final self reflection letter

Xinyu Shang

Reading journal week1

In the article Immigration and Livelihood, 1840s to 1930s, the key reason why the Asians moved to the United States was to look for jobs. The Asians were desperate for jobs and were ready to work even if they received low salaries. On the other hand, their employers loved the situation since they made a lot of profits. The first Asians to enter the United States made it through the Manila galleon trade. “An act for the governance of masters and servants” (Chan, 1991 p25). However, other communities felt as if the Asians brought competition, which could result in a reduction of job opportunities. Some of these were the Euro-Americans employees who saw the Asians as their competitors. Others were the nativists for all levels who were aggressive to them since they stopped them for restless reasons to prevent their coming.

Azuma Introduction tells that people who were born in Japan and later on shifted to America for studies had the right to express their views without any restrictions. Both the Tateishi and the Hoashi had not gotten a chance to become leaders in the Japenese colonist community, and they were not even recognized in America. “East is West West is East” (Azuma, 2005 p9). However, their routes were not highly valued compared to their expressions, especially during their times. These two communities had the capability of offering their shared predicament comprehensibly in public. Linking with the article on Mercantilists, Colonialists, and Laborers, the dilemma of these communities living through the claimed the separation for the East-West separation and linked binaries. The article also concentrates on the global history of Japanese immigrants and the procedure of creating the racial process. Additionally, the collective impacts of the organizational and figurative regulators control the experience of a marginal group that was viewed as a racial project. Chapter one talks about theoretical groups and how they are confusing. There was considerable confusion on whether the Japanese who relocated to the United States were there to colonize the U.S, or they had just come as immigrants. “Going to America” (Azuma, 2005 p23). The difficulty categorized the historical course of Japanese relocation to the United States as a varied nature of the early Issue community. It is clear that later on, after the Japanese had shifted to the United States, they implemented their capitalist economy, which brought more confusion concerning the issue of immigration and colonization. Therefore, this was one of the intercontinental histories of Japanese immigration in the American West, which brought about the contradiction issue.

On the Takaki talks about how the Chinese moved to one of the cities in the United States known as California. It happened to be a movement that had been formed by several people from various nations. These were inclusive of the Korean, Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese. “Cheap labor” (Takaki, 1993 p132) .They were supposed to shift to Hawaii, which was an American territory. All these came here to look for labor for them to make a living. They worked in an industry that produced sugar. Hawaii was very different from other states such as California in various perspectives, such as ethical wise. Chapter five speaks on how the Japanese finally settled in the United States in California to be specific. It also indicates the level of racism that the Japanese experienced while in the United States. A young man whose origin was Hawaai stated that he experienced how badly the Japanese were treated in California. “But I didn’t realize the situation until I had a real experience “(Takaki, 1993 p180). It was after he had gone to get a shave, and upon the barber realizing his nationality, he refused to attend to him and instead chased him out of his shape. The Japanese were also mistreated as laborers by receiving peanuts and having poor working conditions.