Victimized Twice 1 of 4

Victimized Twice:

The Stockholm Syndrome, Kibei, and the Model Minority in America’s Concentration Camps

            

Part 1 of 4:  Self-hatred; Model Minority; Proving Loyalty

Soon after the United State entered World War II in 1941, all American citizens of Japanese ancestry were classified as 4-C (aliens) for military service and disqualified from service. This was a classic, egregious example of racial profiling.  In 1943, the federal government reversed this decision and ultimately began drafting young Japanese American citizens from the concentration camps they and their families had been falsely imprisoned in.  What were the choices for these Japanese American fighting-age men living in American concentration camps in 1943?  Two simple choices coexisted: 1) go fight for the country that wronged you; or 2) stand up for your rights as an American citizen, protest the injustice of the illegal forced removal and incarceration, and resist military service until justice was done.  Which course of action was the true “American” choice?  This simple question drove an enduring schism into the Japanese American community.  I would personally witness this schism at the 2009 Tule Lake Pilgrimage, more than 60 years after the decisions had been made.

The first choice, to willingly go fight for the American military to prove your loyalty was the choice embraced by the hyper-loyal factions of the Japanese American community including the Japanese American Citizen League (JACL).  JACL president Mike Masaru Masaoka who preached safely from Salt Lake City, an area removed and insulated from direct insult and injustice of forced removal and illegal incarceration, vehemently promoted this course of action.  Mike Masaoka advocated for the creation of Japanese American suicide troops who would spearhead attacks for the (white) American army.  Mike felt that this dedication to die for America would, beyond any doubt, prove the loyalty of all Japanese Americans.  There are so many elements wrong with this type of thinking, not the least of which is the self-hatred and self-loathing inherent in the concept.  This first option, to fight to prove you were an American, tacitly acknowledged and concurred the racist judgment against and illegal actions toward the Japanese Americans.

This first choice created the specter of the “model minority.”  The term “model minority” was coined in 1966 by William Petersen in his essay called "Success Story: Japanese American Style."  The down-side to this success is the requirement for a “model minority” group to remain deaf, dumb, and blind to institutional injustices heaped upon them.  The “model minority” paradigm required quiet and obedient compliance of the minority with whatever is asked of them by the racist elements of the people who govern them.  The reward for the “model minority” is assimilation.  The costs for Japanese Americans in adopting the “model minority” paradigm is two-fold: 1) the acceptance that their ethnic differences are not up to standards for inclusion in American society, and 2) a festering injury of self-loathing.     

Chad Montreaux

Newell, CA