Response Paper 2:
Option 1
Muneeb Qadri
HIST 281 - Constructing Race in America
Section AD6
November 18, 2021
Introduction
The racialization of the Japanese and Mexican people in the United States is an interesting
discourse as both communities faced significant challenges in their efforts to be included into the
American image. The Japanese perspective introduced a new response in which American
citizenship no longer meant protection and due process, as seen in the internment of the Japanese
during WWII. The Mexican cause, on the other hand, was a challenge in which Mexicans were
both desired and unwanted at the same time. The opportunity for cheap Mexican labor was a deal
that Southern agribusiness owners could not pass up, however the rest of the nation was focused
on stigmatizing the Mexican immigrants and ensuring that their inclusion was restricted. The
struggle for acceptance in the American image was one in which the Japanese and Mexican
communities both endured, but which took vastly different paths for both groups. The obstacles
faced were not the same, but the underlying root of the preservation of manifest destiny and
white supremacy guided the policies which were enacted to discriminate against both groups.
Racialization of the Japanese and Mexicans
Before the start of WWII and the attack on Pearl Harbor, Asians in the United States were
viewed more so as competition for the jobs available in the market, and the forms of racism they
faced were aligned with the ideas of white supremacy and the view that Asians were an inferior
race to the whites. There was the idea of the “Yellow Peril” or the fear that Asians would invade
America with their values and culture and threaten Western ideals and religion. Regardless, even
though Asian Americans were not viewed as truly American by the majority white, they were
still able to own land and businesses and have wealth which allowed them to prosper in their
own communities. However, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there was a shift in the public
image of Asians in America, and they were now viewed as people who could potentially be a
threat to national security and whose loyalty could not be deciphered. Ngai mentions in her book
Impossible Subjects how the attorney general for California, Earl Warren, stated that there were
methods to determine the loyalty to America for Germans and Italians because they were
Caucasian, however with the Japanese, it was not possible to administer them the same tests
(Ngai 2014). This lack of trust amongst the Japanese, many of whom were American citizens,
and their racialization as sneaky or deceiving, resulted in the forced relocation of over 100,000
Japanese into camps for surveillance. This relocation essentially forfeited the privileges of
American citizenship for the Japanese and treated them as aliens who were required to prove
their loyalty to the United States. As stated above, many of the Germans and Italians that were
detained were questioned and released promptly. The idea that the Caucasian nature of these
groups was enough to free them from suspicions while the Japanese were relocated demonstrates
how the idea of American citizenship at the time was defined by whiteness and your proximity to
it and only those closest to the white majority were given the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand, the racialization of Mexicans in America was emphasized through the need
for more agricultural laborers in the early twentieth century at a time where the Mexico-America
border was primarily guarded by medical officials. Newly arriving Mexican laborers were forced
to undergo chemical baths and were fumigated because they were thought to be carrying
diseases. This set the stage in the American public eye for Mexicans to be viewed as foreigners
and “dirty” people. Despite these negative connotations associated with Mexicans, when the
Immigration Act of 1924 passed, Mexican immigrants were notably left out from the restrictions
placed on immigration quotas. According to Molina, the lobbying from the Southern
agribusiness owners prevented restrictions from being placed on Mexican immigration, as the
owners were in need of cheap Mexican labor (Molina 2016). However, the Great Depression in
the 1930’s exacerbated the stereotypes as Mexicans became the scapegoats and were painted as
charity burdens with massive families that overwhelm the US healthcare system. Many
politicians attempted to use statistics from California hospitals and doctors to portray this
negative image of Mexicans to try and restrict Mexican immigration to the U.S. This growing
anger and blame directed towards the Mexican immigrants contributed to the racialization of
Mexicans as criminals, disease-ridden, and charity burdens.
Struggles for Acceptance
Moreover, in the ways that race was constructed for both the Japanese and Mexicans in the
United States, we can see that although both groups were stereotyped and defined in comparison
to their similarity and “fitness” to the white majority, their image in the eyes of the public was
vastly different. The Japanese were viewed as competition and during WWII were regarded as
disloyal and a threat to national security and their American citizenship was worthless under the
scrutiny of the American public. The Mexican immigrants on the other hand were unwanted
altogether, as the scientific discourse at the time presented an image of Mexicans as diseaseridden and unfit for American citizenship. The treatment of these two groups can be understood
as a reflection of the idea of manifest destiny and white supremacy as non-whites were not seen
as the ideal American citizen. As stated by Ngai, German and Italian immigrants that were
detained during WWII were given leniency due to their Caucasian nature. Clearly, these
immigrant groups did not have to face the harsh obstacles which the Japanese or Mexicans had to
face. The notion that all immigrants became American equally is false and I believe that Ngai
and Molina would agree with my assessment, as this idea undermines the struggles that various
nonwhite-passing immigrant groups had to endure to secure their place in America. Even in
today’s day and age, Asian Americans and Mexican Americans still struggle against these
pervasive stereotypes as seen in the recent immigration crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. When
viewed in comparison to other immigrant groups from Europe who are fully accepted as white
today, it becomes clear that the entire basis for American citizenship and acceptance is severely
influenced by the whiteness of your skin.
References
Ngai, Mae M. Impossible Subjects Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton ;
Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2014.
Molina, Natalia. “How Scientific Racialization Shapes Mexican Immigration Policies 1848Present” UCTV, March 25, 2016, YouTube video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hROEFW7n83s&t=2218s