Reflection Of American Negativism Chinese And Japanese Exclusion

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Reflection of American Nativism
Introduction
Nativism refers to beliefs or policies that favor or protects the interests of a country’s native population and sidelines the interests of the immigrants. In the 19th century, immigrants from many parts of the globe and especially Asia rocketed in the United States in search of employment and improved standards of living. Nativism injected fear to the Native Americans because they perceived the immigrants as threats to the American economy and culture. The most notable act of nativism was the one directed towards the Asian immigrants who included the Chinese and the Japanese. Even though the Chinese and Japanese immigrants were feared for different reasons and treated in different ways, the two groups were both considered racially inferior and parts of the “Oriental invasion” to Americans. Nevertheless, these are people that have contributed to this country. America’s ideas of nativism and citizenship, which exclude these people, do not reflect the primary mission of its establishment.
Chinese and Japanese Exclusion
In as early as the 19th century, the historians, nativist organization and literature show that the Chinese people and the entire immigrants from Asia were greatly excluded by the Native American in the United States. There existed organizations and movements in America who aimed at isolating the Asians who were mainly composed of the Chinese and Japanese (Lee 32). Though the claims of these exclusions were not made clear to historians and contemporary intellectuals, the early sources indicate that the Native Americans treated the Chinese with fear as they viewed them as the American invaders.
The immigration restrictions instituted in the 20th century clearly showed that anti-Asian nativism was not only a political ideology which was agreed upon by the Americans, but it also represented the dominant American ideology. The idea here is that the Native Americans did not want the Chinese and the Japanese in the United States (Lee 32). They always treated the Asians as inferior and thought that they could not contribute anything meaningful as far as the country growth is concerned. All the political measures and the policies made ensured that the Chinese and the Japanese would be locked out of any opportunity that would lead to their success.
The whites also excluded the Chinese based on race. The whites described the Chinese as savage, depraved, lustful and inherently inferior (Lee 27). Others saw the Chinese as inassimilable and impossible to attain the civilization-state of the Caucasian (Lee 27). On these grounds, the white found a basis for which they could exclude the Chinese from American citizenship. In addition to the laws that excluded the Chinese, the excluders also used other social dynamics to achieve their objectives. The included alleged that Chinese women were potential prostitutes and their men were fraudulent citizens who would threaten the nation (Lee 76). The claim made it even hard for the Chinese to live peacefully in America.
During the arrival of the Chinese immigrants in the United States, they were highly inspected for the threatening and contagious diseases, mental illnesses and other maladies. The inspectors acted on the assumptions that the Chinese immigrants were more diseased as compared to the European immigrants (Lee 82). This assumption made them feel that the Chinese were both racially inferior and racially threatening. Officials also sought to inspect the parasitic disease which was common among the Chinese using it as the basis for their exclusion (Lee 82). Some of these diseases which included hookworms and roundworms were treatable, and therefore they were just used as excuses to exclude the Chinese.
After the Chinese exclusion, the Americans who occupied the west coast were more alarmed and alert about the Asian new immigration, especially those from Japan, India, and Korea. People from California described the immigration as consisting of another “Oriental Invasion,” while the newspapers from the San Francisco mobilized the readers to stand firm and fight for the Pacific coast against the Asians. The white race felt threatened by the Chinese and the Japanese occupation of the west coast in the Pacific in the United States (Young 220). The Japanese immigrants were not considered a threat because of anything else but because of their labor. They were well known to be hardworking as they had well succeeded in the agricultural sector in other regions. Another thing that led to the rise of nativism among the Native Americans is because they feared the Japanese since they seemed aggressive in their endeavors. The feeling of an imminent threat by the Asian immigrants promoted the rise of nativism amongst the natives.
The rise of nativism continued, fueled by the abilities of the Japanese, and considered a threat among the natives. For instance, the Native Americans feared the Japanese because of the ability to settle and start a family (Lee 32). The Japanese were different from Chinese as the former seemed to settle permanently in the United States, while the latter was only living temporarily in the country (Lee 32). The Japanese went ahead to start families in the west coast of the United States, which made the Americans fear that the Japanese would increase in number and overwhelm the Native American population (Lee 32). The Californians even made charges that the Japanese were inassimilable, and their cheap labor threatened the Americans jobs (Lee 32). Another cause for alarm among the Americans is that the Japanese were more warlike and more aggressive than even the Chinese and they were even considered more objectionable (Lee 32). Nonetheless, the increase of the Asian immigrants seemed like an increasing threat to the Native Americans, thus the rise of nativism.
The political leaders were more explicit about the aggressiveness of the Japanese, and they constantly warned the Native American citizens about their place being taken by the Japanese immigrants. Instead of seeing the Japanese as fellow countrymen who would have contributed to the building the nation, every native citizen was against the Asians for no good reasons. The Americans viewed the Japanese as racially inferior as compared to the white people they did not find any good reason to accept them as fellow citizens. Denis Kearney, who was a charismatic leader and led the Workingmen’s Party, spearheaded a movement a nativist movement against the Chinese (Lee 33). This leader described and saw the Japanese challenge to be synonymous with the Chinese. Kearney was even reported by a Sacramento reporter saying that the Japanese were foreign shylocks who were a breed which had replaced the vacant positions left by the Chinese. He added that the law had effectively managed to shut out the Chinese and they must also shut out the Japanese (Lee 34). Kearney ended his speech against the Japanese by shouting that “Japanese must go.” These actions portrayed a blatant message that sought to eject the Asian immigrants.
Everyone, including the politicians, was united agai...