More Lecture Notes on "Yellow"

Let me pick up where I left off on Monday (12/5) in Chapter 3:

1. "A Jap is a Jap and That's All There Is To It" (p. 95)

a.) The subtitle of this section is a quote from General DeWitt, which accurately captures the belief common among military leaders during WWII, as well as the general public.

b.) Regarding the loyalty of Japanese Americans, the facts certainly did NOT warrant the suspicions -- not a single case of Japanese American espionage was documented. Even J. Edgar Hoover and his FBI were unable to turn up any evidence that they were a threat.

c.) Nonetheless, we decided to put Japanese Americans in internment camps. Many liberals even supported the move as a precaution.

d.) The racial rationale for this policy could not be more obvious. They were "perpetual foreigners." Also, it was believed we could not easily sort out loyal from disloyal Japanese Americans because they are so INSCRUTABLE.
(The film, "Snow Falling on Cedars," captures this very well.)

e.) Interesting to note that in Hawaii we took a more pragmatic approach: Japanese there were not interned because that would have brought the economy to a standstill.

f.) A 1980 Congressional study of WWII Internment led to a Presidential apology and a $20,000 payment to survivors (1988). But among those opposed to this, racism was plainly evident -- "Senator Jesse Helms insisted that the United States should not compensate Japanese Americans until Japan paid the families of those killed at Pearl Harbor." (p. 103) Sounds logical, but it is based on the fallacious assumption that JAPANESE AMERICANS WERE SOMEHOW RESPONSIBLE, OR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY WITH THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT FOR WHAT HAPPENED AT PEARL HARBOR.

2. During the 1996 election, a scandal broke involving the Chinese government funneling money to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) through a DNC fundraiser by the name of John Huang.

a.) The accusation involved a racial stereotype -- a belief on the part of some politicians and pundits that Asian Americans were more prone to bribery, and in this specific case, that Asian Americans were willing to do the bidding of the Chinese government.
(I'll show in class a demeaning caricature of Pres. Clinton, his wife, and Vice Pres. Gore that appeared on the cover of the "National Review.")

b.) A subsequent investigation did not turn up much. Interestingly, it did disclose that several NON-Asians were involved in this scandal, but no one paid much attention to them. It was all about the "Asian Connection."

c.) Unfortunately, the fallout from this was that some Asians were discouraged from getting more involved in politics, despite legitimate interests they had in issues such as immigration policy.

d.) Wu was even more troubled by the indiffrent response to Asian American protests, which were often dismissed as merely "playing the race card."

3. Finally, in the section, "Back to the Future," Wu comments on the rise of China in the 21st century and increased competition with the U.S., which could very well lead to Chinese Americans' loyalty being called into question at some point.


Chapter 7: The Changing Face of America: Intermarriage and the Mixed Race Movement

A. Wu opens this chapter by referring to a letter to Dear Abby from a mixed-race couple confused about how to fill out forms for their children -- which box do they check off. This is becoming an increasingly common problem. (Although the Bureau of the Census did (finally) allow acknowledgment of mixed race heritage for the first time in the 2000 Census.)

B. Growing up outside Cleveland in a predominantly white community where there was only one Chinese girl in his 6th grade class, Wu himself considered crossing over.

1. He asked his mother about crossing over and she did not object, but she said she would love him more if he married Chinese. In the end, he married a Japanese-American woman, who his parents see as more or less white; and her parents were relieved that at least he looks Japanese.

C. "In just my lifetime, intermarriage has become the taboo that binds," Wu observes.

1. In 1960, just 149,000 interracial marriages (and it was still outlawed in several states such as SC).

2. By 1990, there were 1.46 million interracial marriages, or 5% of all marriages, and 1 in 6 in California.

3. (Not in the Book) The "Population Bulletin" reports that in 2000 there were 3.1 million such marriages.

4. A fairly recent survey (2004) reported, in of all places, AARP Magazine (not in "Yellow"): (a) 70% of whites approve of interracial marriage (compared to only 4% in 1958), (b) 77% of Hispanics approved, and (c) 80% of Blacks approved. (Of course, we should recognize that attitudes are one thing, and behavior is another, as Wu observes a bit later in the chapter in commenting on a similar survey.)

D. Wu, then, contends that: "Intermarriage and the mixed race movement are positive, but they are no panacea." (p. 264)
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That brings us to "The Core of the Heart of the Problem" (p. 264), which is where I'll pick up on Thursday.