policies and politics Flashcards
pre-world war 2
policies
- chinese exclusion act of 1882
- gentleman’s agreement of 1907
- immigration act of 1917
- immigration act of 1924
world war 2
bombing of pearl harbor
- government suspected japanese trying to recruit japanese americns to be spies in US
- initially, they weren’t deemed as threats
anti-japanese sentiment
- general john dewitt and others made successful case against japanese americans
- life magazine 1941 article – “how to tell japs from the chinese”
japanese internment
feb 1942 – FDR signed executive order 9066
- gave military broad powers to ban any citizen from a 50-60 mi wide coastal area stretching from WA-CA extending to southern AZ
- authorized transporting citizens to assembly centers
many japanese served in US military even if families were interned
korematsu v. US
- korematsu decided to stay in san leandro, CA and knowingly violated civilian exclusion no. 34 of the army
- arrested and convicted
- justice hugo black upholds the internment and denies any racial prejudice
- 6-3 ruling that executive order was constitutional
- overturned it 40 years later
post internment
jan 1945 – executive order was rescinded and all japanese american prisoners were allowed to leave
- many returned to pacific coast but many lost their land
1948 commission on wartime relocation and internment of civilians
these acts “were motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime, hysteria, and a failure of political leadership”
redress movement
1978 – JACL launched campaign for redress calling for
- 1. restitution in the amount of $25,000 per internee
2. apology by congress acknowledging the wrong
3. funds to establish an educational trust fund
1988 – civil liberties act (reagan)
- more than 82,000 people have been issued a presidential apology and a monetary redress payment of $20,000
- $5M civil liberties public education fund was created
filipino veterans equity movement
US military promised full veterans benefits to filipinos who volunteered to fight; more than 250,000 joined
- 1946 – POTUS truman signed rescission act, taking that promise away
by 2008, less than 15,000 of those troops are still alive
- filipino veterans equity compensation fund – obama
to this day, congress still working to pass filipino veterans fairness act
usa patriot act
- gives government enhanced surveillance powers
- takes away due process rights from noncitizens
- can place people in mandatory detention and deported
violates constitutional rights of due process and free speech
impact of patriot act on south asians
- 250 incidents of anti-asian hate crimes and 2 murders
- majority occurred at school or in workplace
- large majority targeted south asian americans and sikhs
barriers to political participation
- language access
- state voter ID laws asking for additional documentation)
- lack of outreach from political parties
how do AAPI fit into politics?
arguement that it doesn’t matter
- voting as a bloc can affect outcome
- neither parties are courting AAPIs much
- coalition building strategies
what explains asian american political participation?
- immigrant socialization
- racial/ethnic identity
- parties/political institutions
- political orientation
- civic engagement
- socio-political context
