Japanese Prejudice
David Guterson depicts real-life prejudice during World War II in his fictional novel Snow Falling on Cedars. During World War II, prejudice towards the Japanese was strong. Japan had attacked America, and because they had attacked us that meant that every Japanese person was responsible in some way. Similarly, in the novel, Kabuo Miyamoto was blamed for committing the murder of Carl Heine because of his race rather than facts. The white people were eager and willing to point their fingers at the Japanese because it was easy for them to do so during this time period.
“The roots of racial prejudice began with an ideology that Jacobus tenBroek identified as ‘antiforeignism’” (Moore). Antiforeignism is the position of a person’s beliefs that outsiders are bad. In America, antiforeignism towards Asians began with the Chinese when they came to America and were willing to work for less than the white people. It expanded to include Japanese as well, and soon all Asians. This belief led to concerns about “yellow peril.” “Congress reacted to [these] concerns…by passing a series of laws that ‘barred on the basis of race individuals who were Chinese, Japanese, and Korean from entering the United States legally’” (Historical). When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the feeling of discrimination exploded in the United States. Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt even stated, “A Jap’s a Jap, and that’s all there is to it…[T]he Japanese race is the enemy race” (Historical). The general United States population became prejudice towards all Japanese after the Pearl Harbor bombing on December 7, 1941.
It is no wonder that Americans felt strong prejudice towards the Japanese people during this time. They felt that their country had been invaded in the workplace by taking the white peoples’ jobs and now has been attacked militarily. The media did not help calm this prejudice. The “press and radio slanted the news with a Hearst columnist urging that ‘the Japanese Americans in California should be under armed guard to the last man and woman…and to hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over” (Brown). The phrase “A Jap’s a Jap” became popular during this time. The Los Angeles Times quoted, on April 14, 1943, “that ‘A Jap’s a Jap…It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen or not…I don’t want any of them…They are a dangerous element…There is no way to determine their loyalty’” (Brown).
Most Americans would claim a cop killer should be put to death which is what Scott D Cheever will face if he loses in the Supreme Court of the United States. Scott D Cheever and the state of Kansas argued before Supreme Court of the United States on October 16, 2013. The question posed before the court was when a criminal defendant affirmatively introduces expert testimony that he lacked the requisite mental state to commit capital murder of a law enforcement officer due to the alleged temporary and long-term effects of the defendant’s methamphetamine use, does the state violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination by rebutting the defendant’s mental state defense with evidence from a court-ordered mental evaluation of the defendant? The answer is no, the United States Supreme Court should reverse the decision of the Kansas Supreme Court because his fifth amendment’s rights were not violated.
Japanese immigration created the same apprehension and intolerance in the mind of the Americans as was in the case of Chinese migration to the U.S at the turn of the 19th century. They developed a fear of being overwhelmed by a people having distinct ethnicity, skin color and language that made them “inassimilable.” Hence they wanted the government to restrict Asian migration. Japan’s military victories over Russia and China reinforced this feeling that the Western world was facing what came to be known as “yellow peril”. This was reflected in the media, movies and in literature and journalism.4 Anti-Oriental public opinion gave way to several declarations and laws to restrict Japanese prosperity on American land. Despite the prejudice and ineligibility to obtain citizenship the ...
Inevitably, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that began World War II, Japanese-Americans were frowned upon and stereotyped because of their descent. However, Japanese immigrants contributed to economic expansion of the United States. Whites resented the Japanese immigrants, but reaped economic profit from the Japanese-American residents’ discipline and hard work. Japanese-Americans of this time seem to be attacked; however, they choose to uphold their disconnection with the rest of the Americans. Many Japanese felt they had superiority over Americans, creating tension and disconnection.
The public reaction to the introduction of Prohibition was largely mixed. The prohibition era was thought of to be the end of alcohol in America and which would spark a new and greater society in America. People believed that it would drastically reduce crime and domestic violence that came with liquor. Stephanie Shaw the founder of 'Anti Saloon League,' and the 'Women's Christian's Temperance Union helped apply pressure on the men to become “dry” by often praying in front of saloons. These two groups both eventually helped convince Congress to pass the 18th amendment, thus the temperance organizations such as the WTCU were relieved to know that their mission goal was a success. However, not everyone saw it that way; they believed it was as a violation of their freedom of expression. When prohibition began, the public outraged, demanded for the ban on alcohol to be removed, if they couldn’t make it happen they would try alternate solutio...
The number of doctors that present in the United States of America directly affects the communities that these doctors serve and plays a large role in how the country and its citizens approach health care. The United States experienced a physician surplus in the 1980s, and was affected in several ways after this. However, many experts today have said that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the United States, or, at the very least, that there will be a shortage in the near future. The nation-wide statuses of a physician surplus or shortage have many implications, some of which are quite detrimental to society. However, there are certain remedies that can be implemented in order to attempt to rectify the problems, or alleviate some of their symptoms.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent and uncertain intrusions of normal brain function, called epileptic seizure (Fisher et al., 2005). The word epilepsy was derived from the Greek word “attack”. The primitive Greeks thought epilepsy was contagious, and hence people with epilepsy used to live alone (Dam, 2003). It is one of the oldest conditions known to humankind (WHO, 2001a) and still the most common neurological condition affecting individuals of all ages. At any given time, it is appraise that 50 million individuals worldwide have a detection of epilepsy (WHO, 2001b). Epilepsy is charaterised by the incident of at least two unprovoked events of recurrent disruption in neurological function. Epilepsy is not a single prognosis but is a symptom with many fundamental causes. (Nunes et al., 2012).
Prohibition supporters expected Americans to seek other kinds of entertainment without consuming alcohol, therefore they expected the clothing industries, the soft drinks industries, and the theaters to skyrocket and improve their business. However, not only that did not happen, but thousand of jobs were lost due to close downs of breweries, distilleries, and other entertainment venues that could not make enough profit without selling alcohol. Billions of dollars were lost on tax revenue and the enforcement of the law cost 300 millions dollars annually to the government. The 18th amendment diminished the consumption of alcohol the first few months, however, not long time passed before “businessmen” realized new ways to pass under the law and make huge profit from it. These businessmen created “underground” secret bars called speakeasies which sold illegal alcohol to anyone who wanted to drink it and only a few years later the consumption of alcohol was even higher throughout the country than before the 18th amendment was put into effect. These illegal selling of alcohol gave birth to new well known gangs and criminals such as al capone who made millions of dollars by bootlegging, and did not hesitate to get rid of anything or anyone who got in his way. Because of that, arrests and violence were on their peak. Social problems such as the crowded prison systems and courts got even
The public reaction to the introduction of Prohibition was largely mixed. The temperance organizations were rejoiced. Over a century of work had finally paid off for them. The rest of the country, however, was less than pleased. Many saw it as a violation of their freedom, and others wanted to keep drinking. It did no take a long time before people began to protest.
Epilepsy is a very common neurological disorder. Some reports estimate that five in one-thousand people suffer from this problem. Throughout history, people with epilepsy have been shunned or considered inferior. Even today, ignorance leads many people to treat the epileptic as "abnormal" or "retarded". Although the etiology of epilepsy is still not fully understood, it is quite treatable due to advances in modern medicine.
Once a patient receives the diagnosis of epilepsy, it is time to begin considering treatment options. Since curing the disease is not possible, the treatment focuses on controlling seizures. This is typically done in one of three ways: drug therapies, lifestyle changes, and surgery.
Not everyone who has a seizure has epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Unprovoked means that there is no immediate cause for the seizure, such as a fever, an infection of the brain, or head trauma. Nearly 10 percent of people will have a seizure during their lifetime; most of these are provoked seizures during an acute illness or condition. These people may never have epilepsy. There are two types of seizures people can have. One is partial seizure or focal they begin in one part of the brain. They cause varied symptoms auras which is a funny feeling in your stomach, staring, chewing, lip smacking, shaking, or stiffness in parts of the body. Generalized seizures are when the entire brain is effected. This causes loss consciousness. One type is grand mal is when the body stiffens and jerks. Another type is petit mal, which is momentary loss of consciousness without abnormal body movement. Some factors of this are infections of the brain this includes meningitis, encephalitis, and brain abscess. Strokes are also a risk of epilepsy. Also alcohol can cause seizures for heavy drinkers when they stop drinking abruptly (withdrawal seizures) and also have a good chance of epilepsy. Epilepsy can also cause brain tumors usually they are slow growing and don't affect them for years. Some other factors that cause epilepsy is age the risk of seizures is higher in young children. Also gender epilepsy is higher in males than in females. The most common treatment for epilepsy is the daily use of anticonvulsant or antiepilectic drugs to prevent seizures. These medications act on brain signals to limit hyperexcitability. While medications do not cure epilepsy, they allow many people to live normal, active lives. Other treatments are vagus nerve stimulation this treatment involves electronic stimulation of the brain using an implanted device like a pacemaker. Another is epilepsy surgery this is when a part of the brain that is causing the seizures is removed so that it prevents it from spreading to anther part of the brain.
“On January 16, 1920, the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol were prohibited (“Prohibition”).” The Prohibition was supported by many.“… prohibition was led by the Anti-Saloon league and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (“Prohibition”).” It was believed that alcohol was the root of many problems and with the elimination of it, these issues might decrease. According to Mark Thornton, “ …the ‘noble-experiment’ was undertaken to reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, reduce tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses, and improve health and hygiene in America.” After the Prohibition was established it created a domino effect across the U.S. The prohibition was ineffective because the crime rates increased, people
A seizure is considered to be anything that disrupts the natural circuit of the brain. When a seizure happens, the brains neurons fire uncontrollably, causing the brain to make the body jerk, abruptly fall, or have distorted vision. The normal electrical balance in the brain is lost, the nerve cells misfire, and there is a sudden, brief, uncontrollable burst of abnormal electrical activity. This causes out of sync signals from the brain to misfire (Sahoo, 2014). There are over 3 million people who suffer from epilepsy in the United States alone, with most of them being diagnosed by the time they are twenty-five years old.( Epilepsy Foundation, 2014).
The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. “Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships” (“Attack” 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. “Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists” (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942, all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps.
One historical event that shows the general attitude of anti-Japanese feeling that was so prevalent in the 1940 to 1955 time period is an article from the Tuesday, March 24, 1942 edition of the New York Times. The article is written in Manazar, California, the same place where the Japanese people of the novel were sent. The article's title "Japanese Begin Evacuation Trek" is a show of prejudice itself ("Japanese" 21). The fact that the wholly unconstitutional relocation of not only aliens but American citizens is called a "evacuation" is laughable. This event was the forced relocation of people who reminded some other people of the tragic events of Pearl Harbor. To do this nowadays would be like gathering up all Arab-Americans ...