chapter 13 chinese americans and japanese americans

Chapter 13

Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans

Early Settlement Patterns

• Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 - 1943

• Gradual immigration from 1943 - 1965

• Increase in immigration came with the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act

• Americans held conflicting views on Chinese immigration from the beginning– Settlers unwilling to tolerate alien culture

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– Labor was welcomed

• Chinese Americans is a collective term– Vast diversity within the group

• Language, nationality, and region of origin• Divisions are sharply expressed



• Significant component of Chinese in US: – Adopted by American non-Chinese couples– Chinese adoption laws loosened to promote

adoptions of children– Mainly girls abandoned under one-child policy– Faced complex cultural & social identity

issues


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


Occupational Profile of Chinese Americans

• 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


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)


Chinatowns Today

– Membership based on clan and family ties

– Provided mutual assistance

• Tongs or secret societies – Formed on the basis of common interests– Some are political, others protest exploitation

of Chinese workers, or provide illegal services


Chinatowns Today

• 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


Chinatowns Today

• Conclusions reached about the various social organizations– All have followed patterns created in

traditional China– All three types have performed similar

functions


Chinatowns Today

• Providing mutual assistance and representing interests to a sometimes hostile dominant group

– Conflict was inevitable; all groups had similar purposes and operated in the same locale

– Old associations have declined significantly– When communicating with dominant society,

all groups downplayed problems of Chinatown


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


Social Problems

– High suicide rates– Poor and run-down housing– Rising crime rates– Poor working conditions– Inadequate care for the elderly– Weak union representation of laborers


Family Life

• Change in family life is the 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


Japanese Americans

• Initial Japanese immigrants came around 1885 (Push and pull factors)

• Initially many found employment in forestry & agriculture and then migrated to cities – Along the West Coast and established small

businesses

• Came from a very stratified society


Japanese Americans

• Feelings of “yellow peril” also directed at the Japanese

• Most came from the lower class in Japan

• Japanese Americans distinguish themselves – According to number of generations a family

has been in the US


Japanese Americans

• Each succeeding generation more acculturated; less likely to know Japanese– Issei (pronounced “EE-say”)

• First generation born in Japan

– Sansei (“SAHN-say”)• Third generation must go back to grandparents to

reach their roots


Japanese Americans

– Nisei (“Nee-say)• Children of first generation born in US

– Yonsei (“YAWN-say”)• Fourth generation

– Kibei (“KEE-boy”)• Nisei sent back to Japan for schooling and

marriage then return to US


Early Japanese Immigration

• Laws were passed prohibiting Issei from becoming citizens

• California Alien Land Act of 1913– Prohibited anyone ineligible for citizenship

from owning land and limited leases– Economic impact on agricultural land owned

by Japanese Americans


Early Japanese Immigration

• Adjustments to act led many to transfer ownership to American born children

• Many left agriculture and migrated to cities – And established small businesses catering to

both the Japanese and dominant group


The Wartime Evacuation

• Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt on February 13, 1942– Defined strategic military areas & authorized

the removal of people considered threats

• Economic cost to the evacuees was: – In excess of $400 million or $3.7 billion in

current dollars



• Psychological impact & weakened family ties

• The way out and the loyalty test– Questions were ambiguous

• Japanese Americans demonstrated their loyalty to the United States – By participating in the war effort



• Racism and internment– German & Italian Americans were not interned

• Japanese migration from the camps after the war

• Mitsuye Endo v. United States (1944)– Detainment was unconstitutional and

consequently freedom was to be granted



• 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


Economic Picture

• Socioeconomic status very different from Chinese Americans

• Upward mobility after WWII

• Japanese American educational attainment is higher than whites


Economic Picture

• Occupationally have been upwardly mobile & experience the glass ceiling/wall

• Higher median family income than whites

• Few excuses apart from racism to explain why – Whites continue to view Japanese as different

from them


Family Life

• Acculturation and change in family structure

• Conjugal nuclear family structure

• Neolocal pattern of residence


Family Life

• Rising divorce rate

• Crime, delinquency, and reported mental illness– Japanese have lower incidence than other

minorities and Whites


Remnants of Prejudice and Discrimination

• 2/3 of all children born to a Japanese American had a parent of a different race

• Entertainment media, if present– Karate experts or technical specialists– Chinese Americans are ignored or

misrepresented in history books



• 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 under

age 24 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



• Some are seeking to justify internment

• Some Japanese Americans, especially Sansei are politically active– Emerged as activists for environment– Attack apparent rise in hate crimes in US

against Asian Americans



• Lobbied for passage of Civil Rights Restoration Act

• 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


chapter 13 chinese americans and japanese americans

Documents

pearson education

chinese immigration

immigration act americans

japanese americans

economic paradox of

relative safety of chinatowns

problems of chinatown

gradual immigration