San Francisco Chronicle: 1905San Francisco Chronicle: 1905• CRIME AND POVERTY GO HAND IN HAND WITH ASIATIC

LABOR

• BROWN MEN ARE MADE CITIZENS ILLEGALLY

• JAPANESE MEN A MENACE TO AMERICAN WOMEN

• BROWN MEN AN EVIL IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

• THE YELLOW PERIL—HOW JAPANESE CROWD OUT THE WHITE RACE

• BROWN PERIL ASSUMES NATIONAL PROPORTIONS

Japanese Farm WorkersJapanese Farm Workers

• 1868: Meiji Restoration • 1882: only 86 Japanese in CA• 1890 quietly imported for sugar beet

production • Experienced farmers • Ideal migratory laborers• No opposition from any source

• New crops: rice, cantaloupes, berries, reclamation of waste lands

• 1904 Japanese owned 2,442 acres and leased over 50,000

• Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907• 1913: Alien Land Law

– 1870 Naturalization Act limits American citizenship to "white persons and persons of African descent," barring Asians from U.S. citizenship. 

• 1920: more stringent Alien Land Law

• Story of dairy farmers• Story of Dorothy

Punjabi Farm WorkersPunjabi Farm Workers

• Punjab province in India: many former military men

• 1910 arrive in IV for first commercial cotton crops

• Racism• Male colonies• Land owners• 1915 Jawala Ram

murdered in IV

1925: Story of Pakhar Singh’s 50K 1925: Story of Pakhar Singh’s 50K lettuce croplettuce crop

• Cheated by shippers• Verbal agreements• No longer had use of

courts• Murdered both

shippers by shooting and with an axe

• Cultural values

KKKKKK• Second KKK: 1920s• Urbanization,

industrialization, immigration• “100 percent Americanism”• 1915: Leo Frank, Birth of a

Nation• Blacks in South• 3-4 million members• 1921 operating in 45 states• Invested in political

campaigns for local and state offices

Birth of a NationBirth of a Nation Video Video (Clip 1 (Clip 1 and Clip 6)and Clip 6)

• two families in Civil War and Reconstruction-era America

• first motion picture to be shown in White House

Birth of a NationBirth of a Nation

• How is the KKK portrayed?– What are some reasons for this?

• How are black soldiers portrayed?• Did any scenes stand out?• What does this film say about racial views

in the U.S. during the early twentieth century?

The 1920sThe 1920s

• increasingly urban Mexican population

• Segregation • Poor living conditions• Mexicans as racially

inferior or culturally inferior

Slum-corrals built in 1913 in Texas and occupied continuously since then. Six outdoor Slum-corrals built in 1913 in Texas and occupied continuously since then. Six outdoor flush type toilets and one shower are provided for the more than one hundred people.flush type toilets and one shower are provided for the more than one hundred people.

Entire family groups move from Texas to Wyoming for work in the sugar beet fields. En Entire family groups move from Texas to Wyoming for work in the sugar beet fields. En route at San Angelo, Texas.route at San Angelo, Texas.

Ben Cortez, who had been in bed at home with tuberculosis for four months. 8,000 cases Ben Cortez, who had been in bed at home with tuberculosis for four months. 8,000 cases of tuberculosis in the county; there are only twenty beds in the county tuberculosis of tuberculosis in the county; there are only twenty beds in the county tuberculosis

sanitarium, which is designed to supplement the state sanitarium—at which there is a sanitarium, which is designed to supplement the state sanitarium—at which there is a long waiting list. Corpus Christi, Texas. (1949)long waiting list. Corpus Christi, Texas. (1949)

San Antonio, TX 1930sSan Antonio, TX 1930s

San Antonio. Mexican San Antonio. Mexican neighborhood, 1930s neighborhood, 1930s

Health IssuesHealth Issues

• High infant mortality• Well baby clinics• Racial inferiority

blamed• Racist stereotypes

EducationEducation

• The IQ test • Tracking • Segregation in schools • Racism and education • No-Spanish rule • Vela v. Board of Trustees • Capitalism and

segregation

1919: El Paso Laundry Strike1919: El Paso Laundry Strike• Laundry Workers’ Union

– Isabella and Manuela Hernandez• American Federation of Labor

– International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers

• Dual wage system ($4-$6 per week)

• 200 women strike---total of 600 including sympathy strikers

• Surplus labor• Union consciousness,

community solidarity