Honestly what I learned from the readings and video is not surprising at all. It pretty much just supported what I already knew about how exclusive America was (not just legally, but also socially) for a long period of time. In ‘Ozawa and Thind’, it is pretty clear that being white was the gold standard. The fact that Ozawa had to constantly fight over the fact that he isn’t ‘caucasian’ in order to gain citizenship is pretty ridiculous. Why in the world was a person’s skin color at all relevant in becoming a citizen? As Ozawa writes, he also had to prove that he was a ‘fully assimilated’ American in order to gain favor in the court. He discusses how to do this he had to prove that he has no affiliation with any Japanese organizations or communities whatsoever. I think a lot of the difficulty Japanese immigrants had obtaining citizenship (such as having to fill out loyalty questionnaires) comes mostly from the U.S. government’s fear of foreign governments. While I don’t necessarily agree with what they did, in a way I understand that they didn’t really know what to do to keep their country safe so they ended up implementing all these roadblocks.
Also, while Lopez does mention how Europeans had a much easier path to citizenship, as she says “Japanese immigrants shared much in common with their European counterparts, yet every European immigrant group regardless of national origin, had the right of naturalization and precisely because they possessed it no matter how beleaguered they were”, I wouldn’t say they were completely in the clear. There was still plenty of social disdain for specific groups of European immigrants, like the very common anti-Irish sentiments.
I think anybody should be able to become a U.S. citizen, at least socially. What it really means is to just live here and abide by the laws. If you live, work, and pay taxes here, you’re just as American as someone whose family has been here for 5 generations. Obviously skin color is not something that matters whatsoever.
Hey Jacob, I agree with you how anyone here who lives works and pay taxes should be considered a citizen as you are contributing to the American economy, while also assimilating yourself into the American culture. Ones skin color, race, or ethnicity should never play a role into why they should be considered a citizen or not, especially when they are very hardworking.
Hi Jacob,
I think you are correct. Just as in today’s society, there are still many white people who feel that white people in the world they live in will always be superior to other races of color. In addition, I think you are right. People of any color can become American citizens without being discriminated against as long as they abide by the law and perform their civic duties.