Ethnic Enclaves: Japanese Immigrants

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Yahaira Mondragon Dr. Mai Nhung Le AAS December 12, 2012 Ethnic Enclaves It is human nature to stick to what is familiar and in our comfort zone. This applies to immigrants settling in their new location away from home. When Japanese immigrants came to the U.S they were only wanted for cheap labor. There was a lot of discrimination towards the Japanese immigrants. They were treated with disrespect and were unwanted in this country because they were foreign. This forced them to create an enclave such as Japan Town in San Francisco. Japanese immigrants, like many immigrants, dealt with many issues coming into this country. There was the issue of language barriers. They did not speak or write English when they first arrived. They were…show more content…
This was something they had not felt since they migrated to the U.S. Although friends and family surrounded them, they were still outcasts to the rest of society. They were forced to live in these ghettos even if they could afford to live elsewhere. The U.S was tolerant to them living in the U.S, but not accepting. It was as if they didn’t want them to move forward or enjoy living in the U.S perhaps so that they would leave. The U.S tried to use them for their cheap labor and then get rid of them once they got what they needed. This was unfair because the immigrants were barely making enough to survive. The Japanese community was mostly a bachelor community. They were not allowed to intermarry with White women. White males did not want their women to be “tainted” by Japanese men. They did want to “share” their women. This was unfair because many White women that wanted to marry their Japanese partner were not able to even if they expressed their love for their partner. This caused the Japanese community to be a bachelor community for the most part. After the Gentlemen’s Act they were able to bring their wives and create a family. This was very important because now they could start a family and have a normal life somewhat to what they would have wanted in their…show more content…
President Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066, which allowed the government to set aside camps in which they forced all Japan born or Japanese decent to live. This all steamed from the fear that all Japanese people were against the U.S and were considered our enemy even though many were born in the U.S. They did not care that they were U.S citizens and were put into concentration camps like animals and were in the process of being dehumanized. This was illegal, but everyone was blinded by fear and paranoia at the cost of the Japanese immigrants. I am afraid that if this had not been stopped in time, it would have been a similar tragedy to how Germany dehumanized the Jewish people and worked their way into committing genocide. After the Executive Order 9066 the Japanese immigrants had to start all over again because all their things had been taken from them and were not given any help to get their things back. They still had their little communities and were ready for a new beginning. These communities made the stronger because they helped each other get through the hard ship they had just
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