Discrimination Against Success and Fear.

             Asian Americans, specifically the Japanese Americans, have undergone severe discrimination as a result of their immigration into the American culture. This has occurred through many instances of Japanese prejudice and stereotyping in the areas of immigration, hate crimes, education, and employment. Although Japanese Americans have been successful in establishing themselves into the American culture, they still remain victims of racist discrimination.

             As the Japanese began migrating to the US mainland, they became victims of numerous accounts of racism from whites. This occurred between 1880s and the 1920s where over 250,000 Japanese migrated to the US. There were numerous reasons fueling the Japanese migration including those who came under labor contract as well as those who came on their own free will in hopes of gaining economic prosperity. Many immigrants were employed in various jobs ranging from mining to shop keeping. (F&F p.383) This increase in migration of the Japanese into the American labor force laid the foundation for the basis of discrimination towards the Japanese. .

             Although many employers favored the idea of Japanese contract labor, many labor unions and American workers opposed this influx of Japanese labor. This was the primary result of a fear that Japanese workers would steal jobs of American workers, becoming a "competitive threat."(F&F p.383) These fears influenced numerous white groups to protest, pushing for the exclusion of the Japanese. These groups included the American Legion and the California Farm Bureau Association. As a direct result of these protests, Congress passed the 1924 Immigration act which excluded the immigration of Japanese. These new regulations were harsh and even excluded Japanese Americans already living in the United States from being able to bring their wives and other family members to the US.