James Wong Howe, the Silent Film Era

James Wong Howe, born August 28, 1899 in Canton, China, would become revered as one of the greatest cinematographers in cinema history. His father worked in America on the Northern Pacific Railway and in 1904 brought over his family. The Howes lived in Pasco, Washington, where they owned and worked at a general store. During his teenage years Howe moved to Oregon following his father's death and took in a brief stint as a flyweight boxer before settling in Los Angeles, California. Howe began his career as a commercial photographer's delivery boy as well as a busboy in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Howe later found low-level work at Lasky Studios which allowed him to meet silent film director Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille hired Howe as a clap boy and was discovered during this time for these skills in photography. Howe was a strong utilize of shadowing, and one of the first to use deep-focus cinematography: photography where both foreground and distant planes remain in focus. Prior to his success in the 1930s and 1940 Howe was creating innovations during the Silent Film era that would revolutionize cinema. One technique he used for shadowing consisted of making eyes look darker by photographing a person while they were looking at a dark surface. As Mary Miles Minter was his test subject for this photograph Howe became her preferred photographer and in 1923 was given a position as head cameraman for his first film, capturing Minter's close-ups in the film Drums of Fate. For these close ups he mounted black velvet around the camera frame. Howe became known as the man who could make actresses look their best without using tricks. In 1928, Howe was shooting backgrounds for a film in China that he wanted to direct, parts of the film were used in Shanghai Express. On his return to Hollywood, he was dumbstruck to find that Sound film or "talkies" had largely replaced silent films. His lack of experience in sound film left him out of work until William K. Howard hired him as the cinematographer on Transatlantic in 1930. Howes success in Transatlantic carried on into the 1930’s and 1940’s. His affect on Pop Culture can be seen in any film, which utilizes his cinematic techniques and photography. His success in Hollywood opened windows for future careers of Asian Americans in media. He has over 130 films to his credit and a legacy for Asian America.
http://www.cinematographers.nl/GreatDoPh/howe.htm
http://www.famouschinese.com/virtual/James_Wong_Howe
Ty Tran Nguyen

The Chinese Slave Girl

In 1912 Leong Moon, interpreter on the Japanese liner Nippon Maru, and four Chinese girls, captured by immigration. Based on testimonies from the Chinese girls Federal investigators concluded the possibility that they stumbled upon a smuggling ring with the cargo of Chinese woman and coolies, promising them rich husbands and an easier life. The Chinese girls, disguised as men once ashore, and were caught after a failed attempt to bribe a customs guard. The girls reported that they were drugged in Hong Kong and lured aboard the ship. Isolated in a coal bunker compartment and during the ocean trip occasionally small portions of rice were lowered to them like they were caged animals.
This particular incident was incredibly detrimental to Chinatown society during the time. Not only did Leong Moons break several immigration laws, he was an American born Chinese. The treatment of the women in this smuggling ring commented on cultural values of Chinese Americans as well as the value of their women. Outside of this specific incident the Chinese Slave girls or “Celestial Slaves” took back breaking jobs to make ends meet such as that of field hands on vineyards and orchards, those who were fortunate found occupations as nannies and house servants. Since Chinese people weren’t allowed to own land Chinese women would commonly have miniature farms in their living quarters such as chicken coops in backyards bean sprouts growing in bathtubs. This standard of living as well as the occupation of these women reinforced the idea of the stereotypical coolie and pollutants of the yellow peril archetype. Films like Walk Like a Dragon (1960) featured this type of slave girl with a White male hero protagonist trying to save them from their cultural prisons. The main character Linc Bartlett falls in love with a nineteen year old Kim Sung who is being sold at a slave market, in the end of the film she if forced to choose between the American Linc of the traditionalist Cheng. She ends up with Cheng only under the circumstance that he finally adopted American values towards women. The idea of the Chinese slave girl would create a legacy of Orientalist and servile representation of women in Hollywood media. Films like The World of Suzie Wong and plays like Madame Butterfly where prostitutes and women of servile situations would fall victim to either American rejection or Asian cultural barriers.
http://www.nwhm.org/chinese/27.html
http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/photo_collection/genthe/FN-02333-GentheCT-044.jpg
http://www.tcmuk.tv/movie_database_results.php?action=title&id=94995
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist10/chingirls.html
http://katmeyer.serverpro2.com/_Lords_Early_Career/walk_like_a_dragon_2.jpg
Ty Tran Nguyen

The First Asian American Studies Professor

Yamato Ichihashi was an Issei born in Magoya, an island of Honshu, Japan on April 15, 1878. Ichihashi attended public schools in America during his youth in order to further his education. In 1907 he graduated from Stanford University with a A.B. degree, and later an A.M. of Economics in 1908. He worked as an assistant in the Economics Department, also serving as a special agent of the United States Immigration Commission for two years. In 1910 he successfully entered Harvard, winning a fellowship in Sociology the next year, and then in 1914 he was given his doctorate in Economics with a dissertation on Japanese immigration, making him a progenitor of Asian American studies. In 1912, he was given a position of an instructor in Japanese History at Stanford University. One reason for offering his position revolved around the hope that a group of public-spirited Japanese, seeking to promote cultural acceptance and understanding, would more likely to provide the money for a program chair. In 1920 appropriate funds were saved up to appoint Dr. Ichihashi's as assistant professor of Japanese History and Civilization. He is thought of as the first person of Japanese descent to occupy such a position at an American educational institution. He was well known among multiple generations of Students for his enthusiasm for Japanese history and cultural subject matter, his stimulating and thought provoking lectures, as well as his social skills and charm with Asian and Non-Asian alike. During 1919, Ichihashi acted as an adviser to Japan's official delegation at the First International Labor Conference in Washington, D. C. After attending a Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armaments (1921-1922), as an interpreter and confidential secretary to senior Japanese delegate Baron Kato, Dr. Ichihashi's published a book, The Washington Conference and After, in 1928 by the Stanford Press. The book documented the relations without nationalist prejudice from U.S. or Japan. In 1932, Ichihashi published yet another book Japanese in theUnited States: A Critical Study of the Problems of the Japanese Immigrants and their Children based on several years of research and observation. It received acclaim as the "best scientific study" on the Asians in America, due to the objective nature of a personal topic. In 1933 Ichihashi served a term as a lecturer in the College of Law of the Tokyo Imperial University. In his position he attempted to advocate an understanding between Japanese-American relations. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as Pearl Harbor forced Japanese American into internment camps, on his return to the West Coast he was sent to Palp Alto and Tule Lake relocation and internment camps serving as a liaison between them and the American officials. During his life he dedicated his work to strengthening the bond of Asian Americans and Non-Asian Americans. When we see Asian American’s working, going to school, socializing outside of their ethnic group in the California one thinks nothing of it. But like many Japanese American during the time Ichihashi didn’t have that luxury and in order to prove his American loyalty he needed to go through extra measures of peacekeeping and diplomacy prior to the camps and while in the camps. His work can be regarded as Asian American Studies in its earliest forms and Asian America Studies as a subject embodies with it subculture, ethnic culture, as well as pop culture. When Japanese Americans in the camps are represented in film, texts, nearly all mediums they are represented as loyal, hardworking frontiersmen and women; as was Ichihashi.
http://histsoc.stanford.edu/pdfmem/IchihashiY.pdf
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/data/13030/k7/tf7z09n9k7/files/tf7z09n9k7.pdf
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/humsci/external/img/about/03ichihashi_216-216.jpg
http://www.lib.utah.edu/static-content/marriottlibrary/files/images/p144n192.jpg

Ty Tran Nguyen

(1911) Sikhs in CA establish Khalsa Diwan

By establishing the Khalsa Diwan in California in 1911, Sikhs in America were taking the first step towards gaining an independent identity. The Khalsa Diwan was a gurudwara, or place of religious observation for Sikhs. The temple also served as a community center for Sikhs as well. With growing numbers of Sikhs (and other immigrants) flooding into California, the Sikh community was fractured, unable to congregate. The need for a communal place of worship revealed not just the practical intentions behind constructing a temple, but the social and spiritual as well.

























To negotiate a new identity in a new country that is acceptable to the natives, foreigners often have to sacrifice their customs and beliefs. With the establishment of a meeting place just for Sikhs, however, minorities began to spread the word that they too deserved a piece of the pie. Indeed, they were leading by example for all immigrants who felt oppressed in the U.S. Because of such high racial tensions at the time, and the degree to which whites were much more dominant, many immigrants were simply afraid to express any part of their foreign culture for fear of being marked or excluded. Not unlike Asian immigrants, who faced a choice of assimilation or ostricization, Indians were undoubtedly afforded little opportunity unless they were to assimilate and become "whitewashed." One aspect of culture which is crucial to any region of people is religion and spirituality. Yet, when these immigrants made it to the U.S. they found that their religious beliefs, which differed from the prevailing Protestant view at the time, caused them to be looked at differently and treated differently. Some anxiety is justifiable, perhaps, as it is indeed strange to see someone practicing religious customs you know nothing about. Difference can be frightening at first; what led to problems, however, was the commonly held misconception that those who practice something other than the good Lord's word were heathens and sinners instead of products of different cultural backgrounds. There was little to no tolerance for difference, especially if it was a flagrant foreign body that made no attempt to assimilate or "whitewash" itself. In establishing a temple to worship at and practice Sikhism in the U.S., Sikh's began to rouse the collective courage, spurred by social unrest, that was brewing within the immigrant communities. A successful establishment of such a foreign place on U.S. ground certainly lent hope to other minorities that they too could assimilate their beliefs into American society without compromising them. The implications of this are obvious: these early slants toward cultural diversity set the stage for the groundbreaking social phenomena that would follow in decades to come, which saw the fight for equality brought to its very peak.

-Jeremy Steinberg

1910-Picture Brides

In the early 20^th century, Sara Choe was the first picture bride to come from Korea.  She came to Hawaii and married someone named Yi Nae-su.  The way picture brides worked out was that a matchmaker would receive photographs and pair couples together solely based on these photographs and family advice.  While this is just an extension from the traditional matchmaking that was the standard in Korea, it was completely different.  The majority of picture brides that came to the United States were from Japan and Korea.  Sara Choe was only the first of 950 picture brides that will eventually arrive in America during the early 20^th century.  This was a way for immigrant workers to marry.  The concept also closely links to the origins of the mail-order bride. 

 

Japanese labor workers and Korean picture brides arrived in Hawaii as early as 1910 on the SS Gaelic.  Their arrival caused a bit of controversy.  All of these labor workers were men and they came with very few women of their race.  With such a disproportionate gender ratio, the demand for Asian wives was extremely high in Hawaii.  The influx of “wives” that made their way to America to keep agricultural workers company were matched up based on a photograph.  Immigrant laborers would send in a picture to a matchmaker and a matchmaker in Japan would put two photos together and decide who would be a couple.  The families and matchmakers would both work together to figure out the best match.  The bride to be would leave Japan or Korea on a ship and once she arrives on Hawaii soil she is legally bound to her awaiting husband.  Sometimes the husband to be will be deceiving and send in a false or old picture to the matchmaker making them seem younger.  The sad thing is that when the picture bride comes to Hawaii she has no way of getting out of the pre arranged marriage.  These picture brides could be as young as 14, and when they are tricked into a marriage it can be extremely terrifying for them.   This gave Asian women a sense of daring bravery.  Their willingness to leave their home and come to a new world to be with someone they’ve never met makes them pioneers. 

 

The Picture Brides arrival in Hawaii and the United States made an impact on immigration and family life for Asian Americans.  Their presence led to more agricultural workers coming and even starting families.  They helped add to the development of Asian American existence in America, and even built communities. 

 

Andi Long

1913-Alien Land Law

This law was enacted in California at a time where the Anti-Japanese movement was going strong.  The Alien Land Law made it illegal for immigrants to be citizens and own land or property.  However, this law permits three-year leases which creates limitations for Asian Americans.  Asian Americans worked hard to work around this racially constructed law.

 

At first, the Asian workers were welcomed into California as they provided agricultural labor for cheap.   But some Japanese workers had the idea to buy their own land and start farming, taking profit and business from white farmers in California.  And as they continued to be successful and displayed a different entrepreneurial plan, Californians acted out.  This California Alien Land Law was in response to the voter’s strong Anti-Asian sentiments, especially toward Japanese laborers and Chinese agricultural workers.  Anti-Asian Protestors were unhappy with the success of Japanese farmers in the 1900’s and they were jealous of their economic gains.  So they took a political stand to try and get this initiative approved in order to eliminate this supplementary competitive force.  This law was another way to put Asians down and make them feel inferior or remind them that they are the minority. 

 

The result of the law was a decrease in Japanese acerage and farming.  Soon after California passed this law, other states were impacted by it and decided to adopt similar laws.  Arizona enacted an Alien Land Law 4 years later, and Washington Louisiana, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Kansas followed suit.  This law relied on the racial prerequisite to naturalization.  A person had to be free and white in order to own land.  Later down the road, a case was brought up about the constitutionality of these laws and the issue of racism and discrimination.  In Terrace vs. Thompson, a Supreme Court case in 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Alien Land Law and did not think it was racist.   There are other cases similar to this one such as Oyama v. California.  This law made Asian Americans even more foreign and alienated from others.  It wasn’t until 1952 when Asians could own land.  The Supreme Court finally ruled this restriction to be unconstitutional forty years later, which displays how long racism has existed for immigrants. 

Despite the Land Laws that placed heavy limitations on Japanese farmers, Asian Americans still played a large part in agriculture in California.  Asian farmers made verbal agreements to those willing to sell land, and the law was difficult to fully enforce so Asian workers found ways to work around the Alien Land Laws.  

Andi Long

1929-Watsonville Riots

In 1930, the Watsonville Riots served as a turning point for Asian Americans.  Towns all across California experienced extreme violence and riots for a period of five days.  There were many causes for these riots, the intrusion of Asian laborers into California’s fields was a main reason.  However it was a combined mixture of horror and shock of the mixed racial relations between men and women.  Filipino’s were faced with terror as well as revulsion when they realized Filipino laborers showed interest in American women and the women reciprocated these feelings.  Californians were overwhelmed with fear, jealousy, and rage, and this was a big factor in the cause of the Watsonville Riots.  These riots instilled a new kind of fear for Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino agricultural workers.  White men viewed these little brown Filipino men as a threat to their reign of power and supremacy.  These Watsonville riots started in a pool hall in 1926 and this is what seemed to have brought on the “race war” that plagued Asian Americans for several years to come. It comes down to the white men being possessive and jealous.  The Filipino’s, in defense, said that they did not have too many female companions of their own race and were just wishing to escort some females for companionship with no thought to what race they were.  The first of these riots took place in a pool hall on New Years Eve when a couple of Filipinos boldly escorted white girls to a dance.  The men were beaten down and stoned.  Later on, the riots got more intense and more violent.  Shots were fired, men were killed, and buildings were burned down.  The real trouble started on January 20, 1930 when 200 enraged citizens came to the Filipino Club to disrupt the dance and take nine white women who were inside.  They came with clubs and weapons intending to burn the place down.    The owners retaliated by threatening to shoot if the rioters persisted.  Shots were fired, and cops showed up with gas bombs to break up the riot.  Two men were hit and severely injured.  The sad thing is that the violence didn’t stop.  Three days later a Filipino worker was shot and killed in his sleep.  Five days later, another camp of Filipnio workers was attacked while they slept.  This sort of terrorism on Filipino’s continued and did lasting damage to Filipino heritage and culture.  

Andi Long

1911 – Lue Gim Gong Receives a Silver Ward Medal from the American Pological Society

Visualize a Florida’s Natural commercial with an old Asian man holding up an orange in the shining light of the evening sun, following with a shot of a nice cold glass of orange juice. Weird right? We always thank the “white man” for making that great tasting OJ whether we need it to have it with some dranks or drink it with our McDee’s breakfast McMuffins. So why would we even bother to think about an Asian having anything to do with the production of oranges and its juices in America? Because such an Asian old man did influence that great Florida orange we all know and love.
Lue Gim Gong was known as “The Citrus Wizard” as he revolutionized horticulture and the orange industry from his innovative breeding techniques. His work in breeding oranges and other fruits has made a difference in pomology (the science of growing fruit) and anyone and everyone who buys oranges today can thank Lue Gim Gong for his contribution. Lue Gim Gong immigrated to San Francisco from China in the 1800s when he was twelve years old. He soon met a Sunday school teacher who saw his skill with plants and she helped him become a naturalized citizen as well as convert him into Christianity. He could not move back to China due to his naturalization. Lue eventually moved to Florida following the teacher and her family where he helped her tend oranges. She suggested him to follow her to a warm climate location because Lue had previous diagnosis of tuberculosis.
Lue learned his horiculture and pollinating techniques from China. He developed an apple that ripens a month earlier and tomatoes to grow in clusters. Out of all his successes, Lue is recognized most for his oranges he developed Florida. The “Lue Gim Gong” orange is an orange that resulted from a cross-pollination of the Valencia orange (originally created in Santa Ana) and the Mediterranean Sweet orange. This was such a revolutionized way of cultivating oranges because this cross-pollination of the oranges enabled them to be frost-resistant and preserve its great sweet taste at the same time. He personally felt obligated to find a solution to preserve fruit from the freeze due to his sicknesses from extremely cold climates. Lue received a Silver Ward Medal from the American Pological Society in 1911 due to his innovative breeding technique of the oranges. The orange industry has adopted this breeding technique and still sells these oranges today. The oranges aren’t called “Lue Gim Gong oranges” but are called Valencia oranges due to the original orange that was cross-pollinated. This can be one of the earlier successes of an Asian- American recognized in the United States. This wasn’t just a success in the Asian community but actually affected the whole nation in the agriculture society and industry. Asians are mostly associated with rice, wine, bok choy, weird vegetable roots, and ginseng not Florida oranges. To know that an Asian man effected the production of the good ol' Florida orange is just a shock to me personally. This success shouldn’t be hidden but presented for awareness that Asians really did affect the most random things in America.


-Madelyn Kim

1912 - Duke Kahanamoku Breaks Records in the U.S. Olympics

There is definitely a reason why even a child’s movie like Lilo and Stitch present Hawaiians as good swimmers and surfers because they truly have the most gifted water athletes in the world. They are known as the originators of surfing. This legacy can be confidently originated from Duke Kahanamoku. Duke was born in Hawaii and grew up in Waikiki. Ever since his youth Duke spent his days at the beach where he developed his ability to swim and surf by himself. Even before entering the Olympics, Duke had already won and beat existing world records in swimming. This made him easily qualify for the U.S. Olympic swimming team in 1912 where he broke the record for the 200-meter freestyle and won a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle in the Olympics in Stockholm.
After his time with the Olympics, Duke actually popularized surfing as he traveled around the world teaching and presenting swimming and surfing demonstrations. Duke is the one who popularized surfing in Santa Cruz where surfing first started in California.
Again after his popularity from the 1912 Olympics, Duke had actually entered the Swimming and Surfing Hall of Fame as well as becoming a member of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
This is very interesting to know that a Pacific Islander represented the U.S. in the Olympics back in the early 1900s. All types of Asians and Pacific Islanders were never regarded as an “American” or people who really belonged in America. If anything these minorities were used for pure entertainment or treated like a separate class of humans. However to know that Duke represented Americans and won medals for the states was really a landmark event during the early 1900s. This is the one of the first events where America seems like a country that appreciates its diversity not only in culture but also in skill and talent derived from other cultures. Duke’s representation of not only the United States but also Hawaii as a separate culture and nationhood emphasizes the importance of this event in 1912 and the other years following his legacy in swimming and surfing.
Duke wasn’t popular in just swimming and surfing but got popular enough to be in films and presented as an important character actor. His fame in movies popularized surfing and swimming all the more. Another important event was in 1925 when Duke rescued twelve men from a boating tragedy off of Newport Beach. He was not only recognized as an athlete but as a reliable citizen with sportsmanship and integrity.
So now when I think of a surfer dude, I don't think of a white dude. I know I keep on going back to the "white man" but whenever I think of culture or recreation in America I immediately think of white people who thought of these things. If not the white man it's the black man but never the Asian or Pacific Islander. Again Duke is an important example of someone "not American" that heavily affected culture in the United States.
All in all Duke is the pride and joy of Hawaii as his legacy lives on as he still has fellow surfer followers today and people that still look to his achievements and identify with him as a Hawaiian. They can be proud to know that such a man can change the course of American recreation and sporting culture especially in the west.

-Madelyn Kim

1915 - Sessue Hayakawa is the First Successful Asian in Hollywood

Sessue was a renowned Asian American Hollywood star during the period of early to late 1900s. He was known not only as an actor but he wore the hats of a producer, author, even a martial artist, and a Zen monk. This fame and popularity was actually just an accident that happened to Sessue. He was born into a provincial governor’s family as the second eldest son. The status and reputation of a family that Sessue was born into brought future stresses and anxieties to uphold the family honor. He was set and forced to being the honorable naval officer but due to a ruptured eardrum, his perfect health was damaged thus failing the navy’s physical. His father became ashamed and the relationship between him and his father sunk. Sessue also attempted seppuku, a ritual suicide derived from Japan. After failing he moved to the United States in 1911 to study and had plans to become a banker in Chicago.
Instead Sessue decided to drop out and go back to Japan. During the wait time he had in Los Angeles to take the ship back to Japan he wandered around Little Tokyo and found himself at a theater and was interested in acting and performing. He then found himself being in a Thomas Ince production that turned into a silent movie. The movie called The Typhoon was filmed in 1914 and became a hit. However it wasn’t until Sessue was casted in The Cheat in 1915 that brought him huge success and stardom. He was recognized for his unique charisma and good looks in the romantic movie. Sessue found himself instantly rich and successful in the Hollywood industry.
From then on Sessue continued in his success as he was casted as the leading man in many romantic drama genre films and his popularity among the women audience was very fast and vast. He was also known for his acting influenced by the Zen. This meant that his acting was natural without the “force” in acting. He was one of the first stars to emphasize natural acting, as Classical Hollywood was known for its dramatic gestures and face expressions. His wealth and popularity led him to making films where he had total control over the content. Unfortunately due to anti-Asian laws like limits on immigration and the hostility towards Japanese-Americans, as well as the production code, Sessue had to take his production overseas where he also found success in some of his work of plays.
Here I thought Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid or Harold and Kumar were the real successes of Asians in Hollywood but other actors and actresses like Anna May Wong and of course Sessue Hayakawa had already set the path for successful Asians in Hollywood. Through Sessue and his successes, Asians don’t have to be known as the deviant, exotic, eccentric people that don’t know American culture. The Asian figure of femininity and weakness has been rebuked through Sessue’s successes as a lead male actor. I wonder why Asians started having geeky and pathetic roles in movies? Where did the suave James Bond-like Asians go in the movies?! But Asians being successful in Hollywood brings unity through the hybridity of both American and Asian cultures. There is no longer a conflict but instead a harmony that results into a new culture and wave of talent and elegance in this case in acting and film. Asians even before our time were recognized for exceptional talent and skill even in the American Hollywood industry.

-Madelyn Kim

Minoru Yasui, the Constitutionality of Internment

Minoru Yasui became the University of Oregon's first Japanese let alone Asian American law school graduate in 1939 and prior to that a Bachelors with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1937. After his bachelors Yasui was granted a position a second lieutenant in the Army's Infantry Reserve in 1937 once he completed a Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program in the university. He managed to pass the Oregon Bar making him the state's first Japanese American lawyer. Lack of job opportunities in Oregon forced Yasui to accept take job in Chicago during 1940 as a consular attaché for the Consulate General of Japan. After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, Lt. General John L. DeWitt, Military Commander of the Western Defense Command, put into place the Public Proclamation No. 3.2the following month later. This would order imposed travel restrictions and curfew for German, Italian, and Japanese nationals in addition to American citizens of Japanese descent. However, American citizens of German or Italian ancestry weren’t included in the proclamation instigating Yasui to challenge these restrictions since he felt they were unconstitutional and racist. March 28, 1942 began the first of many attempts to challenge Executive Order 9066 when Yasui broke curfew violating Public Proclamation No. 3. Yasui’s trial on June 12, 1942 was overseen by Judge James Alger Fee in the U.S. District Court of Oregon. Judge Fee ruled that the proclamation applied to American citizens, including those of Japanese ancestry, was inherently unconstitutional. Unfortunately in the eyes of Judge Fee Yasui was not a United States citizen as a result of his work for the Japanese Consulate in Chicago, and Yasui was stripped of his United States citizenship by Judge Fee. Yasui was found guilty as charged under the premise that he was now an “alien.” Yasui successful appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court who reversed the decision of Judge Fee effectively restoring Minoru Yasui as a United States citizen. In a turn of events they also found the lower court mistaken in ruling the curfew order unconstitutional as applied to United States citizens. The Supreme Court upheld the Judge Fee’s conviction of Min and after his release from jail in 1943, he was sent to an internment camp at Minidoka, Idaho until 1944. Upon his return home, Yasui faced difficulty continuing his career. As a result of his criminal conviction Min was refused admission to the Colorado bar in 1945 despite the fact that he received higher scores on the exam than many of the candidates that sat for the bar examination the same year. Yasui sought aide from the American Civil Liberties Union, and with Samuel L. Menin to represent him in court Yasui successfully appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court allowing Yasui to practice law in Colorado as of January 1946. After his death on November 12, 1986 the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Liberties Act of1988; the President apologized for internment and each surviving internee was paid 20,000 dollars. Yasui is important in Pop Culture because his actions in his youth led up to his eventual victory championing the rights of all ethnic American citizens. He represented an Asian American who wasn’t docile, an Asian American who didn’t fit the model minority concept of a harmless servile worker. When the subject of the model minority is spoken figures like Yasui are examples of why it is just a stereotype, Yasui can be considered one of the earliest progenitors of Yellow Power and the Asian American Civil Rights as he has taken on court cases that predate those of the 1950s. When WWII is taught in school internment is noted as being a mistake done by the government, interment is noted as being unconstitutional since not one single Japanese American was found guilty of a Federal Conviction. Cinema portrays internment has a dreary and harsh existence for relatively loyal Americans instead of the foreign enemy who was suspect during the war, for all of this we have Minoru Yasui to thank.

http://us_asians.tripod.com/timeline.html

http://www.sos.state.or.us/bbook/notable/notyasui.htm

http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=U2103890&ext=1

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00031/Minoru_Yasui_31621s.jpg

Ty Tran Nguyen

(1923) U.S. vs. Bhagat Singh Thind

In the U.S. vs Bhagat Singh Thind, the U.S. Supreme court claimed that Thind, who was of Indian descent, was "caucasian" (India was previously defined as caucasian) but not "white" as it was understood in everyday speech. Therefore, Thind could not become a naturalized citizen. This case followed Ozawa vs. U.S. in which the court ruled that Ozawa, who was of Asian descent but had skin light enough to pass as white, could not be considered "white" because "white" meant "caucasian."



Several things happened as a result of this ruling. Firstly, the first person from India to become a citizen, Mr. A.K. Mozumdar, had his citizenship revoked following the court ruling. Hearing of this, Indians in both America and India began calling for an end to discrimination. Of course, it wasn't until years later that any progress was made, but the fact that another sizable group of people in the U.S. were marginalized right alongside blacks and east Asians cannot be ignored. This ruling served to swell the pool of discontented citizens who had settled in the U.S. but been denied not only their right to legal citizenship, but acceptance into society. This case, along with Ozawa. vs. US, served to start the long held tradition of the "golden man" and the "model minority." While most Asian subgroups were relegated to the bottom of the social hierarchy, as dregs of society (i.e. prostitutes, lepers, and opium addicts), there was yet one avenue for (some) success for an Asian immigrant. This option was assimilation. The "golden man" and "model minority" were products of the pressure many Asians felt to assimilate, so that they would not be marked or excluded. Many today claim that the model minority is "whitewashed" as if it is a travesty to besmirch ones' Asian heritage with whiteness. Oh, the irony! Just a century ago, this trait of being "whitewashed" was highly desired, for it meant that one was acceptable to white people. This allowed Asians access to the all important goals of legal citizenship and social acceptance. I find today's criticism of whitewashed Asians to be comforting, for it means that it is understood by the masses that there is room for difference. At the time of this case, in 1923, however, there was no room for difference - it was dangerous to be different. Difference drew the ire of a "civilized" white people who were actually quite bloodthirsty. If immigrants were anything it was perceptive - they kept their eyes open for the law and their ears peeled to the currents of society. No doubt those who witnessed lynchings of black people realized, with much fear, that they and blacks were the same to the lynchers. Perhaps then the most important result of this case was that, along with Ozawa v. U.S. and other similar cases, a few people began to fight for the right to be different. Eventually, this movement grew and grew, morphing into power social phenomena that changed the course of global politics forever.

-Jeremy Steinberg

(1910) Japan formally annexes Korea

The Japanese annexation of Korea occurred on August 22, 1910, and lasted until August 15, 1945 with the close of WWII. During this time Koreans were suppressed by Japanese military forces and they felt that it was a "forced occupation." The country was a hotbed for activity between China and Japan, both countries with imperialist motives. Japan began harassing Korea in 1876, using "gunboat diplomacy" to pressure Korea into unfair political agreements favoring Japan. Some Koreans turned to the Chinese for support, but soon they were trampled underfoot as Japan and China clashed on their land.



I think that this period of aggression added to the anxiety westerners already felt towards the Orient. I think these conflicts lent fuel to the racist fire. Undoubtedly civilized whites talked in disgusted tones about how the eastern savages can't get along with one another. Even more unsettling was the fact that Japan was emerging from a long period of isolation; combined with rising public awareness caused by increased communications (around the world through technology such as pictures and the telephone), this led Americans to hastily and apprehensively label all asians as alien and foreign contaminants. Today we have more than 100 years of history and culture, both separate histories and our conjoined, textured meanings, to reflect upon, for instance, how Asians are different from whites. However, during this time U.S. relations with the east were just beginning, so that many Americans had little knowledge to go off of except stereotypes which were propagated through controlled media. This is definitely one source from which the Yellow Peril has emerged. War-time is the easiest time to demonize a people or country. As we see today in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the fog of war clouds our perceptions so that even with our comprehensive coverage, we still feel we are dealing with faceless terrorists; and so it was during this time. I'm not sure that I can blame the turn of the century people for their racism, because even though communication was increasing there was so little information. Today we have many networks and are bombarded with the latest news. Back then, however, there may have been only one foreign correspondent for a newspaper, and he was read by millions of people as having the only clear picture on Asia. In this way we can see how popular culture, such as a newspaper during the early 1900s, not only shaped but in many instances, in which there was not another sufficient source of information, created Americans' conceptions of the east.

-Jeremy Steinberg

The Cable Act(1922)

The Cable Act effectively revoked the U.S. citizenship of any woman who married an Asian alien. At the time of the law's ratification, Asian aliens were not considered to be eligible for U.S. citizenship based on their color. As a result, the Cable Act only reversed some of the previous policies, allowing female citizenship to women who married non-Asians. The Cable Act effectively revoked the U.S. citizenship of any woman who married an Asian alien.

The Cable Act was simply a regurgitation of the fears that white society had of Asian American integration. The threat of the ‘Yellow Peril’ had two interpretations: the threat of oriental domination by war and the threat of the ending of the white race through race mixing. Many scientists at the time believed in eugenics, and argued that the white bloodlines were highly susceptible to contamination. Lothrop Stoddard a famous eugenicist at the time, held that white blood, particularly from the “Nordic” races of Western Europe, was the most advanced. He also argued that because Nordic blood was so highly specialized, it was most at risk of contamination. Stoddard feared the extinction of Nordic blood by the “rising tide” of the colored races.

Many dominant beliefs at the time antagonized the integration of Asians. For example, one perception of Asians were that they carried diseases-one of the main reasons why Asians were held accountable for the wide spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the burgeoning brothels in San Francisco. Mixing of the races was deemed taboo, so much so, that anti-miscegenation laws were even passed to forbid interracial interactions like a romantic scene or kiss in films. Interracial marriage was deterred in every spectrum of life from popular media to US legislature.

All in all, the Cable Act bolstered the popular idea at the time that asians were exotic ‘forbidden taboos’ and social/physical deviants to white society. The Cable act was just merely another attempt to prevent interracial interaction and to protect a pure white society.

-Calvin Wong

Francisco Guilledo (1925)

Francisco Guilledo aka Pancho Villa is considered by many to be the greatest Asian fighter in boxing history. Just over five feet tall, Villa was explosive in the ring. He had fought 105 times by the time of his death at the age of 24. Born in the Philippines, his reputation brought him to the attention of promoter Frank Churchill in Manila. Impressed with the 80-pound fighter, Churchill began handling Villa and, reportedly, named him after the famous Mexican bandit, Pancho Villa.

Villa fought in the Philippines from 1919 to 1922. In that time, he lost only three fights and captured two Filipino titles. Churchill later brought Villa to the United States, and in his debut fight in the US Villa knocked out Johnny Buff in eleven rounds to win the American flyweight title. Later, he would fight British flyweight champion Jimmy Wilde where Villa In the seventh round beat out Wilde in a TKO. Because of his popularity, Jimmy Wilde, a hard-punching British-born boxer, was forced to come out of his early retirement to challenge Villa. In June 18, 1923 at the Polo Grounds in New York 20,000 fans White, Black, and Asian fans screamed "Villa! Villa", he knocked out the defending champion Jimmy Wilde in the 7th round to capture the World Flyweight title.

Pancho Villa returned to the United States in 1925 for a rematch fight against Jimmy McLarnin, little did he know that it would be his last. Before the fight, Villa was diagnosed with an infected tooth, but he still opted to continue the fight against McLarnin for the fans; however, the infection worsened to the point where his face was completely swollen. Within a couple days, his trainer Whitey Ekwert rushed him to the hospital where it was discovered that the infection had spread to his throat. He later went into a coma and died at the hospital of Ludwig's Angina the following day, July 14, 1925.

Villa’s success became the legendary fighting spirit of the East and inadvertently dispelled the common belief of filipinos being docile, 'little brown brothers' . In a time, where overt racism was common, specifically in forms of scientific racism, Villa dominated the world boxing stage and captured fans of all colors and nationalities and empowered a nation. Upon Villa's return to the Philippines, he received a hero's welcome in Manila on September 1924. Villa was commemorated as a national hero for being the very first Filipino world champion, and in 1961, it was only fitting, he was enshrined into the Ring Magazine boxing Hall of Fame and later in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

-Calvin Wong

Anna May Wong (1921)

Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age of 19. Following the footsteps of Sessue Hayakawa, Anna May Wong became the first Asian American female Hollywood star. Starring in such silent films as Bits of Life and The Toll of the Sea, Anna May Wong was making it on to the big screen. After several minor roles exploiting her ‘asian-ness’ as the typical Villain/Dragon-lady, it was apparent that Wong had been transformed into a white image of forbidden lust.

It was no surprise that later on, Wong became frustrated at Hollywood for forcing her to play villainesses and rape victims while white women performed in yellow-face. It was common at the time for whites to play in foreign roles, sometimes even the entire cast. At one point, MGM deemed her "too Chinese to play a Chinese". Her biggest disappointment was losing the lead in Pearl S. Buck's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Good Earth. The male lead had gone to a white actor and anti-miscegenation laws restricted the production from casting a non-white to kiss him. It wasn’t long before Wong had enough and decided to move away to Europe to star in the Picadilly.

Wong would later return back to the United States to play a female lead role in the Daughter of Shanghai, which was completely rewritten in order to make her the heroine of the story. Wong later told the press "I like my part in this picture better than any I've had before...because this picture gives Chinese a break – we have sympathetic parts for a change! To me that means a great deal.” Wong helped to transform white misconceptions of Asians, in a period that was filled with racism and discrimination, where Asians were deemed foreign and any close interaction with them bordered taboo.

Moreover, through her public image Wong helped "humanize" Asian-Americans to white society. Asians had been viewed as perpetually foreign and inassimilable in U.S. society, but Wong's films and public image helped establish her as an Asian-American citizen at a time when laws were erected specifically to discriminate against Asian immigration and citizenship. Wong's legacy was able to transcend those contemporary notions and most importantly overthrow the belief that the East and West were inherently different

-Calvin Wong