Race and Ethnicity in Post-WWII America

1. Race and Ethnicity in Post-WWII America By Prof. Jose Alamillo CES 101: 06 Spring 2008

2. The term "Caucasian" originated as one of the racial categories developed in the 19th century by people studying craniology. It was derived from the region of the Caucasus mountains located between the Black and Caspian Seas

3. The famed exemplary Georgian skull Blumenbach discovered in 1795 to hypothesize origination of Europeans from the Caucasus. “Caucasian variety - I have taken the name of this variety from Mount Caucasus, both because its neighborhood, and especially its southern slope, produces the most beautiful race of men, I mean the Georgian; and because all physiological reasons converge to this, that in that region, if anywhere, it seems we ought with the greatest probability to place the autochthones (birth place) of mankind”---Johann Friedrich Blumenbach "I must say, once and for all, that I understand by white men the members of those races which are also called Caucasian… [these] white races... had their first settlement in the Caucasus.“ -- Arthur de Gobineau (1915) Scientists groups races under Caucasian, Mongoliod, Negroid, but after WWII “scientific racism” has been discredited, so why is the term “Caucasian” still used today?

4. The Invention of Ethnicity • After World War II Ethnicity emerged as a popular term to politely describe Jews, Italians and other European Americans • “Ethnos” = band of friends or tribe who share common cultural characteristics • ETHNICITY is a social category based on shared culture (which can include: language, religion, beliefs, environment, geography) whereas RACE is a social category historically based on the appearance of shared physical appearance. • Race is not a choice, Ethnicity is a choice • “Optional Ethnicity” (Mary Waters) = a choice, not socially enforced or imposed (i.e. Irish Americans on St. Patrick’s Day)

5. Race and Ethnicity during World War II • U.S. against Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Germany) • “Leader of the Free World”? • Racial Segregation and Discrimination in Workplace, Housing, Schools & MLB • “Double Victory” Campaigns & “War for Racial Equality (i.e. the First March on Washington led by Philip Randolph) • Bracero Program (1942-1964) • 1948 Displaced Persons Act (Jewish refugees) • Federal Housing Administration de jure segregation in housing • Japanese Internment Camps

6. Japanese Internment Camps

7. Seattle posting of the first Japanese Exclusion Order (No 17, dated April 24, 1942)

10. Strawberry Days tells the vivid and moving tale of the creation and destruction of a Japanese immigrant community. Before World War II, Bellevue, the now-booming "edge city" on the outskirts of Seattle, was a prosperous farm town renowned for its strawberries. Many of its farmers were recent Japanese immigrants who, despite being rejected by white society, were able to make a living cultivating the rich soil. Yet the lives they created for themselves through years of hard work vanished almost instantly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. David Neiwert combines compelling story-telling with first-hand interviews and newly uncovered documents to weave together the history of this community and the racist schemes that prevented the immigrants from reclaiming their land after the war. Ultimately, Strawberry Days represents more than one community’s story, reminding us that bigotry's roots are deeply entwined in the very fiber of American society.

11. The Italian American Internment Experience • Italians were declared “enemy aliens” when U.S. declared war against Italy • Hundreds of Italians were arrested in the months immediately after Pearl Harbor. By June 1942, the total reached 1,521 Italian aliens arrested by the FBI • About 250 individuals were interned for up to two years in military camps in Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. • Italy's surrender on September 8, 1943 brought about the release of most of the Italian American internees by year's end

12. Cold War America (1950s)

13. Cold War Anticommunism • Fall of China to the communists in 1949 led to “Chinese Confession Program” • 1950 Internal Security Act allowed the imprisonment of communists and revoking of citizenship • 1954 Operation Wetback (deported 1 million Mexicans immigrants) • 1954 Brown v. Board of Education (eliminated the doctrine of “separate but equal” in public education) • 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott

14. 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act (McCarren-Walter Act) • Immigration Policy determined by the Cold War • All racial barriers to immigration and naturalization were removed but maintained the “Asia-Pacific Triangle” • "National Origins Quotas" remained despite President Truman’s Veto • Admitted refugees from Communist countries (1953 Refugee Relief Act) • Family Reunification—expanded to wives and husbands • Exclusion of Homosexuals “persons afflicted with psychopathic personality” and “sexual deviation”) • Red Scare and McCarthyism

15. On August 28, 1963, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom assembled in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. The march, which was attended by 250,000 protesters, was a crucial milestone in the American civil rights movement.

16. Urban Rebellions and the 1968 Kerner Report The Kerner report's most famous passage warned that the United States was "moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal."

17. Martin Luther King Jr. and the the Poor Peoples Campaign Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. –Martin Luther King Jr. Last speech before his assassination, April 4, 1968 Sanitation Strike, Memphis 1968

18. Other Civil Rights Movements • Black Power Movement “Black Power” • Chicano Movement “Brown Power” • American Indian Movement “Red Power” • Asian American Movement “Yellow Power” • Women’s Liberation Movement • Gay and Lesbian Movement • “White Ethnic Revival” Movement (celebration of ethnic roots)

19. Civil Rights and Immigration during the 1960s • Immigration Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act) passed after • 1964 Civil Rights & 1965 Voting Rights Act -Repealed National Origins Quotas & “Asia-Pacific Triangle” -Western Hemisphere (Canada & Mexico) limited to 120,000 visas each year; Eastern Hemisphere (Europe, Asia and Africa) 170,000 visas. Limit of 20,00 per country to EH only. -1976 global ceiling of 290,000 and imposed 20,000 quota per country including Mexico thus recasting Mexican immigration as “illegal” -Maintained Family reunification (relatives of citizens: parents of adults, minor children, siblings and spouses) -Created Occupational Preferences for skilled immigrants and “guest worker H2A program” for agricultural workers.

20. Asserting that civil rights laws alone are not enough to remedy discrimination, President Lyndon Johnson issues Executive Order 11246 On Sept.24 1965 which enforces affirmative action for the first time. It requires government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment.

21. Affirmative Action: Myths and Facts MYTH #1: Affirmative action is reverse discrimination, it gives preferential treatment to people of color and women FACT: Racism is power plus discrimination (conferred dominance) MYTH #2: Affirmative action equals quotas. FACT: Quotas, on one hand, are dismissible because they are illegal. There is a misconception that affirmative action entails admitting or hiring unqualified people of color and women. MYTH #3: Affirmative action has not succeeded in increasing female and minority representation FACT: Several studies have documented important gains in racial and gender equality as a direct result of affirmative action

22. Model Minority Myth The term "model minority" was coined in the mid-1960s by William Petersen to describe Asian Americans as ethnic minorities who, despite marginalization, have achieved success in the United States. FACTS: 1) Asian-American immigrants to the U.S. have been highly self-selected . 2) Asian-Americans form one of our smallest minorities: Asian 3.2% of U.S. Population 3) Asian-Americans still bump into the glass ceiling, receive lower pay even with the same qualifications 3) Income inequality is severe within the Asian-American community. Asian group Poverty levels: Laotian 67.2% Hmong 65.5 % Cambodian 46.9% Vietnamese 33.5% Indonesian 15.2 %

23. Contemporary Immigrationin the United States • 1980: 80% were Asian and Latin American Documented Immigrants • (Mexico and Philippines are the largest sending countries) • Immigration and Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) -Employer sanctions -Amnesty provisions (before 1982) -Special Agricultural Worker Program -Increased Border Enforcement (5/1/85-5/1/86) • “The Turn Against Immigration” (See Gallup Poll) • Immigration Act of 1990 -Worldwide limit on admissions (675,000) -Expansion of Employment Based Immigrant Visas (i.e. nurses) 140,000 Family Sponsored Visas 480,000 Provides “Diversity” Immigrant Visas “lottery visas”) 55,000 • ●Backlash Against Immigration • California Proposition 187 (1994)

26. Immigration After 9/11 • How did 9/11 impact U.S. immigration policy and immigrants? • I.N.S. came under the Department of Homeland Security • Territorial Borders as “National Security Issue” • Minute Men Vigilante Groups called “Immigrants” as the new “terrorists” • Sensenbrenner Bill (H.R. 4437) proposed felony to be an illegal alien and would make criminals of the people who support illegal aliens • 2005 McCain-Kennedy Bill, “Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act” • 2006 Homeland Security Bill (border fence bill) built a 700 mile border wall

27. “ILLEGAL ALIEN” • Defined as person w/o Citizenship living on U.S. territory • 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts • 1924 Immigration Act: “unauthorized entry” became a criminal act punished by deportation • 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act was built on the category of “alien” • 1920 -1965: The I.N.S. granted “legalization” to over 200,000 of “illegal” European immigrants who entered through Canada or petitioned for naturalization. • Today there are 80,000 illegal Irish immigrants in the U.S. • Jaywalking is breaking the law = “Jaywalker” then why when crossing the border, which is breaking the Law, the border-crosser called “illegal alien”

29. New York Times Editorial, April 2, 2008 How Immigrants Saved Social Security Immigration is good for the financial health of Social Security because more workers mean more tax revenue. Illegal immigration, it turns out, is even better than legal immigration. In the fine print of the 2008 annual report on Social Security, released last week, the program’s trustees noted that growing numbers of “other than legal” workers are expected to bolster the program over the coming decades. One reason is that many undocumented workers pay taxes during their work lives but don’t collect benefits later. Another is that undocumented workers are entering the United States at ever younger ages and are expected to have more children while they’re here than if they arrived at later ages. The result is a substantial increase in the number of working-age people paying taxes, but a relatively smaller increase in the number of retirees who receive benefits — a double boon to Social Security’s bottom line. We’re not talking chump change. According to the report, the taxes paid by other-than-legal immigrants will close 15 percent of the system’s projected long-term deficit. That’s equivalent to raising the payroll tax by 0.3 percentage points, starting today. That is not to suggest that illegal immigration is a legitimate fix to Social Security’s problems. It is another reminder, however, of the nation’s complex relationship with undocumented workers. Would the people who want to deport all undocumented workers be willing to make up the difference and pay the taxes that the undocumented are currently paying? It is also a reminder of Social Security’s dynamism. As society and the economy evolve, so does the system, responding not only to changes in immigration and fertility, but also in wage growth and other variables. As such, it is adaptable to the 21st century, if only the political will can be found to champion the necessary changes. Those include modest tax increases and moderate benefit cuts that could be phased in over decades — provided the country gets started soon.