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Effects of second world war in American society
Modern day discrimination in america
Modern day discrimination in america
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Recommended: Effects of second world war in American society
No matter how long they or their families had lived in America, the US turned their back on them in an instant. Because of a suspicion of Japanese spies in the United States, they lost trust in the innocent citizens who happened to be of Japanese descent. Even if they wanted to serve their country, they weren't allowed to if they were Japanese-American. These US citizens were discriminated against by their own country because of their association with the enemy in the Pacific. There was a rational fear that Japanese-Americans would side with their native land over their new home in America.
There has been a domino effect of racist events against Japanese-Americans, including having to face bigotry, people (white Americans) that have an irrational fear of people descending from another country (Japanese-Americans), and racism since President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 . Bigotry, xenophobia, and racism impair the Japanese-American community. Not only did the forced evacuation of Japanese people in Hawaii and on the West Coast lead to unconstitutional imprisonment of 120,000 people, two thirds of whom were US-born citizens, but it also represented a failure of the country’s democracy by denying American citizens their rights granted by the U.S. Constitution . Because the Japanese-Americans were born in the United States, their U.S. citizenship was their birthright and was supposed to protect them; however, this was not the case and the loss of their property, unjust detainment because of a “national security risk”, and loss of their citizen status humiliated the American born citizens of Japanese immigrants. The US government purposely violated the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution and although since WWII the Japanese-Americans have been apologized to and the U.S. has admitted it was a mistake to detain these citizens, debate over the legitimacy of the 14th amendment now exists .
The Chinese immigrants, however, were not the only ones to receive such hate and discrimination. This eventually spread towards Japanese and many other groups of Asian immigrants. However, instead of banning them altogether, the government just segregated them under the San Francisco Segregation order in the year of 1906. However, the Japanese government got involved and spoke out against this treatment. As a result, this would lead to the compromise of the Gentlemen’s agreement.
In the Amicus Curiae Brief submitted by the Japanese American Citizens’ League it states, “We contend that General DeWitt accepted the views of racists instead of the principles of democracy because he is himself a confessed racist.” (210) I believe this statement primarily because General DeWitt did not care if you had American citizenship, if you were also Japanese, you were deemed as dangerous to him. I also believe the reason pro-internment advocates saw those that were Japanese as a threat was because their physical features were different than Americans, but same as their
Asian Americans were using the judicial system to fight for their rights and have the same rights as a citizen. For example, a very successful case it was the “Yick Wo v. Hopkins” Yick Wo was not an American Citizen he goes to the Supreme Court and argues that the laundry ordinance violated his rights under the fourteen amendments, his right to due process and equal protection, furthermore Yick Wo won the case. This was the first case that the Supreme Court help a Chinese person who was fighting for his rights and did not ruled against him for not being a citizen. A case that was not successful was “United States v. Ju Toy” he was a Chinese man and was born in the U.S Toy went to China and returned to San Francisco but on his return he was
Many Asian American conflicts rose in the 1850’s. It was the age of gold, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world all took part in the Californian gold rush. After working for the transcontinental railroad many retired chinese laborers decided to strike it rich near the American River. Many native Californians, California residents, and even Transcontinental travelers heavily despised the Chinese. Thousands of Chinese casualties occurred during the gold rush, however only 2 ever went to court.
Throughout the history of the US, there were many movements and acts that emphasize the rights, justice, and equality of every US citizen, they were needed to push the society move forward. There were some that failed after a long time because of lacking supports from the people, but there also many movements that were so successful that changed the whole way how the US handles Democracy and its people rights. Those movements were maybe not last for a long time but were needed to show everyone that the power and wealth of a nation come through its citizen, and each person has the power to fight for their happiness and equality. In many righteous acts that the people have started, there were two acts that made an enormous change to the US political and economic system, not only they improve the people lives, they were also the main reason why America is such promising and full of opportunities to the eyes of many immigrants. Those two are The Populist Movement and The Progressive era.
Whilst the Japanese were being sent to the camps, many people on the west coast were hanging racist signs in storefronts and neighborhoods giving the obvious notice that Japs were not welcome. This attitude of hatred is what caused the poor conditions of the internment camps on the west coast, carried out and justified by the idea that the white Americans were better than the Japanese Americans due to the suspicion of espionage. The Japanese Americans were thought of as spies therefor they were thrown into internment camps where the discriminatory attitude of western Americans brought upon their unjust treatment. The pressure of WWII caused the American government to make unecessary precautions in hopes of protecting a nation when they in fact they divided it.
During World War II, there was an increase of Mexican immigration in the United States, which greatly increased the population. There were significant incidents of racism between Mexican Americans and Americans that affected the view on World War II. Mexican Americans were drafted into or volunteered for the U.S. army. Since there was an increase of immigration, Mexican Americans had more opportunities of getting jobs in the United States, especially in the west. World War II had many effects on Mexican Americans, and that changed the perspective of Mexican Americans nationally and worldwide.
America is known for its diverse culture and society. It is full of many races and contains various ethnic groups which help shape it and make it what it is. America is a country that was built by immigrants and slaves. The Germans and the Chinese were a part of the immigrants that helped to build the foundations on which the United States stands. The Germans were the first to come to America and the Chinese followed around 150 years later.
America’s racist ideals were seeded way before the bombing of pearl harbor. Acts like the Naturalization Act of 1870, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the Immigration Act of 1924 grew racism towards Asians. (Notes). This would lead to the sentiment that Japanese people did not belong in America. In document 9, this is supported with the statement “The Chinese and Japanese are not bona fide citizens.”
It all started when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, causing the U.S. citizens to be extremely furious and unite the support of media to create propagandas. The Japanese are portrayed with slanted small eyes and buck teeth- undermining the intelligence of their race; moreover, they were even dehumanized and depicted as animals. The U.S media was very biased when comparing the Chinese to the Japanese. While the Chinese man had an amiable appearance and a slender body, the Japanese had an unpleasant frown on his face and was described as short and stout (Miles). The article “WWII Propaganda: The Influence of Racism” also states that “The Chinese man’s occupation implies that he helps people, while the title of Japanese warrior alludes to danger and disloyalty,” (ibid).
This is due to the fact that the Japanese immigrants suffered deeply from exclusion, torture and racism. In the United States they’ve experienced many obstacles but through all the griefs and setbacks, immigrants like the Japanese along with many other ethnic crowds, despite the diversity, managed to coalesce as a united nation. There are many events and leaders that contribute to this success. President John F. Kennedy took control to reform the immigration laws ever since he noticed the wrong doings and violation of immigrants. He acknowledged that they are human too and deserve to be treated better in our land that represents
Around this time, America was busy with the Cold War and secretly involved in the Vietnamese War. Another big issue in society was the inequality between minorities and whites. During this period of time, many people believed in equality for all, and
There’s a myth about Asian Americans, that generalizes them into one group. People create false images of us through stereotypes. These stereotypes have been manifested in books, movies, and literature, but they have repercussions for Asian Americans in society. We are often treated as foreigners, people leading us to believe that we don’t belong in American society, and that we have no purpose being here. Stereotypes are natural things that people will talk about.
