1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff Lauren Boble Bam here. As anti Asian 3 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: hate crimes have surged in the United States, Asian American 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: scholars and activists have responded by speaking out about their stories, 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: which have often been overlooked in textbooks. For the article 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke with 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: Gary Okahiro, Professor Emeritus of International and Public Affairs at 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: Columbia University, an author of Margins and Mainstreams Asians in 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: American History and culture. He said, there are so many 10 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 1: stereotypes and myths about Asians in America and they really 11 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: need to be disabused. According to the census results, twenty 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: three million Asian Americans in the United States can trace 13 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: their ancestry to more than twenty countries, and many of 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: these individuals have roots in the US that span decades 15 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: and even centuries. But Asian immigrants were denied citizenship for 16 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: much of American history. Their American born children were granted citizenship, 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: but they themselves couldn't even apply. This dates back to 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: the seventeen ninety Nationality Act, which limited citizenship to only 19 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:19,959 Speaker 1: quote free white persons. But after World War One, many people, 20 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: including Asian Americans, were seeking citizenship through the courts by 21 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: demonstrating that they were white. Two of the most notable 22 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,639 Speaker 1: were Begot Singh Thinned, a seek immigrant from the Indian 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: subcontinent who served in the U. S. Army, and Tokao Ozawa, 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: an immigrant from Japan who had lived in the US 25 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 1: for twenty years. Both appealed to the Supreme Court on 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: racial grounds. Ozawa argued in nineteen twenty two that he 27 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: was white because he had adopted American culture. Then Thinned 28 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: argued in nineteen twenty three that he was Caucasian because 29 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: he grew up in the Caucus Mountains. The Court denied 30 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: both Thinned and Ozawa's citizenship based on race, yet their 31 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: challenges show how Asian Americans resisted laws that limited their naturalization, 32 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: believing that they were entitled to their full rights as Americans. Thinned, 33 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: who had served in the army, eventually was granted citizenship 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty six when a bill was passed providing 35 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: citizenship to anyone who would serve. But it wasn't until 36 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: the Immigration and Nationality Act of nineteen fifty two that 37 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: every Asian immigrant finally became eligible for citizenship under the 38 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: law of the land. Okahira said, Asians were not immigrants 39 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: like Europeans, and unlike Europeans, were never intended to be 40 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: citizens of this country by the founders of this nation. 41 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: But despite all that, they stayed, and they made laws 42 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: for them, and their children became American. Another battleground for 43 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: rights took place during World War Two. Following the bombing 44 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: of Pearl Harbor, the U. S Government began to fear 45 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: that Japanese Americans were enemy agents of Japan, even though 46 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: two thirds of Japanese Americans were American citizens. According to Okahiro, 47 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: there was no evidence to support these claims, and decades later, 48 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan would declare internment a mistake based solely on race, 49 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: implicitly recognizing that these fears were rooted in racism, but 50 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: at the time. As a result, the government ordered a 51 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty thousand Japanese Americans to leave their homes 52 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: and relocate to internment camps under Executive Order nine zero 53 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: six six issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and as 54 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: the war progressed, the government began seeking Japanese Americans from 55 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: the camps to serve in the U. S. Army. The 56 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: government presented residents in the camps with a loyalty questionnaire. 57 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: Two questions Questions twenty seven and twenty eight were particularly controversial, 58 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: asking Japanese Americans if they would renounce any loyalty to 59 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: Japan and serve in the U. S. Military. About six thousand, 60 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: seven hundred individuals, including a fair number of second generation 61 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: Japanese American men, who became known as the No No Boys, 62 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: answered no to both questions, and by answering no, they 63 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: challenged the U. S. Government for depriving them of their 64 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: rights and treating them as enemies. O'cahiro said the No 65 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: Nos were responding to this illegal confinement of them. There 66 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: was no reason given for their mass confinement. There was 67 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: no justification for holding citizens within those camps. For their refusal, 68 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 1: the No No Boys were incarcerated in a federal penitentiary 69 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: at Fort Leavensworth for the duration of the war. According 70 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: to Oka Hero, who argues that their defiance showed they 71 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,719 Speaker 1: were true Americans. He said, but what they were trying 72 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: to do was to have the US live up to 73 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: its constitution and the promises afforded to all citizens. If 74 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: that's not patriotism. I don't know what is beyond both 75 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: of those examples. Filipino amer Gins played a key role 76 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: in the labor movement in the US. Filipinos comprised the 77 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,000 Speaker 1: third largest group of Asian Americans. The Manila Galleon Trade 78 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: brought indentured Filipino workers to Mexico, from where they eventually 79 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: made their way to California, Louisiana and beyond. Additionally, Filipino 80 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: indentured workers, along with Chinese and Japanese workers, were brought 81 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: to provide labor to sugar plantations in Hawaii and on 82 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: the West Coast. Okay Hero said, Now, these workers who 83 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: came to Hawaii and to the West Coast, over time 84 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,239 Speaker 1: they began to see that they might want to stay 85 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 1: here in the US. And when they did that, they 86 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: began to demand rights. That led to the formation of unions, 87 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: with Filipino farm workers like Larry eat Leon and Philip 88 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: Vera Cruz. Banding together with Mexican civil rights activists Caesar 89 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: Chavez and Delora's Worth, the two boycott non union grape 90 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: growers in the Delano Grape Stripe. Thus the United farm 91 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: Workers Movement was born. Leaders like it Leong went up 92 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: and down the coast, from the fields of California to 93 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,479 Speaker 1: salmon canning industries in Alaska to organize workers. Okay Hero said, 94 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: this is an amazing thing because agricultural workers were never 95 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: organized by unions until Asians and Mexicans got together and 96 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:28,760 Speaker 1: formed those agricultural unions. Today's episode is based on the 97 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: article five things about Asian American history they don't teach 98 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: in school on how stuff works dot Com, written by 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: Terry Yard Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart 100 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,040 Speaker 1: Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com, and 101 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts from My 102 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 103 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.