Sociology

Abstract
The history of the United States is one fraught with the mass migration of different groups of people seeking a better life than what their native countries had to offer. Many of these groups came without nary an idea on what the new country had to offer, both benefits and problems. Many came to avoid the persecutions in their own countries, trying to carve their own small niches in the new country. One of these groups came from the land of the rising sun, Japan. How has this group fared in America and how did they try to find their place under the American sun.

1. Briefly summarize the history of that group in this country, and the dominant groups response to their presence.
The first traces of Japanese coming over to the United States began in the middle of 1869, when the initial group pf settlers came to America, the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm colony under the  auspices of John Schnell, came to Cold Hill, El Dorado County. By the fall of the same year, more settlers came to the colony. The immigrants came bearing with them, mulberry trees, silk cocoons, bamboo roots, tea plants and a host of other agricultural products. In the census undertaken in 1870, a total of 55 Japanese were found to be residing in the United States, with 33 living in the state of California, and 22 of those residing in the Gold Hill area. But within a few years after the colony was established, the colonists left the area, the agricultural area a dismal failure (National Park Service, 2004).

In another census taken a decade later, the number of Japanese residing in the state of California increased from the 33 in 1870 to more than 80, 148 spread throughout the United States. Many of these were believed to be students, or illegal Japanese immigrants and laborers, since Japan did not allow laborers to leave their country, only after an agreement signed by the government of Japan and the sugar plantations  in Hawaii did the country did the county allow their laborers to leave for the United States. Many used Hawaii as a jump off point to gain entry to the American mainland. By 1890, or two decades from the original census, 2,038 Japanese were living inside the United States, 1,114 in California alone (National, 2004).

2. Compare and contrast that groups characteristics and sense of identity with those ascribed to them by the mainstream. Many of the traits that the mainstream society assigned to the minority group are believed to be misplaced in assigning the group as a successful minority group. The Issei, or the second generation Japanese, must be given due credit and admiration in their striving against the fierce and often times, amplified instances of racial discrimination, inclusive of the forced detention of more than 120,000 American citizens and permanent residents that happened to be of Japanese lineage.  But critics of the  model minority  vacillate against American society for not creating a level field for assimilation for all races, thus protesting the success of the Japanese Americans in their assimilation into the mainstream American society. Their protests seem to underlie the continuing racism that is being experienced by the Japanese Americans in American society, as they are of the belief that the decrease in the visible signs of racism since the 2nd World War that hides the hate and discrimination in  white  America (Lon Kurashige, 2002).

Erasing or even just blurring the lines that separate Japanese Americans and African Americans  results in the creation of a narrow view of the chronology of the minority as a procedure in which success or failure is defined. The Japanese American minority have continued to be the victim of racism, sharing a common bind with the other racial minorities in the United States. That the Japanese Americans have been the victim of racial prejudice in an institutionalized manner  that is visible before the onset of the 2nd World War  will make the study of their response to the racism in the way that the slaves did tempting (Kurashige, 2002).

But it must be stated that the conditions of the Japanese Americans on the West Coast paralleled the experiences of the African Americans in the southern United States. Both the Issei and the Nisei, or the children born to Japanese immigrants, were in situations that possessed the cultural, political and economic elements that they utilized in warding off domination by the mainstream society. Possessing both free immigrants and citizenship status, the Japanese American minority were able to resist the assumptions placed upon them by the hegemonic institution about their racial traits through the avenues of print media, public events, Nisei Week, for example, legal actions, and official forums with government and military officials, even during the time that they forcibly interned in relocation camps. Also, the minority had the benefit as the representatives of a strong country (Kurashige, 2002).

3. Describe the groups primary strategy or strategies for carving their niche in American society (i.e., assimilation, accommodation, separatism, or radicalism), and the dominant groups responses to those strategies.

The prevailing perspective of the minority is that entrapment, caught between the accepted centuries old ways of their ethnic heritage and the ultra modern realities of the American way of life. Feeling like second class citizens, these  marginal men  as they called themselves, began to believe that the means to resolve their lack of an identity was to abandon their Japanese heritage to carve the niche that the minority wanted to gain the mainstream of American society. The story seems all too familiar children born in the United States wanting to assimilate into the dominant society they find themselves in trying to free themselves, slowly and of their own volition, from the heritage that they feel has hindered the ascent of their group into the societal mainstream. In the opinion of historian Roger Daniels, the minority is no more different than that of white men. The difference in the experience of Japanese Americans is the factor of racism, delaying their ingress into the diverse American society that included the immigrants coming from the European continent (Kurashige, 2002).

Many Americans in the era before the 2nd World War thought of the Japanese as capable of the treachery that is only reserved for traitors to the country that had accommodated them into the mainstream, albeit at a grudging pace.  Many Japanese arrived in the United States only to be shocked at an altogether foreign cultural structure, and the ascension of Japan into a world power did not aid in the easing of the fears of the Japanese  Americans. As the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor reached the homes of Americans, the fear turned into a hateful and threatening paranoid experience. But to say that the Japanese were out to take advantage of the situation is a far cry from the prevalent situation in that time (James Olson, Heather Olson Beal, 2010).

Many Japanese Americans in that era had incomes that were far more than the national average. Incidents of criminality, delinquency, marital problems and poverty were less evidenced in the minority than the national averages. The practice of the Japanese Americans to care for their elderly, infirm and impoverished were traits that were unrivaled in the United States. In the campaign to forcibly relocate them in the conduct of the war, the   minority only carried what they could carry into the concentration camps. Doctors lost their precious apparatus, lawyers lost their whole libraries, farmers lost their land, and many others lost their means of livelihood in the  desire of America to address its paranoia in the war (Olson, Olson, 2010).

In a more recent revision of the problem of assimilation of Japanese Americans into the American mainstream, the advocates anchor their debate on the history of Japanese American minority relations with the hegemony pre- 2nd World War. Many of this school of thought believed that the Nisei were forced into assimilate into the dominant culture since possessing an alternative identity bought them persecution and discrimination. As some wanted to abandon their identity willfully, some of them did not voluntarily give up their identity. In the opinion of Jere Takahashi, the ambivalence can be traced to digressing perspectives in politics. In his observation, those that favor assimilation, citing the Japanese American Citizens League Council, or JACL, have thrown themselves their allegiance to the United States and the culture in their country, while some of the Nisei and the Kibei, Americans who grew up in Japan, placed assimilation in the back burner, rather placing a premium on politics of labor than on assimilation (Kurashige, 2002).

4. Discuss the degree to which the minority group has (and had) a cohesive identity.
The Japanese Issei, though in the midst of a  struggle to carve a niche for themselves in mainstream American society, strove to strengthen their ties to their native homeland, and to impart to their children the traditions and customs. Refused citizenship in the United States due to their race, they instead formed the chapters of the Japanese Association of America, with the intent of maintaining formal relations with Japan, to challenge laws of discrimination, and to provide collective aid and activities for their members. Baseball games gathered Nisei and Issei from two generations and the communities of Japanese Americans form across the Northwestern United States. Japanese Americans also sought to ease tensions with their mainstream neighbors by way of educational activities via the promotion of their culture, trade and ethnic background (Washington State University Vancouver).

The experience of the Japanese Americans can be differentiated from other ethnic groups, from Jews for example, in that the Jews had a long history of living in countries since the Diaspora the Japanese on the other hand, had never felt the need to leave their country. The seclusion imposed during the Edo period in the country only served to strengthen this strong ties to their ethnic identity. But in the emigration of the Japanese to Hawaii, many of them were ready to remove what tied them to their country. The Issei, the first generation who left for the Hawaii, still were immersed in their traditions but the second generation Nisei were trying hard to attain full American acceptance into the mainstream, and the attendant citizenship (Ben-Ami Shillony, 1995). 5. Analyze how and why the subordinated and dominant groups adopted these particular strategies. What inaccurate stereotypes does the dominant group tend to have about the minority, and vice versa Use the conceptual and theoretical tools of the course and your outside sources to clarify and enrich your analysis.

In the theory of absolutism, there exists two basic types of human conduct. One is that humans are good and proper, and the other is the complete opposite, that humans are ingrained with evil and immorality. In the absolutist definition, people are only good or bad. Thus, this creates the stereotypes that one sector attaches to the behavior of another, though no effort has been made to explore the sectors defining characteristics. In a study of juvenile arrests in the Seattle area, ethnic stereotypes resulted in the overestimation of African American involvement in crime while underestimating the same for juveniles of Japanese Americans. In the reliance of absolutists theories in the deviant characteristics for a specific ethnic group, this will inevitably lead to inaccurate views of the social problems for that sector (David Newman, 2006).

In the context of Japanese Americans, these inaccurate stereotypes led to the legislation of such laws that banned the minority from entering public places such as clubs, eating places and other facilities. The  Yellow Peril  led many of the actions against the Japanese immigrants in the era and worked for the banning of interracial marriages and that racism decreased the opportunities of the minority in gaining an education, housing and job opportunities, and alien land statutes that threatened agricultural progress (Answers, 2010). Many Americans are still opposed to the concept of intermarriage, so much that in a 1972 survey stated that more than 60 of Americans opposed marriages between a white American and non whites (Gary Crester, Joseph Leon,  1982).

In the racist society that is the United States, the color of the skin of an individual is more of a significant factor than educational attainment or diligence and industriousness. In the opinion of Robert Blauner, racism is the final element of colonization. The group that considers itself as the superior will want to dominate the inferior group, whether that inferiority be in biological or other circumstances. Unlike Italians or Poles, Japanese Americans bear that difference with the mainstream society on their faces. He just cannot change the way heshe speaks or acts and expect to blend into the mainstream of American life. The question here is whether in spite of the hindrances before them, do they still choose to assimilate into the dominant society. In the short period of emigration, the Issei or second generation of Japanese, moved en masse in the society. The Nisei, though younger in demographics, moved away from the values of their elders. But it is the Sansei, the third generation, who married in large numbers to white partners as they were the most liberated from the rampant discriminatory practices that plagued their forefathers in the United States (Crester, Leon, 1982).

The issue that the Japanese Americans were probable spies for their mother country arose from a report of Congressman Martin Dies, that a majority of Japanese Americans lived within the vicinity of major American defense resources. But in a report released by the United States department of Justice, though there were some in the minority that were supportive of the attack, on the whole, the majority of them were loyal to the United States. The report was correct except for one major flaw, the order of the sentences. To accommodate the fears of Americans against the minority, the report stated that Japanese Americans took up residence in areas that they can spy on defense facilities and report the information to their mother country. The report should stated that the United States government erected these facilities where a high concentration of Japanese Americans were already residing (University of California, 2007).

6. Discuss and evaluate the personal and group consequences of this minority status for both the subordinated and dominant groups.
In the debate between the advocates between retentionist and assimilationist, the debate is centered on the issue of accepting the traits and customs of the adopted culture of their country, the United States. Retentionist advocates err in their declaration that Japanese Americans have thrown off any American ideals, the concept of patriotism, adaptation and opportunities in the American system. But assimilationist theory that the minority moved on in forging a reality that is color blind is also wrong. The Japanese Americans won that niche in society by reworking the racism and bias that was being used to harass and denigrate them and use it as a tool that instead of harming them, serves the collective interest of the group (Kurashige, 2002).

7. Discuss specific types of prejudice and discrimination directed toward the minority group.
Many of  the Issei saw the opportunities in the United States as a way of uplifting their economic status. As they spread throughout the Northwest to offer their services in the American farms, they harbored the dream of one day owning their own farms in the future. But despite the efforts put in by the Issei through the early parts of the 20th century, jealousy and discrimination soon reared its ugly head, similar to the envy against the earlier Chinese immigrants. Citizens in such areas as Mountain Home, Caldwell and Nampa in Idaho forcibly threw out Japanese workers in their area, and white supremacists in Portland threatened Japanese workers working on the rail roads (Vancouver).

8. Examine and evaluate the minority groups strategy for advancing within the larger societys opportunity structure.
By the end of the 2nd World War, the agitations of the American society had significantly died down, mainly due to the efforts of Japanese American Citizens League that fought against, among others, the ratification of a law endorsing the seizure of land held  illegally  by Japanese. The JACL used the media to remind the public of the contributions of the Nisei in the War. The 442nd Infantry Combat Team, stationed in Europe in the War was comprised primarily of Nisei volunteers, earned the distinction of being the most awarded unit in the United States Armed Forces for bravery. Education was slowly opened to the minority, as colleges and universities began to open their doors to Japanese Americans (Answers, 2010).

The GI bill in the United States was also extensively utilized by the minority for minority veterans to gain an education, gaining a consistent growth in the number of professionals in the labor market. As the number of Japanese American professionals began to rise, family incomes also rose in parallel, as opposed to the poverty and the incarceration that the minority experienced during the War. They rose with the praise of American commentators, praising not only their determination to lift their status, but that the dominant traits of the minority resembled the dominant traits that were in the mainstream society. In the early parts of the 1960s, Japanese Americans held more college and high school diploma holders than in any other minority in the United States. The rise of the Japanese skilled workers-dedicated, hard working, willing to work long hours-gave rise to the preference of these types of workers to immigrate to the United States under the 1965 Immigration Act (Answers, 2010).

9. Evaluate the relative success of these strategies, compare and contrast them with other appropriate groups, and argue whether another approach might be more successful, especially given the possible differences in culture, ethics, and goals between the minority and majority groups. Justify and support your conclusions.

Many of the Japanese Americans in the United States have been hindered by their own wishes to triumph in the predominantly white society. They sought to win against the society using the same tools and policies that the society crafted to subjugate them, destroying these not by the infringement of the laws of the land but by the destruction of the stereotypes and the mediocrity that has been expected of them or set by the white society. For example, the model of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis smashed notions of African American stereotypes that were placed against the members of his ethnic group. They would persist in the removal of these stereotypes to make the whites see that they can overcome and exceed what has been traditionally set for them to achieve, which is mediocrity (Kurashige, 2002).

Using the foundations set in the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s, Japanese Americans forced the United States government to reconsider the policies in the last war to incarcerate their fellow Japanese in  relocation  camps. As a result of the actions of these Japanese American activists, the political arena began to roil under the pressure bought about by these groups, resulting the enactment of the 1987 Civil Restoration Act. This law forced the government of the United States to officially recognize the malfeasance of  government prosecutors and their misguided zeal, and directing the government to officially apologize and compensate every surviving  prisoner  in the amount of 20,000 (Answers, 2010).

Using comparative analysis, some researchers aver that the Japanese Americans did not encounter the restrain in  their struggle, as opposed to that of the immigrants coming from the European mainland. This was adduced to the group survival traditions ingrained in the Japanese rather than the preservation of individualistic beliefs and pursuits, a common tenet in American and European societies.  As opposed to the individualistic tenets and pursuits of American society,  the Japanese put a high premium on duty, structure and collective decision making. But even with these stark contrasts in beliefs, Japanese Americans have been able to assimilate better than any other ethnic minority. The belief in consistent adherence to their ethnic origins, as well as  a dedication on leading peaceful and productive lives, remain as the key components of the strengths of the Japanese American community in the United States (Answers, 2010). 10. Explain how specific social scientific theories and research helps you to draw these conclusions. Why (Answered in 5). 11. Discuss the prospects for this group over the next two decades. Defend and justify your conclusions. What shared strategies and individual decisions would help guide this group in the most generally useful and beneficial direction Defend and justify your conclusions.

In the future, the aspect that there will be minorities in the United States will be a thing of the past. With the increasing rates of marriages between minorities and members of the dominant society, there will be instance that there will be exceptional individuals coming from the various minorities, the likes of a Tiger woods, Norah Jones and Keanu Reeves (United States Department of State). In the opinion of the leadership of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the push for the future is to focus on the increasing members of the organization in terms of regional domicile, interaction with other Japanese Americans and that with members of the white society. The JACL must acquiesce itself with the increasing consciousness of the members wit regards to people of color and an apathy to their own ethnic struggles (Japanese American Citizens League, 2009).