ETHN 14:
Introduction to Asian American Studies
Department of
Ethnic Studies &
Asian American
Studies Program
California State
University,
Sacramento
Week 6 Session 1
Japanese American Experience
Last Time
• Discussed Hu-Dehart’s piece
• Analyzed terms from Kitano & Daniels on the
Chinese American experience
• Gave feedback on Reading Notes
Today
• Explore the relationship between cultural
representations and identity formation by comparing
and contrasting Chinese and Japanese American
experiences.
• Begin to surface themes that describe the shared
experience of APIs.
Recap of Monday’s Discussion
What social
structures
shape their
experience?
How does
power
distribution
shape
experience?
How is
experience
shaped by the
way power
impacts social
structure?
Key question: does power shape social structure, or
does social structure influence power?
Recap of Monday’s Discussion
What social
structures
shape their
experience?
How does
power
distribution
shape
experience?
How is
experience
shaped by the
way power
impacts social
structure?
Key question: does power shape social structure, or
does social structure influence power?
Answer: Trick question. They influence each other.
Crosscutting Themes
Chinese Americans
Japanese Americans
Immigrant Populations
Sojourner immigrants, Chinese Women
Poor from rural areas and Ryokyu Islands
Settlement Patterns
Pacific Coast: California
San Francisco
Pacific Coast, Hawaii, California San Francisco
Factors that influenced
Immigration (Push-Pull)
Gold Rush, Fall of Saigon
Exclusion of Chinese, Agriculture, Railroads, and
domestic work
Labor
Agriculture, WWII economy
Railroads
Domestic Services (Laundries)
Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work
Country of Origin’s
Relationship with US
Government
Immigration Act of 1965, The Good Earth, Arrival
of Chinese Women, Ping Pong Diplomacy
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Meiji Revolution, Attack
on Pearl Harbor
Exclusion, Surveillance,
and Discrimination
Foreign Miner’s Tax
Chinese Exclusion Act
Ordinances on Living and Labor Conditions,
Cold War, Hiram Fong, FOB/ABC, Dr. Wen Ho
Lee
San Francisco School Board incident, Antimiscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien
Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order
9066
Community Institutions
Family Associations, Paper Sons
Six Companies
Native Sons of the Golden State, levels of
educaiton
Japanese Association of America, Japanese
American Citizens League (JACL)
Cultural representations of
the racialized “other”
Yellow Peril, Model Minorities, Tianaman Square
The second generation Japanese Problem,
Yellow Peril, Scientific racism/social darwinism
Generations and
Acculturation
Native Sons of the Golden State, FOBs ABCs
Issei, Nisei, Sanseil; redress
“Within Group” Analyses of Chinese
• Social structures such as institutions and organizations and
power distribution are closely linked. Institutions function to
reinforce existing power relations between ethnic groups.
Differential power relations between ethnic groups shape how
institutions function.
• Early Chinese immigrant communities were structured around
institutions and organizations that were brought from southern
China and adapted in the Western United States with San
Francisco as it’s. These organizations took on different functions
with the second generation.
• The dominant culture values material wealth and uses its control
over local, state, and federal government to limit labor
competition and access to opportunity.
Crosscutting Themes
Chinese Americans
Japanese Americans
Immigrant Populations
Sojourner immigrants, Chinese Women
Poor from rural areas and Ryokyu Islands
Settlement Patterns
Pacific Coast: California
San Francisco
Pacific Coast, Hawaii, California San Francisco
Factors that influenced
Immigration (Push-Pull)
Gold Rush, Fall of Saigon
Exclusion of Chinese, Agriculture, Railroads, and
domestic work
Labor
Agriculture, WWII economy
Railroads
Domestic Services (Laundries)
Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work
Country of Origin’s
Relationship with US
Government
Immigration Act of 1965, The Good Earth, Arrival
of Chinese Women, Ping Pong Diplomacy
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Meiji Revolution, Attack
on Pearl Harbor
Exclusion, Surveillance,
and Discrimination
Foreign Miner’s Tax
Chinese Exclusion Act
Ordinances on Living and Labor Conditions,
Cold War, Hiram Fong, FOB/ABC, Dr. Wen Ho
Lee
San Francisco School Board incident, Antimiscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien
Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order
9066
Community Institutions
Family Associations, Paper Sons
Six Companies
Native Sons of the Golden State, levels of
educaiton
Japanese Association of America, Japanese
American Citizens League (JACL)
Cultural representations of
the racialized “other”
Yellow Peril, Model Minorities, Tianaman Square
The second generation Japanese Problem,
Yellow Peril, Scientific racism/social darwinism
Generations and
Acculturation
Native Sons of the Golden State, FOBs ABCs
Issei, Nisei, Sanseil; redress
Discussion Question 1
• What are the three most significant similarities between the two
API ethnic groups related to their experience in the U.S.?
• What are the three most significant differences between the two
API ethnic groups related to their experience in the U.S.?
• Are there systemic factors that explain why these similarities
and differences exist? If so, what are they?
Crosscutting Themes
Chinese Americans
Japanese Americans
Immigrant Populations
Sojourner immigrants, Chinese Women
Poor from rural areas and Ryokyu Islands
Settlement Patterns
Pacific Coast: California
San Francisco
Pacific Coast, Hawaii, California San Francisco
Factors that influenced
Immigration (Push-Pull)
Gold Rush, Fall of Saigon
Exclusion of Chinese, Agriculture, Railroads, and
domestic work
Labor
Agriculture, WWII economy
Railroads
Domestic Services (Laundries)
Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work
Country of Origin’s
Relationship with US
Government
Immigration Act of 1965, The Good Earth, Arrival
of Chinese Women, Ping Pong Diplomacy
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Meiji Revolution, Attack
on Pearl Harbor
Exclusion, Surveillance,
and Discrimination
Foreign Miner’s Tax
Chinese Exclusion Act
Ordinances on Living and Labor Conditions,
Cold War, Hiram Fong, FOB/ABC, Dr. Wen Ho
Lee
San Francisco School Board incident, Antimiscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien
Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order
9066
Community Institutions
Family Associations, Paper Sons
Six Companies
Native Sons of the Golden State, levels of
educaiton
Japanese Association of America, Japanese
American Citizens League (JACL)
Cultural representations of
the racialized “other”
Yellow Peril, Model Minorities, Tianaman Square
The second generation Japanese Problem,
Yellow Peril, Scientific racism/social darwinism
Generations and
Acculturation
Native Sons of the Golden State, FOBs ABCs
Issei, Nisei, Sanseil; redress
Discussion Question 2
• How are cultural representations (stereotypes/depictions) of the
two Asian American groups linked to the U.S.’s relationships
with their former countries?
• How do cultural representations reflect who controls mass
media?
• How might these linkages affect how identities are shaped? (i.e.
what it means to be Chinese American and Japanese American)
• What kind of treatment by the dominant culture did these
representations engender?
Discussion Question 3
• What does our cross-case analysis reveal in terms of a common
or shared experience between API groups?
• What are some emerging themes, patterns, or ideas that link
APIs?
Crosscutting Themes
Chinese Americans
Japanese Americans
Immigrant Populations
Sojourner immigrants, Chinese Women
Poor from rural areas and Ryokyu Islands
Settlement Patterns
Pacific Coast: California
San Francisco
Pacific Coast, Hawaii, California San Francisco
Factors that influenced
Immigration (Push-Pull)
Gold Rush, Fall of Saigon
Exclusion of Chinese, Agriculture, Railroads, and
domestic work
Labor
Agriculture, WWII economy
Railroads
Domestic Services (Laundries)
Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work
Country of Origin’s
Relationship with US
Government
Immigration Act of 1965, The Good Earth, Arrival
of Chinese Women, Ping Pong Diplomacy
Gentlemen’s Agreement, Meiji Revolution, Attack
on Pearl Harbor
Exclusion, Surveillance,
and Discrimination
Foreign Miner’s Tax
Chinese Exclusion Act
Ordinances on Living and Labor Conditions,
Cold War, Hiram Fong, FOB/ABC, Dr. Wen Ho
Lee
San Francisco School Board incident, Antimiscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien
Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order
9066
Community Institutions
Family Associations, Paper Sons
Six Companies
Native Sons of the Golden State, levels of
educaiton
Japanese Association of America, Japanese
American Citizens League (JACL)
Cultural representations of
the racialized “other”
Yellow Peril, Model Minorities, Tianaman Square
The second generation Japanese Problem,
Yellow Peril, Scientific racism/social darwinism
Generations and
Acculturation
Native Sons of the Golden State, FOBs ABCs
Issei, Nisei, Sanseil; redress
To Prepare for Next Session
Next time: American Economic and Military
Expansion
• Prepare Reading Notes on Kitano & Daniels, Ch. 7
(Filipinos) and 10 (Pacific Islanders)