Japan and the California ProblemIyenaga, T. (Toyokichi)
History
Japan and the California Problem
Iyenaga, T. (Toyokichi)
Japan -- Emigration and immigration; Japanese -- California
Here, Professor Castle touches on the important question involved; namely,
social inheritance. Indeed, human civilization is not all that is
contained in germplasm. Mankind developed and accumulated an elaborate
system of living conditions which operate independently of biological
processes. However wonderful a brain a child has, he will have to remain a
savage if he is born in a savage tribe of Africa or in a place where the
level of culture is extremely low. In discussing the possible effect of
intermarriage upon progeny, therefore, the cultural level of parents and
their environment must first of all be taken into consideration. It is
here that we find ground for opposition to intermarriage between Japanese
and Americans at present. With some marked exceptions, the cultural
standard attained by the mixed couples has on the whole been not of a very
high order. This is inevitable when we consider that intermarriage between
Japanese and Americans has not yet received full social sanction, thus
obstructing free play to the process of natural selection. Aside from the
purely biological consideration, this want of social approval of
intermarriage, with its concomitant, an unenviable social position of the
parents, results in an undesirable environment for the offspring.
The welfare of their progeny is not the only determining point of
intermarriage. Is it, then, sufficiently happy for the couple? Our
observations lead us to answer in the negative. To be sure, there are
cases of fortunate marriages in which it seems impossible for the couple
to be happier. But, on the whole, the husband and the wife often find it
difficult to harmonize their sentiments and ideals on account of different
antecedents. The inharmony seems to grow as the couple advance in age,
rendering their lives miserable. The greatest stumbling block, however,
seems to be economic. The Japanese in the United States who are engaged in
the ordinary walks of life are offered very little opportunities save in
farming on a small scale and in petty businesses. Regardless of their
ambition or ability, the Japanese cannot get what are considered in
America good positions. Hence, neither their positions nor incomes improve
very rapidly--perhaps no advance is made. Most American women are not
satisfied to follow a blind alley. They turn back and get a divorce.
Exceptional cases, of course, are found in the American-Japanese couples,
whose husbands have won distinction and wealth by extraordinary personal
ability or by scientific or literary attainments, or by representing great
firms of Japan.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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