1. CHINESE AMERICANS AND JAPANESE AMERICANS
CHAPTER 13

2. Chinese Americans
Americans held conflicting views on Chinese immigration from the beginning
Settlers unwilling to tolerate alien culture
Labor was welcomed
Chinese exclusion act of
Gradual immigration from
Increase in immigration came with the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act

3. Chinese Americans is a collective term
Significant component of Chinese in US are those adopted by American non-Chinese couples
Chinese adoption laws loosened to promote adoptions of children
Mainly girls abandoned under China’s one-child policy
Faced complex issues of cultural and social identity
Chinese Americans is a collective term
Vast diversity within the group
Language, nationality, and region of origin
Divisions are sharply expressed

4. Occupational Profile of Chinese Americans
Early on discriminatory laws were passed making it difficult for Chinese to enter certain occupations
Early on gravitated toward service occupations or low paying jobs that whites found undesirable
Chinese sought relative safety of Chinatowns and the tourist industry
New immigrants find it difficult finding jobs outside of Chinatown
Lack of English is another reason for new immigrants seeking work in Chinatown

5. Chinatowns Today The economic paradox of Chinatowns
The impression of glitter and wealth hidden among economic deprivation and poverty in Chinatown
Rich history of organizational membership
Clan or tsu organization and functions (Surname Association)
Membership based on clan and family ties
Provided mutual assistance

6. Tongs or secret societies
Hui Kuan (Huiguan)
Benevolent associations that help members adjust to a new life
Based on person’s district of origin rather than kinship
Hui kuan associations are part of a larger organization, Chinese Six Companies, (Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association)
Tongs or secret societies
Formed on the basis of common interests
Some are political, others protest exploitation of Chinese workers, others provide illegal services

7. Conclusions reached about the various social organizations
All have followed patterns created in traditional China
All three types have performed similar functions
Providing mutual assistance and representing interests to a sometimes hostile dominant group
Because all groups had similar purposes and operated in the same locale, conflict was inevitable
Old associations have declined in significance
When communicating with dominant society, all groups downplayed problems of Chinatown

8. Social Problems
Myth that Chinese Americans and Chinatowns have no problems
The tourist industry in Chinatown as double edged sword
Jobs but at substandard pay
Poverty
Poor health care, especially for the elderly
High suicide rates
Poor and run-down housing
Rising crime rates
Poor working conditions
Inadequate care for the elderly
Weak union representation of laborers

9. Family and Religious Life
People’s Republic of In the China organized religion barely exists
State policy discourages and prohibits foreign missionary activity
Change in family life is most difficult cultural change to accept
Domestic violence is a problem that recently surfaced
Another problem is rise in gang activity
Chinese American youth are not part of the model minority

10. Japanese Americans
Initial Japanese immigrants came around 1885 (Push and pull factors)
Came from a very stratified society
Most came from the lower class in Japan
Initially many found employment in forestry, agriculture and then migrated to cities along the West Coast and established small businesses
Feelings of “yellow peril” also directed at the Japanese

11. Japanese Americans distinguish themselves according to number of generations a family has been in the US
Each succeeding generation more acculturated and less likely to know Japanese
Issei (pronounced “EE-say”)
First generation born in Japan
Nisei (“Nee-say)
Children of first generation born in US
Sansei (“SAHN-say”)
Third generation must go back to grandparents to reach their roots
Yonsei (“YAWN-say”)
Fourth generation
Kibei (“KEE-boy”)
Nisei sent back to Japan for schooling and marriage then return to US

12. Early Discrimination
Laws were passed prohibiting Issei from becoming citizens
California Alien Land Act of 1913
Prohibited anyone who was ineligible for citizenship from owning land and limited leases
Economic impact on agricultural land owned by Japanese Americans
Adjustments to the act led many to transfer ownership to their American born children
Many left agriculture and migrated to cities and established small businesses catering to both the Japanese and dominant group

13. The Wartime Evacuation
Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on February 13, 1942
Defined strategic military areas and authorized the removal of people considered threats to national security
Economic cost to the evacuees was in excess of $400 million or in current dollars $3.7 billion
Psychological impact and weakened family ties
The way out and the loyalty test
Questions were ambiguous

14. Japanese migration from the camps after the war
Japanese Americans demonstrated their loyalty to the United States by participating in the war effort
Racism and internment
German and Italian Americans were not interned
Japanese in Hawaii left alone because they were and integral part of the economy
Japanese migration from the camps after the war
Mitsuye Endo v. United States (1944)
Detainment was unconstitutional and consequently freedom was to be granted

15. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (1981)
Government formally apologized and give $20,000 tax-free to 82,000 surviving internees
Civil Liberties Act (1988)
Signed by Ronald Reagan authorizing payments
Payments slow in coming, other federal expenditures had priority
Aging internees dying at rate of 200/month
First checks issued in 1990

16. Economic Picture
Socioeconomic status very different from Chinese Americans
Upward mobility after WWII
Japanese American educational attainment is higher than whites
Occupationally have been upwardly mobile but still experience the glass ceiling and wall
Higher median family income than whites
Few excuses apart from racism to explain why Whites continue to view Japanese as different from them

17. Family and Religious Life
Acculturation and change in family structure
Conjugal nuclear family structure
Neolocal pattern of residence
Outgroup marriage is increasing and is approximately 50% among the Yonsei
Rising divorce rate
Crime, delinquency, and reported mental illness
Japanese have lower incidence than other minorities and Whites

18. Dual religious customs in Japan
One can be Shinto and Buddhist at the same time
United States the emphasis is on belonging to a single religion
Immigrants found it easy to accept Christianity
Impact is changing religious customs over time among Japanese-Americans
Buddhism growing in US
New adherents are Whites attracted to their perception of a more enriching value system

19. Remnants of Prejudice and Discrimination
Fu Manchu image is gone, but replacement is not better
Entertainment media, if present
Karate experts or technical specialists
Chinese Americans are ignored or misrepresented in history books
Chinese and Japanese Americans believe racism has decreased but subtle reminders remain

20. Intermarriage, not typical, legal and more common
Young Asian Americans are trying to fight racist and exclusionary practices
Intermarriage, not typical, legal and more common
More than 1/4th of Chinese Americans marry someone who is not Chinese
Increase indicates Whites are increasingly accepting Chinese Americans
Also suggests Chinese and Japanese ties to native cultures are weakening
Chinese and Japanese Americans more acceptable and less alien to Whites

21. Some are seeking to justify internment
Japanese American community struggles to maintain its cultural identity while paying homage to those interned during WWII
Some are seeking to justify internment
Critics feel that teaching of internment too biased and arguments for internment being correct action should be included
Some Japanese Americans, especially Sansei are politically active
Emerged as activists for environment
Attack apparent rise in hate crimes in US against Asian Americans

22. Lobbied for passage of Civil Rights Restoration Act
Extending reparations to evacuees
Japanese Americans show little evidence of wanting to maintain distinct way of life
Values that have endured are
Attitudes, beliefs, and goals shared by and rewarded by White middle-class
Any Asian American is culturally part of a society that is dominated by a group that excludes others because of racial distinctions

23. QUESTIONS

24. What has been the legacy of the “yellow peril”?

25. What made the placement of Japanese Americans in internment camps unique?

26. In what respects does diversity characterize Chinatowns?

27. How has Japanese American assimilation been blocked in the United States?

28. What are the most significant similarities between the Chinese American and Japanese American experience?
What are the differences?

29. The Japanese were provided and apology and monetary reparations for their internment during WWII. What differences are reflected in their situation compared to African Americans and their struggle for reparations for slavery?

30. What events can you imagine that could cause the United States to again identify an ethnic group for confinement in some type of internment camps?