Historical Context Of Racial Politics

Author, Julie Otsuka uses themes such as conformity, discrimination, and loss of identity to illustrate the struggles in Japanese-American families in 1942. Julie Otsuka, in her short story, depicts an asian

The Black Panther Party was the most influential revolutionary group during the Civil Rights movement era. The BPP became a very strong political power. It influenced many government decisions and attracted the mass media. Yet, due to a number of reasons the BPP eventually collapsed. The Black Panther Party came to its demise due to government operations against it, various mistakes by the Party itself, and by short comings by its own leaders.

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

Another historical event that shows the prejudice that was so rampant against Japanese Americans and all minorities is recorded in an article entitled "20,000 for Arizona" which is it self racial biased. "Twenty thousand alien and Japanese citizens will be moved to the Colorado River Indian Reservation at Parker, Ariz., in the first extensive relocation..." ("20,000" 21). Not only does the simple fact that these people are

My grandmother sent me a letter from home, telling the success story of her old Chinese tenants who, through hard work, had become very wealthy in the 9 short years they lived in America. My grandmother embraces the belief that "with hard work, patience and a little help from the model minority stereotype, someday Asians will gain full approval of white America". She believes that Asian Americans are inherently smarter, more diligent and thrifty than other racial minorities of our time. I, on the other hand, am skeptical towards this assumed advantage that other minorities have perceived as "elevators to the ladder of success" in American

In the 1880’s, America began seeing the first Japanese immigrants arrive in the Pacific Northwest. The Japanese came to this country searching for a better life. Many hoped to begin a new life in America where they could raise their families. There were others who came here merely to earn and save money only to return to Japan later on. The Japanese people who began their lives in America experienced little racism and discrimination, that is, before December 7th, 1941 when the country of Japan bombed the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After this event, the Japanese-American people’s lives would change dramatically.

Throughout Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s autobiography, Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne experiences the struggles of Japanese-Americans during the World War II. After the Pearl Harbor bombing, Japanese-Americans were forced to be sent to an incarceration camp often through isolated deserts and swamps. They were sent to the camp because they looked like the enemy. Their bravery and fighting for what they believed in were their version of social justice because Japanese-Americans wanted an equal opportunity just like the Caucasians. The book on what Japanese-Americans went through at that time resembles with this modern day Trump’s immigration law on Muslims. The Japanese-Americans and Muslims both face discrimination, separation from their family, and institutionalized injustice.

They settled in the states of the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, and California. While these regions were the hearths of their immigration, the primary pull factor was the increasing demand for railroad construction labor, which took them farther inland for several years. The restriction of Chinese immigration volumes spurred this higher demand for labor as the “Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Oregon Short Line and other railroads” were being constructed, and Japanese immigrants had been an untapped market leading up to this point (Mercier, 1). By the early 1900s, Japanese immigrants made up about “40 percent of Oregon’s total railroad labor force” (Mercier, 1). This immediately established a subordination of Japanese people in relation to other Americans (primarily white Europeans). From their point of view, the Japanese were brought here for cheap manual labor, and after the railroads were completed, the settling of Japanese within communities along the Western seaboard were not appreciated by the people who preceded them. This was only the beginning of the racial discrimination Japanese Americans endured (and continue to endure). Further analyzing the struggle between the Japanese and other racial groups leading up to World War 2 allows us to understand a major factor of why the implementation of internment camps would eventually become a reality in

In the early twentieth century, Asian Americans in the United States faced to lots of obstacles. Since they lived in a “different shore”, they were treated as unassimilable people, and therefore, they experienced many unequal and discriminative treatments. Both Asian Americans lived in Hawaii and the mainland lived in unbearable life under racial discrimination. However, due to geographical and ethnic differences, Asian Americans in the mainland had more difficult time, since majority of the United States’ population were white people. Asian Americans in the mainland had an intense competition with white working class. In other words,

1.Model Minority Myth: Asian Americans have generally been typified as the model minority which refers to a perception of them being “naturally gifted, hardworking and socially passive” (Asian Americans in Higher Education 13) Their ability to perform well academically and to remain passive in the larger social scheme makes them less threatening than other minorities, especially African Americans but the model minority myth may have worked against them, especially in the field of educational attainment. It is believed that due to the model minority myth, Asian Americans are victims of “political exploitation” (Chun 1980, p.7) and in education they are denied certain services which are readily available to other minorities such as preference in higher education systems. 2: Race: The concept of race is more often than not used as a social construct and it has been historically used as a means of making laws for the minorities and for the purpose of denying them certain rights which are easily given to the majority. Social construction of race has also been used as a means of denying citizenship and marriage rights to people and in the case of Asian Americans, Critical Asian Theory is

The Black Panther Party is the largest black revolutionary organization that has ever existed. Formed in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the party’s first intended goal

Although the group was willing to resort to and known for is violence, it was not the only means they tried to reach their goals of helping African Americans. They were serious and focused when it came to their projects; they even had a ban on alcohol and drugs when doing things for the party (“Black Panthers” American). The BPP had self-help programs for members to better themselves and a program called the Free Children’s Breakfast Program that did exactly what the name

While struggling to seek places for refuge, Japanese American Associations and culture type groups sought to keep bonds with Japan. The group decided to “foster”

Unfair police brutality against African Americans were not rare so the Black Panthers took the initiative to show to the poice that as a community, they were not afraid of standing up for their rights as Americans.

I began this study with a memory from my adolescents to implicate the importance of understanding “blackness” in contemporary Japanese culture, which grants conflicting views of “blackness” as it is redefined in popular culture. In conducting this study, I want to understand what these representations will mean for African Americans, specifically women, who go to reside in Japan. The lack of representation of black women in scholarly literature about East Asia prompted my decision to conduct research on this topic. As I press further, I seek to understand the roles African American women play as both conscious and unconscious