Although Asian Americans enjoy the image of a "successful minority," they also have endured hardships and prejudices. This report traces the history of the Japanese and Chinese experience in the United States. Some similarities are discernible in the immigration patterns of the two ethnic populations. The first wave of immigrants…

This lesson, for grades 7-12, correlates with Era 8, Standard 3c of the National History Standards for United States History: "evaluate the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and assess the implication for civil liberties." The lesson provides background on the internment of Japanese Americans during the war and…

Discusses the history and current status of the long-time Southern California community base of Japanese Americans, Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district. Focuses on the role that Los Angeles' urban renewal agency, the Community Redevelopment Agency, has played in that community. (Author/JM)

Discusses a process used for teaching about the Japanese relocation camps of World War II. Suggests methods for helping students to understand the events being studied: (1) link the event to students' lives; (2) provide background for understanding; (3) analyze the event; and (4) apply the concept-transfer. Includes a letter as a primary source…

Discusses racism, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and belated redress by the U.S. government. Traces the experiences of one typical family. Comments that bias against Asian Americans was common before the war. Concludes that recognition of this history of racism is necessary to combat present resentment of Asian…

This paper reviews the results of a survey of institutions of higher education which offer coursework focusing on Japanese Americans and emphasizes the program in Japanese American Studies at San Francisco State University. The results showed a distribution of twenty-eight courses offered at fifteen institutions in California, Washington and…

Relates the use of a period "Life" magazine article to teach students about the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Recounts how the article about local prejudice prompted students to critically examine the policy of internment. Provides excerpts from the article and subsequent letters to the editors. (DSK)

This document is a study guide to "The Face of War," an exhibition of documents and photographs from the vast World War II holdings of the National Archives. This brochure contains reproductions of selected documents from the exhibit as well as discussion questions. The guide can be used by individuals, families, or school groups while…

Argues that if the concept of cultural pluralism is to be advanced with more success than the "melting pot" myth, the role of Asian Americans must be acknowledged, analyzed, and incorporated into the curriculum content of educational institutions at all levels of instruction. (Author/JM)

In February 1942 (two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii) President Franklin Roosevelt, as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066 to relocate all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and aliens, inland and away from the Pacific military zone. The Order was to prevent espionage and to protect persons of Japanese descent…

Chinese immigration to the United States, which began around 1850, sparked strong anti-Asian sentiment and legal and economic restrictions upon these immigrants. Although some Chinese organizations helped immigrants, the overall response of the Chinese to systematic oppression was one of meekness and compliance. The Japanese began to immigrate to…

Challenges the view of Chinese and Japanese Americans as middlemen with its assumptions that Asian Americans are sojourners and unassimilable. Questions the equation of a middle class minority with a middleman minority, examining the roots of this myth in the relationship of Asian Americans to the White-Black racial dyad. (RDN)

Presents the history of the Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Focuses on issues such as Executive Order 9066, what happened to the Japanese Americans during the war, and the forms of resistance that occurred. Questions whether something like this could ever happen again. (CMK)

Provides the personal story of Masaye Nakamura. Focuses on her pursuit of higher education which coincided with the time when Japanese Americans were being evacuated and detained during World War II. Includes questions for the students to answer along with hypothetical answers for each question. (CMK)