ng kept itself withdrawn from the larger community in fear of disapproval, it was very possible to make the American public believe anything (Christgau 13). The stereotype of the Oriental of sly intent was rekindled and exploited in such a manner that Chinese Americans began wearing “I am a Chinese” buttons in fear of being assaulted (Nakano 42). The tactics used in manipulating public fears were hardly different from those used to achieve the cutoff in Chinese immigration in 1882 and in bringing a halt to all Japanese immigration in 1924 (Weglyn 36). Like the Chinese before them, the immigrant Japanese were denied the right to become American citizens. Because they lacked this right of naturalization, they could not own land (Weglyn 37). Even the leasing of land was limited by a 1913 land law to three years. But the Issei (first generation Japanese) found ways to get around such laws devised to drive the Orientals away from the California area. It was a popular practice by the Issei to purchase property in the names of their citizen offspring (Weglyn 38). The Japanese Americans consisted of three different groups. The Issei, who were first generation Japanese, were for the most part very simple people whose age group was largely 55 to 65 years of age. The Nisei, or the second generation Japanese, in spite of the discrimination against them still showed an eagerness to become Americans.They were in a constant conflict with the older Issei’s lifestyles. They aged from 1 to 30 years old. The Sansei was the third group of Japanese. They were the Japanese babies born in America (Uchida 21). Because of the racist naturalization laws, the Issei and other first-generation Asian Americans were not allowed to become citizens until the 1950’s (Christgau 87). Most second-generation Japanese Americans, being the Nisei, did not become old enough to vote until the 1940’s, and the World War II ...
