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| FEBRUARY 19, 2017
7
After thewar, JapaneseAmericansworked to rebuild their communities
and address thediscrimination that led to their incarceration. Alien land
laws preventedAsian immigrants frompurchasing real estate, while
restrictive covenants keptmanyminorities confined tourbanghettos.
The JapaneseAmericanCitizens League andAfricanAmerican allies
together challenged these laws in theSupremeCourt, where theywere
struckdown as unconstitutional.
JapaneseAmericans benefitedgreatly from these andother victories of
the civil rightsmovement. Japanhad changed from enemy to ally as the
U.S. became fearful of the risingpower of communist nations likeChina
and theSoviet Union. No longer seen as a threat, able to access better
housing, jobs, and education, by the 1970s it looked as though Japanese
Americans had achieved the so-called “AmericanDream.”
Media reports focusedon that appearanceof success. The idea that
JapaneseAmericansworkedhard andnever complainedgrewpopular as
others becamemore vocal in their demands for equal rights. Politicians
used their recovery fromWorldWar II to claim that racism against blacks,
Latinos andNativeAmericanswas overstated.
Many JapaneseAmericans embraced this
myth as
a safeguard against further discrimination. But others pushedback,
particularly youngpeoplewho saw a connectionbetween their parents’
incarceration and the struggles of other groups. Student activists fought
for ethnic studies programs andbetter access to college education,
supported farmworker strikes against unfairworking conditions, and
protested theVietnamWar.
Despitebeing stereotyped as aquiet, well-behavedminority, Japanese
Americans eventuallybegan to call for
the rightingof awrong,
for theWorldWar II incarceration. In the 1980s, congress formally
acknowledged the “racial prejudice, wartimehysteria, and lackof
political leadership” that led to themass removal—andpaid
reparations to former inmates.
A ‘MODELMINORITY’?
REBUILDINGAFTERWORLDWAR II
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