Department of Ethnic Studies

1
ETHN 14 Introduction to Asian American Studies

• Department of Ethnic Studies Asian American
  Studies Program
• California State University, Sacramento

Week 8 Session 1 The Effect of the 1965
Immigration and Naturalization Act on the API
Experience
2
Housekeeping Items

• Midterm Exam has been pushed back to Monday, 11/2
  and Wednesday, 11/4
• 11/2 Persuasive, analytical essays
• 11/4 Identification terms (short essay)
• Clarification of OBD posting order
• A, B, C, D, E
• Person A is forgetful. If person B initiates the
  conversation because A forgot, its Bs turn to
  post the following week. If person D initiates
  the conversation because A forgot, its Bs turn
  to post the following week.
• Lightened reading schedule to allow for midterm
  preparation
• Academic dishonesty attendance and plagiarizing

3
Last Time

• Build from our cross-group analysis by including
  Filipinos and Pacific Islanders.
• Analyzed the documentary, Who Killed Vincent
  Chin? (1987)

4
Today

• Revisit discussion on the documentary, Who Killed
  Vincent Chin?
• Discuss emerging themes in the Bulosan novel.
• Impact of the Immigration and Naturalization Act
  of 1965 on the API community
• Discuss the South Asian American Experience in
  the United States

5

• How can we elaborate on our existing analysis
  work?
• 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.
• Immigrant communities are often structured around
  institutions and organizations that were brought
  from the home country and adapted in the United
  States. These organizations took on different
  functions with the second generation. Segregation
  discouraged assimilation.
• The dominant culture values material wealth and
  uses its control over local, state, and federal
  government to limit labor competition and access
  to opportunity.
• Cultural representations of API groups promote or
  reinforce U.S. national interest and European
  American materialism. Stereotypes and depictions
  of Asian Americans are linked to a history of
  West-East dualism (Edward Saids Orientalism)
  often linked to the enduring image of the
  perpetual foreigner.
• Despite structural differences among API
  immigrants, groups were relegated to similar
  forms of labor and housing and experienced
  multiple forms of discrimination.
• The relationship between Asian countrys
  governments varies greatly. The relationship
  between countries affected the experiences of
  Immigrants.

6
Vincent Chin Murder

• The murder of Vincent Chin and the subsequent
  lack of justice sparked one of the most visible
  and unified protests by API groups. It is often
  viewed as one of the most significant moments in
  the API civil rights movement.
• Follow up Questions
• What events in the documentary illustrate the
  close relationship among power, culture, social
  structure, and identity?
• How do your observations of the Vincent Chin
  case relate to ideas, themes, and patterns we've
  explored in our cross-ethnic group analysis so
  far? 

7

• How can we elaborate on our existing analysis
  work?
• 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.
• Immigrant communities are often structured around
  institutions and organizations that were brought
  from the home country and adapted in the United
  States. These organizations took on different
  functions with the second generation. Segregation
  discouraged assimilation.
• The dominant culture values material wealth and
  uses its control over local, state, and federal
  government to limit labor competition and access
  to opportunity.
• Cultural representations of API groups promote or
  reinforce U.S. national interest and European
  American materialism. Stereotypes and depictions
  of Asian Americans are linked to a history of
  West-East dualism (Edward Saids Orientalism)
  often linked to the enduring image of the
  perpetual foreigner.
• Despite structural differences among API
  immigrants, groups were relegated to similar
  forms of labor and housing and experienced
  multiple forms of discrimination.
• The relationship between Asian countrys
  governments varies greatly. The relationship
  between countries affected the experiences of
  Immigrants.

8
America is in the Heart

• Thus far, what are the major themes of the book?
• What do you think are the underlying messages
  Bulosan is trying to present?
• How do these messages complement or detract from
  our
• What character, events, and themes from the book
  relate to our analysis of the Asian American and
  Pacific Islander collective experience?

9

• How can we elaborate on our existing analysis
  work?
• 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.
• Immigrant communities are often structured around
  institutions and organizations that were brought
  from the home country and adapted in the United
  States. These organizations took on different
  functions with the second generation. Segregation
  discouraged assimilation.
• The dominant culture values material wealth and
  uses its control over local, state, and federal
  government to limit labor competition and access
  to opportunity.
• Cultural representations of API groups promote or
  reinforce U.S. national interest and European
  American materialism. Stereotypes and depictions
  of Asian Americans are linked to a history of
  West-East dualism (Edward Saids Orientalism)
  often linked to the enduring image of the
  perpetual foreigner.
• Despite structural differences among API
  immigrants, groups were relegated to similar
  forms of labor and housing and experienced
  multiple forms of discrimination.
• The relationship between Asian countrys
  governments varies greatly. The relationship
  between countries affected the experiences of
  Immigrants.

10
Crosscutting Themes Chinese Americans Japanese Americans Filipino Americans Pacific Islander Americans
Immigrant Populations Sojourner immigrants, Chinese Women Poor from rural areas and Ryokyu Islands First, second, and third waves. Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 Samoans, Guamanians/Chamorros, Tongans, Hawaiians
Settlement Patterns Pacific Coast California San Francisco Pacific Coast, Hawaii, California San Francisco Second wave, Hawaii, Alaska, and the Pacific coast (Stockton Key migratory hub) Hawaii Mormons, economics, Laie (Country came to them, they didnt come to the country)
Factors that influenced Immigration (Push-Pull) Gold Rush, Fall of Saigon Exclusion of Chinese, Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work Spanish American War, Alaskeros, Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, World War II, Pensionados Westernization, World War II, Department of the Interior, 1950 Organic Act, Land of Opportunity Family reunification
Labor Agriculture, WWII economy Railroads Domestic Services (Laundries) Agriculture, Railroads, and domestic work Alaskeros, The Great Depression, Carlos Bulosan, Agriculture, Domestic service Faasamoa, Modernization, Unskilled semi-skilled labor (e.g. custodians, cooks, clerks)
Country of Origins Relationship with US Government Immigration Act of 1965, The Good Earth, Arrival of Chinese Women, Ping Pong Diplomacy Gentlemens Agreement, Meiji Revolution, Attack on Pearl Harbor Pensionados, Imperialism, colonization, Philippine-American War, Tydings McDuffie Act American Samoa/Western Samoa Dole vs. Cleveland
Exclusion, Surveillance, and Discrimination Foreign Miners 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, Anti-miscegenation laws, restrictive covenants, Alien Land Act (1913 and 1920), CWIRC/Exec Order 9066 Anti-Miscegenation laws, The Great Depression, Watsonville Riot, fight for Affirmative Action Christian Missionaries Great Mahele
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) Catholicism, Visayan, Tagalog, and Illocano, LodgesMens womens and youth and churces Matai, Haole society, plantation life, and Hawaiian traditional culture, Hawaiian Homes Commission, Council of Hawaiian Organizations
Cultural representations of the racialized other Hatchet men, Yellow Peril, Model Minorities, Tianaman Square The second generation Japanese Problem, Yellow Peril, Scientific racism/social darwinism Little Brown Brothers Allos in America is in the Heart Meed-Freeman controversy, colonization, imperialism, Comparison between Native Hawaiians and Americans
Generations and Acculturation Native Sons of the Golden State, FOBs ABCs Issei, Nisei, Sanseil redress Pre- and post-1965 Bridge generation
11
Crosscutting Themes South Asian Americans
Immigrant Populations Sojourner immigrants, Punjabi, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Majority men
Settlement Patterns Mainly Western US, but dispersed Northern Sacramento Valley, Imperial Valley, Tech communities
Factors that influenced Immigration (Push-Pull) 1946 Act Railroads Immigration Act of 1965
Labor Gujuarato, Dalip Singh Saund, Post-1965 skilled, technical, management, highly educated
Country of Origins Relationship with US Government British colonization 9/11
Exclusion, Surveillance, and Discrimination Thind Case Alien Land Act (1920)
Community Institutions Indian League of America, Gadar Movement
Cultural representations of the racialized other Terrorists, Least Desirable Race
Generations and Acculturation Immigration Act of 1965
12

• Key Take-Aways from our Analysis Work
• 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.
• Immigrant communities are often structured around
  institutions and organizations that were brought
  from the home country and adapted in the United
  States. These organizations took on different
  functions with the second generation. Segregation
  discouraged assimilation.
• The dominant culture values material wealth and
  uses its control over local, state, and federal
  government to limit labor competition and access
  to opportunity.
• Cultural representations of API groups promote or
  reinforce U.S. national interest and European
  American materialism. Stereotypes and depictions
  of Asian Americans are linked to a history of
  West-East dualism (Edward Saids Orientalism)
  often linked to the enduring image of the
  perpetual foreigner.
• Despite structural differences among API
  immigrants, groups were relegated to similar
  forms of labor and housing and experienced
  multiple forms of discrimination.
• The relationship between Asian countrys
  governments varies greatly. The relationship
  between countries affected the experiences of
  Immigrants.

13
Immigration Laws Pre- and Post-1965 Immigration
and Naturalization Act

• Pre 1965
• National origins quotas
• Favored European immigration, particularly
  Western European countries
• Heavily restricted immigration from Asia and
  Africa
• Post 1965
• Moved to a preference system based on labor
  shortages and educational status
• Included family reunification provisions
• Led to Asian chain migration

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To Prepare for Next Session

• No reading assigned, but bring Reading Notes on
  Kitano Daniels, Ch. 11 (Southeast Asian
  Americans) to Wednesdays class
• Review for Midterm Exam