The First Strange Place : Race And Sex

Throughout history, interracial relations have had a big impact within the Asian American community. There was an increase in the number of interracial relationships, particularly between Asian women and American soldiers as they served overseas in Asian countries and spent time in military bases. The War Brides Act of 1945 allowed U.S servicemen to bring their alien brides and families to the U.S following World War II. In 1947, an amendment made it possible for U.S soldiers to bring their Japanese and Korean wives. After that enactments, thousands of women from Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines came to the U.S as war brides. Often these women were looked down upon, were seen as “tainted”, and were shunned. These relationships changed the demographic population of the Asian American community because there was a bigger population of mixed raced children. These

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

This book according to Takaki clearly shows that, during the Second World War in 1940 America was a white man’s country. Responses on wartime to different ethnic and cultural communities are shown in this book. This ethnic group consists of the Mexicans, African Americans, Chinese, Philippines, Koreans, and Japanese Americans. Then finally analysis about the historic attack on Hiroshima is shown. This clearly shows the level of racism during that time. According to Takaki combined military services and war simultaneously opened the horizons while raising awareness. There was a racial slight gaining of economic independence when the black women left the whites kitchen for assembly lines.

After World War II, the American psyche became permanently stained with new ideas. During this time period, the American government actively sought to change the way the American people thought. The support of the American public was crucial to the success of the war effort. Many ideas introduced during this point of time consisted of new roles of certain people groups in American society. Women and minority groups would prove themselves in the workplace, millions of citizens would be discriminated against, and social barriers would be broken and assembled. Even though World War II took place in Europe and the Pacific, it made lasting social changes that can still be seen in America.

In the mist of the countries involvement in one of the most grueling wars in history new barriers were broken to make room for an equal America. Although true equality was not reached, these short four years would lead to the turning point in American acceptance toward diversity, both in and out of the work place. The movement of thousands of men overseas create a substantial gap in the work place, creating a never before seen chance for women, Blacks, and immigrants to flood the many war based jobs. At the same time, the Japanese faced radical discrimination for the events in which provoked the United States entry in to the War. In the years incasing WWII opportunity opened to those who had been affected hardest but

American minorities made up a significant amount of America’s population in the 1920s and 1930s, estimated to be around 11.9 million people, according to . However, even with all those people, there still was harsh segregation going on. Caucasians made African-Americans work for them as slaves, farmers, babysitters, and many other things in that line. Then when World War II came, “World War II required the reunification and mobilization of Americans as never before” (Module2). They needed to cooperate on many things, even if they didn’t want to. These minorities mainly refer to African, Asian, and Mexican-Americans. They all suffered much pain as they were treated as if they weren’t even human beings. They were separated, looked down upon,

In the United States World War II has been one of the most remembered wars of all time. Acclaimed historian Ronald Takaki asserts that for many Americans, World War II was fought for a “double victory”: on the battlefront as well as on the home front. Takaki’s book Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II reminds the audience that there was much, much more happening at home and on the frontlines during World War II than in the battlefield. Takaki presents a strong central argument; it illuminates the incongruity of America's own oppressive behavior toward minorities at home, even while proclaiming the role in World War II as a fight against oppression abroad. It also pays tribute to the determination and perseverance of ethnically diverse Americans in their two-front war against prejudice and fascism. In addition Takaki tells the story through the lives of ethnically diverse Americans: Japanese Americans who felt betrayed by their own country when families were sent to internment camps; For African Americans, the war for freedom had to be fought in their country’s own backyard; a Navajo code talker who uses his complex native language to transmit secret battle messages and confound the Japanese, while his people are living in desperate poverty on a government reservation. Their dual struggle to defeat the enemy abroad and overcome racism at home gives the Double Victory its title and its texture.

officials eventually began to recruit these internees into the American army. Not only was WWII a war about political alliances and geographical sovereignty, but it was also a war about race and racial superiority throughout the world. Propagating this idea, Dower (1986) argues, “World War Two contributed immeasurably not only to a sharpened awareness of racism within the United States, but also to more radical demands and militant tactics on the part of the victims of discrimination” (War Without Mercy: p.5). In elucidating the racial motivations and fallout from WWII, Dower helps one realize the critical role that race and racial politics played during the war and are still at play in our contemporary world. An analysis of this internment process reveals how the ultimate goal of the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans and the United States’ subsequent occupation of Japan was to essentially “brainwash” the Japanese race into demonstrating allegiance to America.

The American home front during World War II is recalled warmly in popular memory and cultural myth as a time of unprecedented national unity, years in which Americans stuck together in common cause. World War II brought many new ideas and changes to American life. Even though World War II brought no physical destruction to the United States mainland, it did affect American society. Every aspect of American life was altered by U.S. involvement in the war including demographics, the labor force, economics and cultural trends.

Double Victory: Multicultural History of America in World War 11”, is a book written by Ronald Takaki was published in the early 2000s. Double Victory shows the wartime responses from many ethnic backgrounds as well as the war at home against racism and the war abroad against fascism. Takaki also shows the roles of; African-Americans, Native-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Asian-Americans, during the war and the sacrifices made for their country. In Double Victory, Takaki introduces different revisionist arguments that I will be discussing in this essay along with the connection it has to previous knowledge of the World War II era, and the relation it has to the understanding of the expansion and contraction of citizenship and equality throughout history.

During WWII, the two-breadwinner vision of the family suffered further setbacks. As May puts it, women entered war production, but they did not give up on reproduction..Economic hardship was no longer a barrier to marriage, as it had been in the 1930s, and dependents' allowances eased the burdens of families if the breadwinners were drafted. But perhaps most important was the desire to solidify relationships and establish connections to the future when war made life so uncertain. (May p.59-60) While the culture venerated female workers, it also promoted a return to domesticity after the war, a return encouraged by the gender bias of the GI Bill. Meanwhile, men were encouraged through pin-ups and propaganda to believe they were fighting for their own slice of the domestic, consumerist good life.

The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.

War is often a time of bloody battles and numerous casualties; on both sides of the playing field. World War II was one of the bloodiest wars in history; it not only involved the mass genocide of a specific group of people, but it also brought on major changes in America. As a result of the war, many opportunities would open up for women in the work force. When the men were off fighting the war, there was a need for employees to take over the jobs that the men had to do. The emergence of women in the work field served as a catalyst for major events that would take place later on, like the Civil Rights Movement. The idea of “what it means to be a woman” in American society was put to the test, and throughout the war, women would have to constantly fight for their place in society; and the work force. The question arises, “was World War II a good war?” The previously stated question can be answered in a number of ways; race and ethnicity often had a hand in what jobs women could do, and social class also had an impact on what job position women had and how much money they would earn. To best answer the question, “was World War II a good war”; the different experiences of; African American, Japanese, and White women need to be analyzed in order to better understand whether World War II was a “good war”.

Social construct may be defined as the social mechanism or a category which has been created by the society. It may either be a perception which is created by an individual or an idea which is constructed as a result of the culture. The present society has created a large number of constructs which are not good. In this paper, the discussion will be done on the social construction of race and gender and the problems associated with the same. In addition to this, how can social construct forms to be the basis for discrimination and prejudice will be discussed? Further, racism and sexism will be discussed with examples. Further discussion will be done on patriarchy and its role in racism and sexism will be added.

Race, gender and class defines our experience. Studies have shown that, even though, these three aspects define who we are, they are interwoven. Each of these three aspects affects our decisions which could be either positive or negative. Class, race and gender as an individual is determined by our parents and If any of these changes, it would automatically change every aspect of the individual.