In 1952 this hope materialized. Due to the Korean conflict the roles shifted and America tried to undo some of its prior offenses against the Japanese population as it became allied with Japan in the face of the threat of Communism. Thus in effect the McCarran–Walter Act struck down” race as a basis for citizenship eligibility” and “between 1952 and 1965, more than 40,000 first-generation Japanese became U.S. citizens, many after decades of waiting” (Densho). But by that point it was already too late to undo the wrongs that have been done both through the interment camps and prior restrictions; the lives of many Japanese and Japanese-Americans were already ruined. For most there was nothing to return to. They had to start all over. So in the …show more content…
The shift away from antagonism was not immediate of course, but their struggles finally payed off, in the utmost minimal of ways, but it was progress nonetheless.
The Japanese immigrants faced many hardships upon their arrival in America largely due to the ignorance of the American people and the government towards the Japanese extravagance. The persistence of this extravagance is what led the Japanese to America and what indeed allowed them to survive as they were persecuted unjustly for this resilient quality. They were the target of American nativism and intolerance towards anything new or different from the white norm. The Japanese immigrants never quite fit in, for they were “of the yellow race” (Takaki 179). And yet, they risked it all and left their home country, their families, and headed to America, like many immigrants before them. Not many found the riches and the opportunities that they were seeking, but there was no going back. They were in America and they had to make the best of what they could; their pride stood in the way of their surrender. America proved to be a much more cruel land than they had ever expected, but Japanese immigrants insisted on coming to America and often bringing their families with them, but why? Because in