Japan and the California ProblemIyenaga, T. (Toyokichi)
History
Japan and the California Problem
Iyenaga, T. (Toyokichi)
Japan -- Emigration and immigration; Japanese -- California
Japanese Governments. The difficulty could, of course, be overcome if the
Japanese parents who are determined to stay permanently in this country
would take the necessary steps to expatriate their children as soon as
they are born, or at the proper time. The hesitation they have heretofore
manifested was greatly due to the uncertainty in which their future and
that of their children was shrouded.
We cannot omit to emphasize in this connection the part which America can
and has to perform. Of the numerous things America can do with profit we
believe the task of Americanizing the Japanese to be the foremost. We
wish to make it clear that, whether Japanese aliens are worthy or not,
their children born in America are in any case Americans, and it is
America's duty to make them worthy members of the nation. They are not
foreigners or aliens, and, accordingly, it is clearly wrong, as well as
unwise, to deal with them as if they were. Upon what we can do to guide
the rising generation depends the future of the Japanese problem in
America. This in turn must depend upon how America treats their parents.
Disappearing gradually as they are, they are bequeathing their impressions
and accomplishments to their children. Any generosity and kindness
extended to them are acts not so much of altruism as of vital interest in
the welfare of America herself, for they are the guardians of the
Republic's sons and daughters of Japanese blood.
It is certainly not fair to slander and maltreat those people, who were
originally brought in to fill the need of man-power and who have
contributed much towards making the Pacific Coast what it is to-day. To
prevent the influx of Japanese immigrants, to avoid the possible future
development of difficult problems with Japan, there certainly ought to be
some better means than gradually strangling the innocent people who
individually are in no way to be blamed for the present strained
relations on the Pacific Coast.
All these considerations lead us to a belief that the time is now ripe for
the American people, and especially for the people of California, to
reconstruct their attitude and policy towards the Japanese domiciled in
this country. Every indication seems to suggest that if, in place of the
discriminatory policy so far resorted to with no better effect than
general irritation, a new policy be initiated, a policy of constructive
Americanization based upon generosity, sympathy, and understanding, the
result will surely be far-reaching. It is a common fact of human
experience that one's attitude is directly responded to by other people
with whom we deal. It was Thackeray, we believe, who said that "the world
is like a looking-glass; if we smile, others also smile." What cannot be
achieved by a hostile policy is often easily and satisfactorily
accomplished by sympathetic attitude and friendly dealing. Give the
Japanese the opportunity and see what good use they will make of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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