Furthermore, he was only one person of humble origins and was a high school dropout. When the odds are that far stacked against you, sometimes the only way to fight a broken system is to refuse to be a part of it. I would like to thank his daughter, Della, for sharing her father's story. I would also like to thank Lewis H. Carlson for the work and research that went into this book.

An Honerable and Remarkable Life

Anyone with an open mind would have to conclude that Mr. Adams lived an honorable and remarkable life. Through this book, I saw a man whose love for freedom was above everything else. It is the true essence of an American dream.