In both texts, "Response to Executive Order 9066” by Dwight Okita, and “Mericans” by Sandra Cisneros, I will compare and contrast how the authors develop this theme. The theme is that no culture should be judged on their looks. In "Response to Executive Order 9066", they specify out Japanese and in "Mericans", they specify out Mexicans. In "Response to Executive Order 9066” by Dwight Okita, it explains how a Japanese American girl and her father is going to be interned. The Order 9066 specifies that Japanese people are about to sabotage the Americans. Just because they are Japanese descendants, they are automatically accused of the act. The Japanese American girl also loses her friendship with Denise. In “Mericans” by Sandra Cisneros, they
The article by Min Zhou titled "Are Asian Americans becoming "white"? was relatively interesting as it provides a look at a different perspective of Asian Americans regarding immigration. I found it particularly interesting to learn that Asian Americans are considered to be white in equal opportunity programs; however, the race is still seen as different from Americans of European ancestry. Furthermore, I was not shocked to read that Zhou described the Asian American race as the "model minority." When first looking at the reading, I was shocked by the title because I thought it was a little exaggerated. I believe the author could have chosen a more suitable phrase rather than "Asian Americans are becoming white"; however, it does provide significant
1. What is the argument of Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America? How does Takaki make that argument?
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were regarded as a threat to the U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, also know as the Exclusion Order. This Order stated that any descendents or immigrants from enemy nations who might be a threat to U.S. security will report to assembly centers for Internment. There were no trials or hearings. They were forced to evacuate and many lost their homes and their businesses. Fred Korematsu refused to go. He was a U.S. citizen. Fred Korematsu was grabbed by police, handcuffed, and taken to jail. His crime -- defying President Franklin Roosevelt's order that American citizens of Japanese descent report to internment camps
In the first Chapter of the book ‘A Different Mirror’ by (Takaki, 1993) the author embarks on a descriptive narrative that tries to elaborate the concept of a multiracial America. The chapter begins with the author taking a taxi ride in which he is subjected to racial discrimination. The taxi driver questions the author’s origin owing to the fact that his English is perfect and eloquent. This incident prompts a discussion that transpires throughout the chapter as the author tries to explain to his audience that America is a multiracial country with different ethnic groups that moved from their homelands to settle in the United States. The chapter discusses the settlement of various racial groups such as; English immigrants, African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicanos and the Irish.
Chinese immigrants were often discriminated against because they were easy to spot. They spoke a different language and, looked different physically. Irish immigrants, however, had an easier time blending in because they had physical features similar to Americans. They were not so easy to pick out in a crowd. Erika Lee says, “Immigrants have been excluded and restricted on the basis of their race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, moral standing, health, and political affiliation, among other factors.” (Lee, p. 39) Lee is saying that Americans would do anything to discriminate against immigrants. If immigrants stood out because of physical features they could more easily be targeted by society. Those immigrants that could better blend in were more likely to be included within a society. Racially those who were different were not wanted in America, but why? Americans loved the idea of having one transnational race. When immigrants of another race would arrive and start reproducing with people of the white American race, cultures started to mix, racial lines became blurred. Erika Lee says, “It provided a powerful framework, model, and set of tools to be used to understand and further racialize other threatening, excludable, and undesirable aliens.” (Lee, p. 42) In this quote Lee is stating how with the exclusion of the Chinese, this further pushed Americans to be more discriminatory against immigrants solely based on race. This
We cannot deny the fact that, as Americans, racial realism has always affected us and our way of thinking. In my personal experience, being an Asian, I have had
December 7, 1941 was a military accomplishment for Japan. Japanese Bomber planes had flown over the island of Hawaii and bombed the American naval base Pearl Harbor. After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, many Americans believed that the Japanese Americans, were disloyal and were sabotaging the United States Government. There were rumors that most Japanese Americans exchanged military information and had hidden connections with Japanese military. None of these claims were ever proven to be true but believed by many at the time. The United States Government became concerned about National Security and demanded action. On Thursday, February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, which called for an evacuation of Japanese Americans on the west coast with the excuse of a “military necessity.” The government’s enforcement of Executive Order 9066 in reaction to the public resulted in the creation of internment camps.
The primary reason as to why the United States Government decided to issue Executive Order 9066 was because of the racial demeanor towards those of Japanese descent. Several factors contribute to the decision to intern Japanese-Americans living on the west coast, however the racism behind the decision definitely stands out among all the other justifications.
21 . Robinson, Greg By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans,2003, Harvard University Press
Nevertheless, Japanese were resented and disliked by whites. Due to pressure from state leaders near the west coast, President Roosevelt, on February 19, 1942, signed Executive Order 9066. This resulted in the which resulted in the violent imprisonment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. When the government gave its internment order, whites rounded up, imprisoned, and exiled their Japanese neighbors. In 1942, 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the United States were relocated to ten internment camps. More than two thirds of those sent to internment camps, under the Executive Order, had never shown disloyalty and were also citizens of the United States. In April 1942, the War Relocation Authority was created to control the assembly centers, relocation centers, and internment camps, and oversee the relocation of Japanese-Americans. It took another forty years for the US government to recognize the violations of this population's constitutional rights.
(1995) The 'Secondary' Retrieved December 9, 2004 from http://www.cd http://www.aafla.org/9arr/ResearchReports/ResearchReport4.htm Restrictive portrayals of Asians in the media and how to balance them. a. The adage of the a Retrieved December 9, 2004 from http://www.cd
Both stories, Response to Executive Order 9066 and "Mericans", establish a common American Identity theme. The main idea of these two stories is how people may or may not relate to their cultures. Both are narrated by teenage girls, and both establish a common theme that your appearance does not define you.
Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Japanese American, and James D. Houston, describes about the experience of being sent to an internment camp during World War II. The evacuation of Japanese Americans started after President Roosevelt had signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Along with ten thousand other Japanese Americans, the Wakatsuki was sent on a bus to Manzanar, California. There, they were placed in an internment camp, many miles from their home with only what they could carry. The lives of the Japanese Americans in the internment was a struggle. But for some of the Japanese Americans, it was even harder after they were discharged from the internment camp. The evacuation and the internment had changed the lives of all Japanese Americans. The evacuation and internment affected the Wakatsuki family in three ways: the destruction of Papa’s self-esteem, the separation of the Wakatsuki family, and the change in their social status.
The United States of America a nation known for allowing freedom, equality, justice, and most of all a chance for immigrants to attain the American dream. However, that “America” was hardly recognizable during the 1940’s when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering 120,000 Japanese Americans to be relocated to internment camps. As for the aftermath, little is known beyond the historical documents and stories from those affected. Through John Okada’s novel, No-No Boy, a closer picture of the aftermath of the internment is shown through the events of the protagonist, Ichiro. It provides a more human perspective that is filled with emotions and connections that are unattainable from an ordinary historical document. In the novel, Ichiro had a life full of possibilities until he was stripped of his entire identity and had to watch those opportunities diminish before him. The war between Japan and the United States manifested itself into an internal way between his Japanese and American identities. Ichiro’s self-deprecating nature that he developed from this identity clash clearly questions American values, such as freedom and equality which creates a bigger picture of this indistinguishable “America” that has been known for its freedom, equality, and helping the oppressed.
For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued. In essence, he was shunned” (Hongo 4) by the white people who could not believe that he would attack their superior American ways. According to writers such as Frank Chin and the rest of the “Aiiieeeee!” group, the Americans have dictated Asian culture and created a perception as “nice and quiet” (Chin 1972, 18), “mama’s boys and crybabies” without “a man in all [the] males.” (Chin 1972, 24). This has become the belief of the proceeding generations of Asian Americans and therefore manifested these stereotypes.