Anti-Japanese Bigotry in the United States Prior to World War II
Dorothy Mitchell
Mellon Scholars, Hope College
Introduction and Objectives
The Story
Conclusion
Have you ever wondered how the United
States could intern Japanese Americans during
WWII? Such strong anti-Japanese sentiment
must have had a history. And yet, people call
the Japanese-Americans a model minority.
How can this be? How beneficial is it actually
for minority groups to readily conform to
American rules and customs?
Early Japanese immigrants to America experienced
spillover bigotry from Chinese who came to the West in
droves during the Gold Rush. As far back as 1870, there
were demonstrations calling for an end to Chinese
immigration. In 1882, Chinese immigration was banned.
The Japanese began immigrating in 1885, replacing the
flow of Chinese providing cheap labor. The fundamental
problem—whites fearing job competition—was unsolved.
Having knowledge of this history can
shed light on how immigrant groups assimilate
into America, and how established groups
react to this process.
While the Chinese made little attempt to assimilate,
the Japanese readily adopted the trappings of Western
culture. The two cultures tended to behave differently as
employees and have different goals for success in America.
The distinction still did not keep ignorant white Americans
from lumping all the Asian ethnicities together.
At first, Japanese who came to America
experienced spillover prejudice in the wake of the
Chinese who came during the Gold Rush. AntiJapanese sentiment became a movement of its
own due to white fear of losing their jobs to
immigrants. Japan’s government protected and
controlled the immigrant communities to minimize
negative attention, guiding the first generation of
Japanese immigrants towards surprising early
success in the United States.
The Japanese government needed to establish itself
as an equal to the other nations, so it had an interest in
representing itself well to other countries. Therefore, it
oversaw its ex-pat citizens more closely than other
nations. Japanese consuls directed a central body that
organized local associations of Japanese communities in
the United States. Each community was responsible for
singling out troublemakers and discouraging undesirable
behavior through bureaucratic and social pressures.
Prostitution and gambling were community vices that
drained resources and did not endear Americans.
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 brought
prejudice to the foreground when the school board tried
to segregate Chinese, Japanese, and Korean students.
Tensions ran high; many Japanese and Japanese
businesses were attacked. Theodore Roosevelt stepped in
with threats of federal military power. Once the school
board caved, the United States and Japan wrote the
Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907, slowing the influx of
Japanese immigrants.
The Japanese population began to settle down.
Demographics changed as more Japanese women came
into the US (including picture brides). Laborers, college
students, and agricultural workers took the opportunity to
become business owners, domestic servants, and farmers.
Little Known Facts and Statistics
•
Japan offered San Francisco $246,000 in
relief funds for the 1906 earthquake.
•
55% of Japanese immigrants worked in
agriculture. 1/3 were farmers.
•
There were 290 incidents of assault
between May and November of 1906 on
Japanese citizens. Up to one out of twenty
Japanese may have been subject to attack.
•
In Japan, Christians comprised only 1% of
the religious population, but 22% percent of
the Japanese community in America.
There were many obstacles. The Japanese struggled
to be accepted into labor unions. There were laws against
mixed-marriage. Japanese-language private schools,
responsible for inculcating Japanese-American youth with
a dual heritage, were regulated. College-educated
Japanese hit a glass ceiling. The 1913 Alien Land Law made
it difficult for the Japanese immigrants to buy, sell, and
lease land because they could not become citizens based
on the black/white racial qualifications on citizenship at the
time. The Japanese organized to fight for the right to
naturalize as citizens in court, they were rarely successful.
The Timeline
1639-1853: Japan’s borders are closed to trade
1854: Commodore Perry “opens” Japan to trade
1848-1855: Gold Rush
1863-1869: Central Pacific Railroad constructed
1870: First anti-Asian demonstration in S.F.
1875: Naturalization limited to blacks & whites
1880: Chinese immigration regulated
1882: Chinese immigration banned
1885: Japan legalizes emigration after
negotiating with HI; Japanese replace Chinese
immigrant workers
Yet For all that the Japanese community did
well, they were unable to successfully establish
themselves as citizens of the United States. Given
the pretense of war, the United States government
was able to abuse their rights because of this.
Although anti-Japanese racism became less violent
as it seeped into institutions and impeded the
Japanese-Americans’ upward mobility, it set the
stage for paranoia to sweep the country and made
Americans susceptible to government propaganda.
Through my research, I became convinced
that there is a pattern to the cycle of immigration
and hate that is not limited a single community.
The conflict is predictable.
1892: CA news pushes anti-Japanese agenda
1894: First Sin0-Japanese War
1896: Plessy v. Ferguson (segregation policy)
1905-1920: Picture bride period
1906: San Francisco earthquake
1907: Gentlemen’s Agreement slows Japanese
immigration; marks end of “frontier” period,
start of “settling” period
1913: Alien Land Law — Individuals or companies
owned by aliens cannot purchase/lease
agricultural land more than three years; cannot
sell/bequeath land to fellow alien immigrants
1914-1918: WWI
1922: Cable Act—women marrying ineligible
aliens lose citizenship, but may reapply if
marriage ends. Japanese-American women,
because of racial ineligibility, cannot reapply.
Remaining Questions to Answer
•How quickly did anti-Japanese sentiment fall out
of favor after WWII? Does it persist today?
•What were the long-term consequences of
internment for the Japanese community?
•Has the Japanese community received adequate
reparations and apologies for their treatment
during WWII? How settled is this issue within the
community?
1924: Japanese immigration into US ends
1939-1945: WWII
Advisor: Professor Andy Nakajima
1941: Pearl Harbor bombed; US joins WWII
1942-1945: Executive Order 9066
dorothy.mitchell@hope.edu
1945: Second Sino-Japanese War
@Dorotheian
1946: Last Internment Camp closes
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