Bringing the Marginalized into Conversations about American Raciality - Erin Kane - Keely Gaeta - Emily Norris

“YELLOW PERIL” AND COMMUNISM

IN THE UNITED STATES, THE CONCEPT OF THE “YELLOW PERIL” HAS BEEN A CHARACTERIZATION OF THE REPRESENTATION OF ASIAN PEOPLE. THIS NOTION HAS UNDERSCORED MANY IMMIGRATION POLICIES IN THE UNITED STATES BUT HAS CONTRIBUTED TOMANY POORLY CONCEIVED NOTIONS OF ASIAN PEOPLE. THE “YELLOW PERIL” POSITIONS EAST ASIA AND THOSE COMING FROM EAST ASIA, AS A FOREIGN THREAT TO THE U.S. AND ITS REPRESENTATIVE IDEOLOGIES OF FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, AND INDIVIDUALISM. IT CONVEYS THAT THINGS THAT COME FROM THE EAST ARE UNKNOWN, FOREIGN ,AND ARE UNREPRESENTATIVE OF THE IDEOLOGIES THAT THE UNITED STATES HOLDS. THIS NOTION OF THE “YELLOW PERIL” SHOWS ITSELF IN MANY WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE COLDWAR ERA PEOPLE IN THE U.S. BEGAN TO SHIFT THEIR CONCEPTIONS OF WHO WERE THE “BAD ASIANS” ANDWHOWERE THE “GOOD ASIANS”. THIS CONCEPT OF THE GOOD AND BAD ASIAN WAS CONSTANTLY CHANGING OVER TIME DEPENDING ON THE ANXIETY THAT THE U.S. WAS TRYING TO RESOLVE AT THE TIME, SUCH AS WARS THAT WERE GOING ON. IN THE COLDWAR ERA, MANY PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES FOUND IT IMPORTANT TO DISTINGUISH JAPANESE PEOPLE FROM CHINESE PEOPLE SINCE AT THAT TIME, JAPAN WAS A JUNIOR PARTNER TO THE U.S. WHILE CHINA POSED A THREAT DUE TO ITS COMMUNIST REGIME. PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING TO DEEM JAPANESE PEOPLE AS

THE “MODEL MINORITY” INSTEAD OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE. THIS IS BECAUSE YOU CANNOT HAVE A MODEL MINORITY WITHOUT A PROBLEMMINORITY. THIS CONCEPT ALSO APPLIED TO THE BLACK COMMUNITY AS WE SEE IN MOYNIHAN’S REPORT.

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