department of ethnic studies & asian american studies program california state university,...

Department of Ethnic Studies & Asian American Studies Program

California State University, Sacramento

ETHN 14: Introduction to Asian American Studies

Week 6 Session 1 Japanese American Experience

Last TimeLast Time

• Discussed Hu-Dehart’s piece

• Analyzed terms from Kitano & Daniels on the Chinese American experience

• Gave feedback on Reading Notes

TodayToday

• 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 DiscussionRecap of Monday’s Discussion

Key question: does power shape social structure, ordoes social structure influence power?

Recap of Monday’s DiscussionRecap of Monday’s Discussion

Key question: does power shape social structure, ordoes 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: CaliforniaSan 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 economyRailroadsDomestic 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 TaxChinese Exclusion ActOrdinances on Living and Labor Conditions, Cold War, Hiram Fong, FOB/ABC, Dr. Wen Ho Lee

San Francisco School Board incident, Anti-miscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order 9066

Community Institutions

Family Associations, Paper SonsSix CompaniesNative 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 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.

Discussion Question 1Discussion 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?


• 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?


• 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?

To Prepare for Next Session 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)

department of ethnic studies & asian american studies program california state university,...

Documents

power shape social structure

contrasting chinese

saigonexclusion of chinese

chinese women poor

arrival of chinese women

power distribution

japanese american experiences

existing power relations