Asian American Identity Prior to WWII

An important fact about the identity of Asian American subgroups in the U.S. prior to World War II is the nature of America during that period. Workers were needed for growing American industries. In the West, farmers and farm laborers were needed to fill out the wide open spaces. Thus many Asians were recruited to enter the country as low-cost laborers--mainly Hawaii and the states on the West Coast. They were expected to stay temporarily and then return to the Philippines (McWilliams ix). This was partly because of several anti-immigration laws barring permanent immigration to specific Asian groups. Thus temporary resident workers had no need to adapt to the "hurly burly" of American culture and life. Once they arrived in America, they could seek out and stay with communities of nationals from their home country. But as Bulosan says of leaving the Philippines (93), he planned to return home one day.

America was the golden promised land for millions throughout the world before World War II, a land where a man born in a log cabin could become president (Bulosan 69

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e Americans saw this as a threat. A major characteristic of these Asians was that they were laborers, often illiterate, and not skilled professionals. By the "Gentlemen's Agreement" between governments, immigration of Japanese laborers was limited, and by other laws and treaties immigration of other Asians was also limited. McWilliams also notes that Asian identity per se created discrimination because Asians of all kinds were barred from public facilities and equal access to housing. These elements point to white hostility toward Asians. The hostility increased with the Great Depression. Thus for entertainment, living, and social purposes, geographical clustering of Asian communities took place (McWilliams xii). The Filipino experience was a special identity case before World War II. At this time the Philippines were a U.S. possession, governed by U.S. laws, based on the outcome of the Spanish-American war. In practical terms, this meant that Filipino peasants of Bulosan's generation (he was born in 1913) were educated; Spanish rule had not done anything about educating peasants. Thus even if the Filipino immigrants were naive when they arrived in the U.S., they could read and write. Literacy did not prevent Filipino immigrant wo
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Approximate Word count = 1395
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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