Racial Struggle, Immigrant Nationalism, and Ethnic Identity: Japanese and Filipinos in the California Delta

Pacific Historical Review

Volumn 67, Issue 2, 1998, Pages 163-199

  Azuma, Eiichiro ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL HISTORY; ETHNIC IDENTITY; FILIPINO IMMIGRANTS; IMMIGRANT POPULATION; JAPANESE IMMIGRANTS; NATIONALISM; TWENTIETH CENTURY;

USA, CALIFORNIA;

EID: 0040827617     PISSN: 00308684     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3641561     Document Type: Article

References (160)

1. Nichibei Shimbun [Japanese American News], Feb. 10, 14, 1930; hereafter, Nichibei.
2. Shin Sekai [New World], Feb. 11, 12, 21, March 26, 27, 1930; Three Stars, Feb. 15, 1930. The quote is from the latter source.
3. Shin Sekai [New World], Feb. 11, 12, 21, March 26, 27, 1930; Three Stars, Feb. 15, 1930. The quote is from the latter source.
4. Nichibei, Feb. 15, 16, 18, 1930.
5. Shin Sekai, March 17, 1930.
6. Nichibei, March 15, 16, 24, 1930; Shin Sekai, March 15, 19, 1930.
7. Nichibei, March 15, 16, 24, 1930; Shin Sekai, March 15, 19, 1930.
8. Brian Masaru Hayashi, "For the Sake of Our Japanese Brethren": Assimilation, Nationalism, and Protestantism (Stanford, 1995); John J. Stephan, Hawaii under the Rising Sun: Japan's Plans for Conquest after Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, 1984), 28; Yuji Ichioka, "Japanese Immigrant Nationalism: The Issei and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941," California History, 69 (1990), 260-275, 310-311.
9. Brian Masaru Hayashi, "For the Sake of Our Japanese Brethren": Assimilation, Nationalism, and Protestantism (Stanford, 1995); John J. Stephan, Hawaii under the Rising Sun: Japan's Plans for Conquest after Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, 1984), 28; Yuji Ichioka, "Japanese Immigrant Nationalism: The Issei and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941," California History, 69 (1990), 260-275, 310-311.
10. Brian Masaru Hayashi, "For the Sake of Our Japanese Brethren": Assimilation, Nationalism, and Protestantism (Stanford, 1995); John J. Stephan, Hawaii under the Rising Sun: Japan's Plans for Conquest after Pearl Harbor (Honolulu, 1984), 28; Yuji Ichioka, "Japanese Immigrant Nationalism: The Issei and the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1941," California History, 69 (1990), 260-275, 310-311.
11. Japanese often used the sociologically distinct concepts of "race," "ethnicity," and "nation" interchangeably. Depending on the context, the term minzoku could mean any of the three terms. Because the delta's Japanese tended to stres the physiological difference between themselves and Filipinos as the precondition for their cultural differences, I have employed the term "race" or minzoku in this study. In different contexts, however, other terms may be employed for minzoku. For instance, Kevin M. Doak has recently argued for the translation of minzoku as "ethnic nation" in Imperial Japan. For a detailed discussion of the concept, see Kevin M. Doak, "Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twenneth-Century Japan," Journal of Japanese Studies, 22 (1996), 77-103, and Michael Weiner, Discourses of Race, Nation, and Empire in Pre-1945 Japan," Ethnic and Racial Studies, 18 (1995), 437-442.
12. Japanese often used the sociologically distinct concepts of "race," "ethnicity," and "nation" interchangeably. Depending on the context, the term minzoku could mean any of the three terms. Because the delta's Japanese tended to stres the physiological difference between themselves and Filipinos as the precondition for their cultural differences, I have employed the term "race" or minzoku in this study. In different contexts, however, other terms may be employed for minzoku. For instance, Kevin M. Doak has recently argued for the translation of minzoku as "ethnic nation" in Imperial Japan. For a detailed discussion of the concept, see Kevin M. Doak, "Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twenneth-Century Japan," Journal of Japanese Studies, 22 (1996), 77-103, and Michael Weiner, Discourses of Race, Nation, and Empire in Pre-1945 Japan," Ethnic and Racial Studies, 18 (1995), 437-442.
13. Doak, "Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twentieth-Century Japan," 78-82, and Kevin M. Doak, "What Is a Nation and Who Belongs? National Narratives and the Ethnic Imagination in Twentieth-Century Japan," American Historical Review, 102 (1997), 283-286. The distinction between the two versions of nationalism is a natural one for Japanese-speaking people, because they have a different term for each notion of nationalism: minzoku shugi (ethnic nationalism) and kokka shugi (state nationalism). Yet, how to define the content of each nationalism is a highly contested issue, and definitions tend to differ with specific historical contexts.
14. Doak, "Ethnic Nationalism and Romanticism in Early Twentieth-Century Japan," 78-82, and Kevin M. Doak, "What Is a Nation and Who Belongs? National Narratives and the Ethnic Imagination in Twentieth-Century Japan," American Historical Review, 102 (1997), 283-286. The distinction between the two versions of nationalism is a natural one for Japanese-speaking people, because they have a different term for each notion of nationalism: minzoku shugi (ethnic nationalism) and kokka shugi (state nationalism). Yet, how to define the content of each nationalism is a highly contested issue, and definitions tend to differ with specific historical contexts.
15. In conjunction with the popular discussions of the past, present, and future of Japanese communities in the United States, the concept of "overseas racial development" appeared in the pages of Japanese-language newspapers virtually every day. Many books also came out after the mid-1920s, espousing the same ideal among Issei. While Fujioka Shiro, a Los Angeles Issei, was among the first authors who popularized the phrase in California, Kobayashi Masasuke, the Japanese Salvation Army leader in San Francisco published a synthesis that combined the idea of "overseas racial development" and a history of Japanese immigrants in the United States. See Fujioka Shiro, Minzoku Hatten no Senkusha [The forerunners/pioneers of racial development] (Tokyo, 1927); Kobayashi Masasuke, Nippon Minzoku no Sekai teki Bocho [The world-scale expansion of the Japanese] (Tokyo, 1933).
16. In conjunction with the popular discussions of the past, present, and future of Japanese communities in the United States, the concept of "overseas racial development" appeared in the pages of Japanese-language newspapers virtually every day. Many books also came out after the mid-1920s, espousing the same ideal among Issei. While Fujioka Shiro, a Los Angeles Issei, was among the first authors who popularized the phrase in California, Kobayashi Masasuke, the Japanese Salvation Army leader in San Francisco published a synthesis that combined the idea of "overseas racial development" and a history of Japanese immigrants in the United States. See Fujioka Shiro, Minzoku Hatten no Senkusha [The forerunners/pioneers of racial development] (Tokyo, 1927); Kobayashi Masasuke, Nippon Minzoku no Sekai teki Bocho [The world-scale expansion of the Japanese] (Tokyo, 1933).
17. In his provocative article, Sakata Yasuo has recently uncovered how Issei combatted such an image by "rewriting" a history that denies a linkage with such undesirable elements, including prostitutes and low-class laborers. See his "'Wataridori' to sono Shakai" [Birds of passage and their community], in Doshisha Daigaku Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyujo, ed., Zaibei Nihonjin Shakai no Reimeiki [Earlier years of the Japanese community in America] (Tokyo, 1997), 3-78.
18. See Shin Sekai, Jan. 21, 22, 1938; Nichibei, Jan. 5, 1933, July 23, 1940. For a major publication along this line, see Kobayashi, Nippon Minzoku no Sekai teki Bocho. This and other works emphasize the history of Japanese exclusion in California to show how hard Japanese had struggled in a foreign land as the "forerunners of racial development."
19. See Shin Sekai, Jan. 21, 22, 1938; Nichibei, Jan. 5, 1933, July 23, 1940. For a major publication along this line, see Kobayashi, Nippon Minzoku no Sekai teki Bocho. This and other works emphasize the history of Japanese exclusion in California to show how hard Japanese had struggled in a foreign land as the "forerunners of racial development."
20. See Shin Sekai, Jan. 21, 22, 1938; Nichibei, Jan. 5, 1933, July 23, 1940. For a major publication along this line, see Kobayashi, Nippon Minzoku no Sekai teki Bocho. This and other works emphasize the history of Japanese exclusion in California to show how hard Japanese had struggled in a foreign land as the "forerunners of racial development."
21. Renqui Yu has made a similar observation on the patriotic activities of Chinese laundrymen, whose nationalism allowed them to confront the Kuomintang [Chinese Nationalist Party] vision of "community" in New York City. See his To Save China, To Save Ourselves: The Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance of New York (Philadelphia, 1992).
22. Readers should note the inherent limitations in this study. The destruction of many key historical materials, caused by the wartime internment of Japanese Americans, has forced a reliance on two Japanese-language newspapers published in San Francisco: the Nichibei Shimbun and the Shin Sekai. Local correspondents contributed daily news of events and community affairs to these newspapers. Each newspaper had one correspondent in Stockton. Although the two newspapers had differing editorial styles, the correspondent sections, from which this study draws most of its information, were remarkably similar, reflecting the viewpoints of local immigrant merchants and farmers. The voices of Issei women, laborers, and Nisei rarely appeared, except for occasional attacks on the heterodox views expressed by some of these groups. While this reliance on newspaper reports poses restrictions on this study, the author has made his best effort to convey the perspectives of these "excluded" people through their action or inaction. Another limitation is that the narrative focuses on how leading Issei men objectified Filipinos; Filipino perspectives, while included to some extent, are not the focus. The various images of Filipinos introduced in this study will be those of Issei leaders, as published in the newspapers.
23. For a history of Chinese in the delta, see George Chu, "Chinatown in the Delta: The Chinese in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, 1870-1960," California Historical Quarterly, 49 (1970), 21-37.
24. Teikoku Soko Soryojikan, "Honpojin Nokosha no Jokyo ni kansuru Chosa Hokokusho" [Investigative report of the state of Japanese farming], Dec. 1926, unpaginated. This is an unpublished, handwritten manuscript compiled by the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco.
25. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1922), and Fifteenth Census of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1932).
26. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Fourteenth Census of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1922), and Fifteenth Census of the United States (Washington, D.C., 1932).
27. See Ohashi Kanzo, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi [The history of Japanese people in Stockton, California] (Stockton, 1937), 7-12, 20-24, 64, and Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi [The history of Japanese people in America] (San Francisco, 1940), 174-175. For the impact of the 1920 Alien Land Law on Japanese farmers in the delta region and the subsequent changes, consult Eiichiro Azuina, "Japanese Immigrant Farmers and California Alien Land Laws: A Study of the Walnut Grove Japanese Community," California History, 73 (1994), 14-29, 85-87.
28. See Ohashi Kanzo, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi [The history of Japanese people in Stockton, California] (Stockton, 1937), 7-12, 20-24, 64, and Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi [The history of Japanese people in America] (San Francisco, 1940), 174-175. For the impact of the 1920 Alien Land Law on Japanese farmers in the delta region and the subsequent changes, consult Eiichiro Azuina, "Japanese Immigrant Farmers and California Alien Land Laws: A Study of the Walnut Grove Japanese Community," California History, 73 (1994), 14-29, 85-87.
29. See Ohashi Kanzo, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi [The history of Japanese people in Stockton, California] (Stockton, 1937), 7-12, 20-24, 64, and Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi [The history of Japanese people in America] (San Francisco, 1940), 174-175. For the impact of the 1920 Alien Land Law on Japanese farmers in the delta region and the subsequent changes, consult Eiichiro Azuina, "Japanese Immigrant Farmers and California Alien Land Laws: A Study of the Walnut Grove Japanese Community," California History, 73 (1994), 14-29, 85-87.
30. Nichibei, Feb. 18, March 4, 1930; Shin Sekai, March 15, 19, 1930.
31. Nichibei, Feb. 18, March 4, 1930; Shin Sekai, March 15, 19, 1930.
32. Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi, 588-590; Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokulon Dohoshi, 80. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, over 93 percent of approximately 29,000 Filipinos admitted into California between 1925 and 1929 were male immigrants. Moreover, over three-quarters of that total were single men. See California Department of Industrial Relations, Facts About Filipino Immigration into California (San Francisco, 1930), 32-33, 42-43, and Carol Hemminger, "Little Manila: The Filipino in Stockton Prior to World War II (part II)," The Pacific Historian, 24 (1980), 207-208.
33. Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi, 588-590; Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokulon Dohoshi, 80. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, over 93 percent of approximately 29,000 Filipinos admitted into California between 1925 and 1929 were male immigrants. Moreover, over three-quarters of that total were single men. See California Department of Industrial Relations, Facts About Filipino Immigration into California (San Francisco, 1930), 32-33, 42-43, and Carol Hemminger, "Little Manila: The Filipino in Stockton Prior to World War II (part II)," The Pacific Historian, 24 (1980), 207-208.
34. Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi, 588-590; Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokulon Dohoshi, 80. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, over 93 percent of approximately 29,000 Filipinos admitted into California between 1925 and 1929 were male immigrants. Moreover, over three-quarters of that total were single men. See California Department of Industrial Relations, Facts About Filipino Immigration into California (San Francisco, 1930), 32-33, 42-43, and Carol Hemminger, "Little Manila: The Filipino in Stockton Prior to World War II (part II)," The Pacific Historian, 24 (1980), 207-208.
35. Zaibei Nihonjinkai, Zaibei Nihonjinshi, 588-590; Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokulon Dohoshi, 80. According to the California Department of Industrial Relations, over 93 percent of approximately 29,000 Filipinos admitted into California between 1925 and 1929 were male immigrants. Moreover, over three-quarters of that total were single men. See California Department of Industrial Relations, Facts About Filipino Immigration into California (San Francisco, 1930), 32-33, 42-43, and Carol Hemminger, "Little Manila: The Filipino in Stockton Prior to World War II (part II)," The Pacific Historian, 24 (1980), 207-208.
36. For instance, see Nichibei, Jan. 1, 1933.
37. Shin Sekai, March 20, 1930. Also consult Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi, 74-75. In Stockton, there were a few other cases of Japanese-Filipino love affairs and marriages. Prior to the 1930 marriage, the wife of a Japanese laundryman ran away with a Filipino laborer, leaving behind her child and husband. This woman was caught and sent back to Japan after her husband divorced her. In the 1930s there was another case of Nisei-Filipino marriage.
38. Shin Sekai, March 20, 1930. Also consult Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi, 74-75. In Stockton, there were a few other cases of Japanese-Filipino love affairs and marriages. Prior to the 1930 marriage, the wife of a Japanese laundryman ran away with a Filipino laborer, leaving behind her child and husband. This woman was caught and sent back to Japan after her husband divorced her. In the 1930s there was another case of Nisei-Filipino marriage.
39. John W. Dower, War without Mercy: Race and Pawer in the Pacific War (New York, 1986), 274-278.
40. For instance, see Suzuki Yuko, Jugun Ianfu, Naisen Kekkon [Comfort women and colonial intermarriage between Japanese and Koreans] (Tokyo, 1992).
41. Yoon Keun-Cha, Nihon Kokumin-ron [On the Japanese nation] (Tokyo, 1997), 108-109, 259; Kudo Masaki, Nihon jinshuron [Theories of the Japanese race] (Tokyo, 1979).
42. Yoon Keun-Cha, Nihon Kokumin-ron [On the Japanese nation] (Tokyo, 1997), 108-109, 259; Kudo Masaki, Nihon jinshuron [Theories of the Japanese race] (Tokyo, 1979).
43. See Yuji Ichioka, "A Study in Dualism: James Yoshinori Sakamoto and the Japanese American Courier, 1928-1942," Amerasia Journal, 13 (1986-1987), 49-81, and Ichioka, "Kengakudan: The Origin of Nisei Study Tours of Japan," California History, 73 (1994), 31-42, 87-88.
44. See Yuji Ichioka, "A Study in Dualism: James Yoshinori Sakamoto and the Japanese American Courier, 1928-1942," Amerasia Journal, 13 (1986-1987), 49-81, and Ichioka, "Kengakudan: The Origin of Nisei Study Tours of Japan," California History, 73 (1994), 31-42, 87-88.
45. Nichibei, May 5, 1937. Japanese-language newspapers published many reports of actual "tragedies" of Japanese-Filipino marriages and romances. Those stories highlighted the fact that interethnic marriages could never be tolerated by Japanese communities. For example, one Seattle Nisei was "disowned" by her parents due to her marriage with a Filipino man. When she became gravely ill, she was taken to a Japanese hospital, but she never disclosed her identity to hospital staff members because she felt so "ashamed." To newspaper readers - mostly Issei parents - this and similar stories served as strong warnings against intermarriages. For this report, consult Shin Sekai, Jan. 10, 1941. Designed to appeal directly to Nisei youth, similar subjects occasionally appeared in the English-language sections of the newspapers, too. For instance, in answering a reader's question about interethnic romance, a columnist named "Lady Nisei" advised her readers about the danger associated with Filipino men. She wrote, "Filipinos are clever, persistent, and sometimes attractive to women. But when the aura of romance fades, nine times out of ten Nisei girls who marry them are appalled by the hugeness of their mistakes, and by their great disillusionment. Today's innocent acquaintanceship may tomorrow become an irrevocable tragedy." For this column, see Shin Sekai, Aug. 12, 1940.
46. Nichibei, May 5, 1937. Japanese-language newspapers published many reports of actual "tragedies" of Japanese-Filipino marriages and romances. Those stories highlighted the fact that interethnic marriages could never be tolerated by Japanese communities. For example, one Seattle Nisei was "disowned" by her parents due to her marriage with a Filipino man. When she became gravely ill, she was taken to a Japanese hospital, but she never disclosed her identity to hospital staff members because she felt so "ashamed." To newspaper readers - mostly Issei parents - this and similar stories served as strong warnings against intermarriages. For this report, consult Shin Sekai, Jan. 10, 1941. Designed to appeal directly to Nisei youth, similar subjects occasionally appeared in the English-language sections of the newspapers, too. For instance, in answering a reader's question about interethnic romance, a columnist named "Lady Nisei" advised her readers about the danger associated with Filipino men. She wrote, "Filipinos are clever, persistent, and sometimes attractive to women. But when the aura of romance fades, nine times out of ten Nisei girls who marry them are appalled by the hugeness of their mistakes, and by their great disillusionment. Today's innocent acquaintanceship may tomorrow become an irrevocable tragedy." For this column, see Shin Sekai, Aug. 12, 1940.
47. Nichibei, May 5, 1937. Japanese-language newspapers published many reports of actual "tragedies" of Japanese-Filipino marriages and romances. Those stories highlighted the fact that interethnic marriages could never be tolerated by Japanese communities. For example, one Seattle Nisei was "disowned" by her parents due to her marriage with a Filipino man. When she became gravely ill, she was taken to a Japanese hospital, but she never disclosed her identity to hospital staff members because she felt so "ashamed." To newspaper readers - mostly Issei parents - this and similar stories served as strong warnings against intermarriages. For this report, consult Shin Sekai, Jan. 10, 1941. Designed to appeal directly to Nisei youth, similar subjects occasionally appeared in the English-language sections of the newspapers, too. For instance, in answering a reader's question about interethnic romance, a columnist named "Lady Nisei" advised her readers about the danger associated with Filipino men. She wrote, "Filipinos are clever, persistent, and sometimes attractive to women. But when the aura of romance fades, nine times out of ten Nisei girls who marry them are appalled by the hugeness of their mistakes, and by their great disillusionment. Today's innocent acquaintanceship may tomorrow become an irrevocable tragedy." For this column, see Shin Sekai, Aug. 12, 1940.
48. Ann Laura Stolen, Race and the Education of Desire: Foucault's History of Sexuality and the Colonial Order of Things (Durham, N.C., 1995), esp. 143.
49. Nichibei, Jan. 1, 1933.
50. Ibid.
51. This movement began as a statewide project by the federation of pretectural associations and the Japanese Association of America in San Francisco. Yet, because anti-Japanese agitators made it an issue, the Japanese government opposed it. However, the local Japanese association, as well as other community organizations in the delta, continued the movement by acting as "legal guardians" for Kibei youth who wished to return to the delta region. See Ohashi, Hokubei Kashu Sutokuton Dohoshi, 254, 284, 315, 390.
52. Ibid., 80.
53. Teaching Nisei traditional Japanese values and discipline, or what Issei often called "Japanese spirit," was a popular theme of discussion in Japanese-language newspapers. See, for instance, Momii Ikken, Hokubei Kendo Taikan [Kendo in North America] (San Francisco, 1940), 609-610, 685.
54. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s (New York, 1994), 80-81; Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed. and trans. Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith (New York, 1971), 233-244.
55. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s (New York, 1994), 80-81; Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed. and trans. Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith (New York, 1971), 233-244.
56. Omi and Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 81.
57. Ibid., 66-67; Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 181-182.
58. Ibid., 66-67; Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 181-182.
59. No substantial study is yet available on the subject of Filipino farm labor in the delta. The following studies, however, deal with their activities in other regions of California; Federal Writers' Project, Unionization of Filipinos in California Agriculture (Oakland, Calif., 1939), 11-13; Howard DeWitt, Violence in the Fields: California Filipino Farm Labor Unionization during the Great Depression (Saratoga, Calif., 1980), 74-110, and DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union: The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934," Amerasia Journal, 5 (1978), 1-22. General studies of California's farm labor history have given little, if any, attention to the role of Filipinos (and other racial minorities). For instance, perhaps the single most influential work has depicted minority farmworkers as helpless people who always needed guidance from white labor organizers. This deficiency seems to stem from the author's inability to use various immigrant-language materials, which express a high level of awareness and activism. See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 (Berkeley, 1982). For a detailed listing of essays and books on Asian-American labor, see Chris Friday, "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," Labor History, 35 (1994), 524-525.
60. No substantial study is yet available on the subject of Filipino farm labor in the delta. The following studies, however, deal with their activities in other regions of California; Federal Writers' Project, Unionization of Filipinos in California Agriculture (Oakland, Calif., 1939), 11-13; Howard DeWitt, Violence in the Fields: California Filipino Farm Labor Unionization during the Great Depression (Saratoga, Calif., 1980), 74-110, and DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union: The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934," Amerasia Journal, 5 (1978), 1-22. General studies of California's farm labor history have given little, if any, attention to the role of Filipinos (and other racial minorities). For instance, perhaps the single most influential work has depicted minority farmworkers as helpless people who always needed guidance from white labor organizers. This deficiency seems to stem from the author's inability to use various immigrant-language materials, which express a high level of awareness and activism. See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 (Berkeley, 1982). For a detailed listing of essays and books on Asian-American labor, see Chris Friday, "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," Labor History, 35 (1994), 524-525.
61. No substantial study is yet available on the subject of Filipino farm labor in the delta. The following studies, however, deal with their activities in other regions of California; Federal Writers' Project, Unionization of Filipinos in California Agriculture (Oakland, Calif., 1939), 11-13; Howard DeWitt, Violence in the Fields: California Filipino Farm Labor Unionization during the Great Depression (Saratoga, Calif., 1980), 74-110, and DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union: The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934," Amerasia Journal, 5 (1978), 1-22. General studies of California's farm labor history have given little, if any, attention to the role of Filipinos (and other racial minorities). For instance, perhaps the single most influential work has depicted minority farmworkers as helpless people who always needed guidance from white labor organizers. This deficiency seems to stem from the author's inability to use various immigrant-language materials, which express a high level of awareness and activism. See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 (Berkeley, 1982). For a detailed listing of essays and books on Asian-American labor, see Chris Friday, "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," Labor History, 35 (1994), 524-525.
62. No substantial study is yet available on the subject of Filipino farm labor in the delta. The following studies, however, deal with their activities in other regions of California; Federal Writers' Project, Unionization of Filipinos in California Agriculture (Oakland, Calif., 1939), 11-13; Howard DeWitt, Violence in the Fields: California Filipino Farm Labor Unionization during the Great Depression (Saratoga, Calif., 1980), 74-110, and DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union: The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934," Amerasia Journal, 5 (1978), 1-22. General studies of California's farm labor history have given little, if any, attention to the role of Filipinos (and other racial minorities). For instance, perhaps the single most influential work has depicted minority farmworkers as helpless people who always needed guidance from white labor organizers. This deficiency seems to stem from the author's inability to use various immigrant-language materials, which express a high level of awareness and activism. See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 (Berkeley, 1982). For a detailed listing of essays and books on Asian-American labor, see Chris Friday, "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," Labor History, 35 (1994), 524-525.
63. No substantial study is yet available on the subject of Filipino farm labor in the delta. The following studies, however, deal with their activities in other regions of California; Federal Writers' Project, Unionization of Filipinos in California Agriculture (Oakland, Calif., 1939), 11-13; Howard DeWitt, Violence in the Fields: California Filipino Farm Labor Unionization during the Great Depression (Saratoga, Calif., 1980), 74-110, and DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union: The Salinas Lettuce Strike of 1934," Amerasia Journal, 5 (1978), 1-22. General studies of California's farm labor history have given little, if any, attention to the role of Filipinos (and other racial minorities). For instance, perhaps the single most influential work has depicted minority farmworkers as helpless people who always needed guidance from white labor organizers. This deficiency seems to stem from the author's inability to use various immigrant-language materials, which express a high level of awareness and activism. See Cletus E. Daniel, Bitter Harvest: A History of California Farmworkers, 1870-1941 (Berkeley, 1982). For a detailed listing of essays and books on Asian-American labor, see Chris Friday, "Asian American Labor and Historical Interpretation," Labor History, 35 (1994), 524-525.
64. Nichibei, Nov. 20, 1936.
65. Ibid., Nov. 20, 25, Dec. 4, 1936; Shin Sekai, Nov. 30, Dec. 3, 4, 1936; undated leaflet, box 1, Karl Yoneda Papers, Department of Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles; Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor (Washington, D.C., 1940), pt. 72, 26685-26686.
66. Ibid., Nov. 20, 25, Dec. 4, 1936; Shin Sekai, Nov. 30, Dec. 3, 4, 1936; undated leaflet, box 1, Karl Yoneda Papers, Department of Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles; Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor (Washington, D.C., 1940), pt. 72, 26685-26686.
67. Ibid., Nov. 20, 25, Dec. 4, 1936; Shin Sekai, Nov. 30, Dec. 3, 4, 1936; undated leaflet, box 1, Karl Yoneda Papers, Department of Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles; Senate Committee on Education and Labor, Violations of Free Speech and Rights of Labor: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Education and Labor (Washington, D.C., 1940), pt. 72, 26685-26686.
68. Tomás Almaguer's study analyzes California's racial hierarchy under white supremacy. It contends that whites reserved the top position for themselves, while Mexicans, African Americans, Asians, and Native Americans followed in rank order. Almaguer has not concerned himself with the emergence of stratification among Asian immigrant groups in their changing relationships with the white ruling class. See Tomás Almaguer, Racial Fault Lines: The Historical Origins of White Supremacy in California (Berkeley, 1994).
69. Concerning white shippers and landowners in the delta's celery industry, see Murai Ko, Zaibei Nihonjin Sangyo Soran [Japanese agriculture in America] (Los Angeles, 1940), 199-202.
70. Chris Friday has analyzed a similar system of ethnic labor recruitment, as well as the emergence of ethnically based ́cannery communities.́ See Chris Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor: The Pacific Coast Salmon Industry, 1870-1942 (Philadelphia, 1994), 109-112.
71. Matsumoto Yuko has shed light on the coexistence of working-class and farming-class "ethnic solidarity" (minzoku danketsu) in the Los Angeles Japanese community, while John Modell has examined the clash between two versions of ethnic loyalties espoused by a Nisei labor union and a large Issei-owned business in Los Angeles. Their studies suggest that Japanese-American "nationalism" - the ethnic solidarity resulting from it - was not a monolithic constant but rather the arena in which conflicting interests collided and struggled for legitimacy. Friday has also traced the emergence of working-class nationalism in a work place, which led to ethnic factionalism in the cannery industry of the Pacific Northwest. See Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti" [The 1936 Los Angeles celery strike and Japanese-American community], Shirin, 75 (1992), 44-73; John Modell, The Economics and Politics of Racial Accommodation: The Japanese of Los Angeles, 1900-1942 (Urbana, Ill., 1977), 127-153; Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 112-114, 149-192.
72. Matsumoto Yuko has shed light on the coexistence of working-class and farming-class "ethnic solidarity" (minzoku danketsu) in the Los Angeles Japanese community, while John Modell has examined the clash between two versions of ethnic loyalties espoused by a Nisei labor union and a large Issei-owned business in Los Angeles. Their studies suggest that Japanese-American "nationalism" - the ethnic solidarity resulting from it - was not a monolithic constant but rather the arena in which conflicting interests collided and struggled for legitimacy. Friday has also traced the emergence of working-class nationalism in a work place, which led to ethnic factionalism in the cannery industry of the Pacific Northwest. See Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti" [The 1936 Los Angeles celery strike and Japanese-American community], Shirin, 75 (1992), 44-73; John Modell, The Economics and Politics of Racial Accommodation: The Japanese of Los Angeles, 1900-1942 (Urbana, Ill., 1977), 127-153; Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 112-114, 149-192.
73. Matsumoto Yuko has shed light on the coexistence of working-class and farming-class "ethnic solidarity" (minzoku danketsu) in the Los Angeles Japanese community, while John Modell has examined the clash between two versions of ethnic loyalties espoused by a Nisei labor union and a large Issei-owned business in Los Angeles. Their studies suggest that Japanese-American "nationalism" - the ethnic solidarity resulting from it - was not a monolithic constant but rather the arena in which conflicting interests collided and struggled for legitimacy. Friday has also traced the emergence of working-class nationalism in a work place, which led to ethnic factionalism in the cannery industry of the Pacific Northwest. See Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti" [The 1936 Los Angeles celery strike and Japanese-American community], Shirin, 75 (1992), 44-73; John Modell, The Economics and Politics of Racial Accommodation: The Japanese of Los Angeles, 1900-1942 (Urbana, Ill., 1977), 127-153; Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 112-114, 149-192.
74. On this effect of ideology, I have drawn on Louis Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, trans. Ben Brewster (New York, 1971), 162-165, 182.
75. In addition to Omi and Winant's "war of maneuver," I have relied on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of "struggle" and "position" in the analysis of interethnic conflict in the delta. Speaking primarily of what he calls the artistic field and the religious field, Bourdieu has argued that the position that an agent occupies in society structures his disposition, or "habitus," which then leads him to a conscious or unconscious struggle for the defense of his position. Insofar as such an action has the effect of protecting the status quo, Bourdieu has called it the "doxic acceptance" of the established order. Based on that "habitus," a quest for "distinction" was a logical product of a struggle to maintain one's position. For detail, see Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice (Stanford, 1990), 136-141, and Bourdieu, The Field of Cultural Production (New York, 1993), 61-67.
76. In addition to Omi and Winant's "war of maneuver," I have relied on Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of "struggle" and "position" in the analysis of interethnic conflict in the delta. Speaking primarily of what he calls the artistic field and the religious field, Bourdieu has argued that the position that an agent occupies in society structures his disposition, or "habitus," which then leads him to a conscious or unconscious struggle for the defense of his position. Insofar as such an action has the effect of protecting the status quo, Bourdieu has called it the "doxic acceptance" of the established order. Based on that "habitus," a quest for "distinction" was a logical product of a struggle to maintain one's position. For detail, see Pierre Bourdieu, The Logic of Practice (Stanford, 1990), 136-141, and Bourdieu, The Field of Cultural Production (New York, 1993), 61-67.
77. Nichibei, Nov. 28, 1936.
78. Shin Sekai, Dec. 10, 1936.
79. Philippine Journal, Nov. 11, 1939. The FALA was organized with the support of the Resident-Commissioner of the Philippine government in Washington, D.C., in April 1939, when a few thousand Filipinos walked out of the asparagus fields in pursuit of a wage increase. Because they had dominated the labor market, the strike ended in one day with their total victory. The celery strike of 1939 was the second major labor dispute that the FALA initiated.
80. Doho, Dec. 15, 1939 (English section). Doho was the semimonthly leftist newspaper published by a group of Nisei communists in Los Angeles between 1937 and 1942.
81. Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1939. According to this source, an average Filipino laborer received thirty cents an hour, while a non-Filipino earned only twenty-five cents.
82. Shin Sekai, Nov. 29, 30, 1939 (English sections).
83. Nichibei, Dec. 2, 1939.
84. Ibid., Dec. 2, 1939, Jan. 13, 1940; Shin Sekai, Dec. 2, 6, 1939; Philippine Journal, Dec. 22, 1939. In a semi-autobiographical novel, Carlos Bulosan has vividly depicted the scene of the Filipino boycott and the rise of anti-Japanese sentiments among Filipino laborers. See Carlos Bulosan, America Is in the Heart (Seattle, 1973), 275-277.
85. Ibid., Dec. 2, 1939, Jan. 13, 1940; Shin Sekai, Dec. 2, 6, 1939; Philippine Journal, Dec. 22, 1939. In a semi-autobiographical novel, Carlos Bulosan has vividly depicted the scene of the Filipino boycott and the rise of anti-Japanese sentiments among Filipino laborers. See Carlos Bulosan, America Is in the Heart (Seattle, 1973), 275-277.
86. Ibid., Dec. 2, 1939, Jan. 13, 1940; Shin Sekai, Dec. 2, 6, 1939; Philippine Journal, Dec. 22, 1939. In a semi-autobiographical novel, Carlos Bulosan has vividly depicted the scene of the Filipino boycott and the rise of anti-Japanese sentiments among Filipino laborers. See Carlos Bulosan, America Is in the Heart (Seattle, 1973), 275-277.
87. Ibid., Dec. 2, 1939, Jan. 13, 1940; Shin Sekai, Dec. 2, 6, 1939; Philippine Journal, Dec. 22, 1939. In a semi-autobiographical novel, Carlos Bulosan has vividly depicted the scene of the Filipino boycott and the rise of anti-Japanese sentiments among Filipino laborers. See Carlos Bulosan, America Is in the Heart (Seattle, 1973), 275-277.
88. Nichibei, Dec. 28, 1939; Shin Sekai, Dec. 29, 1939; Philippine Journal, Jan. 4, 1940.
89. Nichibei, Dec. 28, 1939; Shin Sekai, Dec. 29, 1939; Philippine Journal, Jan. 4, 1940.
90. Nichibei, Dec. 28, 1939; Shin Sekai, Dec. 29, 1939; Philippine Journal, Jan. 4, 1940.
91. Doho, Feb. 1, 1940; Nichibei, Jan. 4, 1940.
92. Doho, Feb. 1, 1940; Nichibei, Jan. 4, 1940.
93. Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 18, 1940. Also see Nichibei, Jan. 13, 15, 24, 1940. The quote is taken from Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 1940. I have computed new employment for Japanese from newspaper advertisements.
94. Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 18, 1940. Also see Nichibei, Jan. 13, 15, 24, 1940. The quote is taken from Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 1940. I have computed new employment for Japanese from newspaper advertisements.
95. Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 18, 1940. Also see Nichibei, Jan. 13, 15, 24, 1940. The quote is taken from Shin Sekai, Jan. 15, 1940. I have computed new employment for Japanese from newspaper advertisements.
96. Philippine Journal, Feb. 15, 1940.
97. David Thompson, "The Filipino Federation of America, Incorporated: A Study in the Natural History of a Social Institution," Social Process in Hawaii, 7 (1941), 24-34; Steffi San Buenaventura, "Filipino Folk Spirituality and Immigration: From Mutual Aid to Religion," Amerasia Journal, 22 (1996), 3-9, 17-22.
98. David Thompson, "The Filipino Federation of America, Incorporated: A Study in the Natural History of a Social Institution," Social Process in Hawaii, 7 (1941), 24-34; Steffi San Buenaventura, "Filipino Folk Spirituality and Immigration: From Mutual Aid to Religion," Amerasia Journal, 22 (1996), 3-9, 17-22.
99. Thompson, "The Filipino Federation of America, Incorporated," 33-34. Hilario Camino Moncado also had his men oppose the Filipino Labor Union in the 1934 Salinas strike, making his group an ally of white and Japanese growers. See DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union," 9.
100. Thompson, "The Filipino Federation of America, Incorporated," 33-34. Hilario Camino Moncado also had his men oppose the Filipino Labor Union in the 1934 Salinas strike, making his group an ally of white and Japanese growers. See DeWitt, "The Filipino Labor Union," 9.
101. Interestingly, the FALA, too, saw a federation member as something less than a "real" Filipino - a selfish traitor to the race. In the union publication, the FALA president proclaimed the racial authenticity of his union: "the Filipino now is a new man. He is already awakened; he knows the value of himself in particular and to his own people as a whole. He knows that these groups who want him to fight his own people are doing that for their own selfish interests. He knows that whatever reward he gets by being a traitor to his people are [sic] only immediate and temporary, and that in the final analysis, he is a Filipino first, last, and always!" See Philippine Journal, Jan. 23, 1940.
102. The "unofficial" nature of Kay Morimoto's activities is clear in that her news rarely appeared in the pages of Japanese newspapers. When they did, reports usually suggested that she was acting on her own, responding to private requests from Issei merchants. By contrast, the union publication depicted her activities as the core of anti-Filipino sabotage by Japanese.
103. Philippine Journal, Jan. 23, 1940; Shin Sekai, Jan. 19, 1940.
104. Philippine Journal, Jan. 23, 1940; Shin Sekai, Jan. 19, 1940.
105. Philippine Journal, Aug. 7, 1940.
106. Ibid., Feb. 15, 1940.
107. Ibid., July 31, Oct. 28, 1940.
108. Stockton Record, July 1, 12, 1940; Philippine Journal, June 29, 1940.
109. Stockton Record, July 1, 12, 1940; Philippine Journal, June 29, 1940.
110. Nichibei, July 14, 1940.
111. Stockton Record, Aug. 12, 1940; Shin Sekai, Aug. 14, 1940.
112. Stockton Record, Aug. 12, 1940; Shin Sekai, Aug. 14, 1940.
113. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940.
114. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940.
115. Ichioka has made a similar observation in his study of a Nisei newspaperman who in many ways, adopted the ideas of Issei. In their "racial-development thesis Issei developed a concept of "Pacific Civilization," which corresponded to the expansion of the Japanese people into the Pacific. Replacing the existing Eurocentric "Atlantic Civilization," Pacific Civilization would amalgamate cultural elements from the two emerging powers: Japan (the leader of the "Onent") and the United States (the leader of the "Occident"). Given the thorny bilateral relations, many Issei found Nisei to be in the best position to bridge the two most important nations in the new "Pacific era." As responsible American citizens, Nisei would interpret Japan to the American public and, to a lesser degree, America to the Japanese community. From this perspective, American citizenship did not contradict support for Japan; rather, the latter supplemented and even strengthened the former. The polarities that many white Americans and Japanese in Japan stressed in international relations-the opposition of two national loyalties and patriotisms -were foreign to most Issei, who needed to make sense of their existence and that of their children caught between Japan and the United States. However, as Ichioka has documented, by 1940, such "dualism" became untenable for many U.S.-based Japanese, especially for Nisei, because the United States had started to scrutinize their "loyalty" more closely. For more detail, see Ichioka, "A Study in Dualism," 49-82.
116. Japanese immigrants often discussed the need to bring second-generation youths back to rural communities. In 1934 the Japanese Association of America kicked off the Nisei back-to-farm movement (kino undo), sponsoring lecture series and study sessions. Local Japanese American Citizens League chapters usually collaborated in the movement. See Nichibei, Nov. 7, 1934, Jan. 1, 1936, Jan. 1, 1938.
117. Ibid., June 9, 1939 (English section). For the conference of Japanese farmers in California, see Shin Sekai, June 16, 17, 18, 1939.
118. Ibid., June 9, 1939 (English section). For the conference of Japanese farmers in California, see Shin Sekai, June 16, 17, 18, 1939.
119. Nichibei, Nov. 13, 23, 1940; Shin Sekai, Nov. 15, 1940; Stockton Record, Nov. 20, 1940.
120. Nichibei, Nov. 13, 23, 1940; Shin Sekai, Nov. 15, 1940; Stockton Record, Nov. 20, 1940.
121. Nichibei, Nov. 13, 23, 1940; Shin Sekai, Nov. 15, 1940; Stockton Record, Nov. 20, 1940.
122. Shin Sekai, Oct. 20, 1940. There was the pro-union Filipino Business Association of Stockton, which consisted of twenty-nine stores. Many of the stores competed directly with Japanese merchants. See FALA Yearbook: 2nd Annual Convention (Stockton, Calif., 1940), unpaginated. In addition, the union attempted to free its members from Japanese "exploitation" by forming an ethnic grocery store of its own. Established in January 1940, the Filipino Mercantile Corporation offered union members provisions at reasonable prices, and it reportedly earned a total of $40,000 during the 1940 asparagus season. For more detail, consult Philippine Journal, Feb. 15, March 30, April 22, 1940. A contemporary observer commented that this program, designed to help union members, was "[e]ntirely unique in farm labor history." See Harry Schwarts, "Recent Development among Farm Labor Unions," Journal of Farm Economics, 23 (1941), 838-839.
123. Shin Sekai, Oct. 20, 1940. There was the pro-union Filipino Business Association of Stockton, which consisted of twenty-nine stores. Many of the stores competed directly with Japanese merchants. See FALA Yearbook: 2nd Annual Convention (Stockton, Calif., 1940), unpaginated. In addition, the union attempted to free its members from Japanese "exploitation" by forming an ethnic grocery store of its own. Established in January 1940, the Filipino Mercantile Corporation offered union members provisions at reasonable prices, and it reportedly earned a total of $40,000 during the 1940 asparagus season. For more detail, consult Philippine Journal, Feb. 15, March 30, April 22, 1940. A contemporary observer commented that this program, designed to help union members, was "[e]ntirely unique in farm labor history." See Harry Schwarts, "Recent Development among Farm Labor Unions," Journal of Farm Economics, 23 (1941), 838-839.
124. Shin Sekai, Oct. 20, 1940. There was the pro-union Filipino Business Association of Stockton, which consisted of twenty-nine stores. Many of the stores competed directly with Japanese merchants. See FALA Yearbook: 2nd Annual Convention (Stockton, Calif., 1940), unpaginated. In addition, the union attempted to free its members from Japanese "exploitation" by forming an ethnic grocery store of its own. Established in January 1940, the Filipino Mercantile Corporation offered union members provisions at reasonable prices, and it reportedly earned a total of $40,000 during the 1940 asparagus season. For more detail, consult Philippine Journal, Feb. 15, March 30, April 22, 1940. A contemporary observer commented that this program, designed to help union members, was "[e]ntirely unique in farm labor history." See Harry Schwarts, "Recent Development among Farm Labor Unions," Journal of Farm Economics, 23 (1941), 838-839.
125. Shin Sekai, Oct. 20, 1940. There was the pro-union Filipino Business Association of Stockton, which consisted of twenty-nine stores. Many of the stores competed directly with Japanese merchants. See FALA Yearbook: 2nd Annual Convention (Stockton, Calif., 1940), unpaginated. In addition, the union attempted to free its members from Japanese "exploitation" by forming an ethnic grocery store of its own. Established in January 1940, the Filipino Mercantile Corporation offered union members provisions at reasonable prices, and it reportedly earned a total of $40,000 during the 1940 asparagus season. For more detail, consult Philippine Journal, Feb. 15, March 30, April 22, 1940. A contemporary observer commented that this program, designed to help union members, was "[e]ntirely unique in farm labor history." See Harry Schwarts, "Recent Development among Farm Labor Unions," Journal of Farm Economics, 23 (1941), 838-839.
126. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940. The Morimotos had a long-term lease on the building where the office of Dr. Macario Bautista was located. After the federation moved into that office space, Kay Morimoto opened an employment agency right next door for the recruitment of federation workers. Later in November, her office became the scene of an assassination attempt, where a disgruntled FALA member fired ten shots at Morimoto and her husband. Though no one was hurt, the incident marked the sudden end of Morimoto's anti-union activities. For more detail, see Stockton Record, Nov. 29, 30, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 2, 1940.
127. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940. The Morimotos had a long-term lease on the building where the office of Dr. Macario Bautista was located. After the federation moved into that office space, Kay Morimoto opened an employment agency right next door for the recruitment of federation workers. Later in November, her office became the scene of an assassination attempt, where a disgruntled FALA member fired ten shots at Morimoto and her husband. Though no one was hurt, the incident marked the sudden end of Morimoto's anti-union activities. For more detail, see Stockton Record, Nov. 29, 30, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 2, 1940.
128. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940. The Morimotos had a long-term lease on the building where the office of Dr. Macario Bautista was located. After the federation moved into that office space, Kay Morimoto opened an employment agency right next door for the recruitment of federation workers. Later in November, her office became the scene of an assassination attempt, where a disgruntled FALA member fired ten shots at Morimoto and her husband. Though no one was hurt, the incident marked the sudden end of Morimoto's anti-union activities. For more detail, see Stockton Record, Nov. 29, 30, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 2, 1940.
129. Philippine Journal, Aug. 17, 31, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 1940. The Morimotos had a long-term lease on the building where the office of Dr. Macario Bautista was located. After the federation moved into that office space, Kay Morimoto opened an employment agency right next door for the recruitment of federation workers. Later in November, her office became the scene of an assassination attempt, where a disgruntled FALA member fired ten shots at Morimoto and her husband. Though no one was hurt, the incident marked the sudden end of Morimoto's anti-union activities. For more detail, see Stockton Record, Nov. 29, 30, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 1, 2, 1940.
130. Philippine Journal, Oct. 28, 1940.
131. Stockton Record, Oct. 18, 29, 1940; Philippine Journal Oct. 28, 1940.
132. Stockton Record, Oct. 18, 29, 1940; Philippine Journal Oct. 28, 1940.
133. Nichibei, Nov. 10, 1940; Stockton Record, Nov. 20, 1940. The latter source also reports the presence of 513 whites (mostly packing workers) and 82 Mexicans, blacks, and Asian Indians.
134. Nichibei, Nov. 10, 1940; Stockton Record, Nov. 20, 1940. The latter source also reports the presence of 513 whites (mostly packing workers) and 82 Mexicans, blacks, and Asian Indians.
135. Shin Sekai, Nov. 27, 1940. Issei farmers usually expected their Nisei children to take over their farms, while they desired Kibei youths, whose families remained in Japan or other places, to go into the labor market. The overrepresentation of Kibei in the labor market probably reflected such an expectation on the Issei side.
136. Robert M. Jiobu has pointed out that "ethnic hegemony" in a certain economic sector could enable a subordinate group to achieve "upward mobility by allowing its members access to jobs and means of negotiation. In the case of the delta Japanese, it seems that "ethnic hegemony" in agriculture was not the real situation but an ideal one that they constantly pursued in vain. Interethnic competition was so fierce in the delta that no groups could elevate themselves relative to the dominant one. For a discussion of ethnic hegemony, see Robert M. Jiobu, "Ethnic Hegemony and the Japanese of California," American Sociological Review, 53 (1988), 353-367.
137. Shin Sekai, Nov. 27, Dec. 2, 8, 9, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 5, 8, 9, 1940, Feb. 2, 1941.
138. Shin Sekai, Nov. 27, Dec. 2, 8, 9, 1940; Nichibei, Dec. 5, 8, 9, 1940, Feb. 2, 1941.
139. Shin Sekai, Jan. 6, 7, 1941.
140. I compiled these data by comparing the names of the union officials with the Japanese immigrant directory of 1941. Shin Sekai Asahi, 1941 Shin Sekai Asahi Nenkan [1941 New world-sun yearbook] (San Francisco, 1941), 282-305.
141. Shin Sekai, Dec. 9, 1940.
142. Ibid., Feb. 2, 3, 1941; Nichibei, Feb. 2, 14, April 10, May 17, 1941 (English section).
143. Ibid., Feb. 2, 3, 1941; Nichibei, Feb. 2, 14, April 10, May 17, 1941 (English section).
144. Shin Sekai, April 12, 1941 (English section); Nichibei, April 13, 1941.
145. Shin Sekai, April 12, 1941 (English section); Nichibei, April 13, 1941.
146. Nichibei, Feb. 21, April 2, 17, 1942.
147. Shin Sekai, Jan. 7, 1941.
148. Russell Jacoby, Dialectic of Defeat: Contours of Western Marxism (Cambridge, Eng., 1981), 117-126; Pierre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power (Cambridge, Mass., 1991), 235-238.
149. Russell Jacoby, Dialectic of Defeat: Contours of Western Marxism (Cambridge, Eng., 1981), 117-126; Pierre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power (Cambridge, Mass., 1991), 235-238.
150. Kesa Noda and Valerie J. Matsumoto have studied the neighboring communities of Livingston and Cortez, where all the Japanese farmers were landowners. Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley, where more tenants than landowners lived, are the subjects of Kazuko Nakane and of Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, respectively. Kesa Noda, The Yamato Colony: 1906-1960 (Livingston-Merced, Calif., 1981); Valerie J. Matsumoto, Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American Community in California, 1919-1982 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1993); Kazuko Nakane, Nothing Left in My Hands: An Early Japanese American Community in California's Pajaro Valley (Seattle, 1985); Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y.
151. Kesa Noda and Valerie J. Matsumoto have studied the neighboring communities of Livingston and Cortez, where all the Japanese farmers were landowners. Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley, where more tenants than landowners lived, are the subjects of Kazuko Nakane and of Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, respectively. Kesa Noda, The Yamato Colony: 1906-1960 (Livingston- Merced, Calif., 1981); Valerie J. Matsumoto, Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American Community in California, 1919-1982 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1993); Kazuko Nakane, Nothing Left in My Hands: An Early Japanese American Community in California's Pajaro Valley (Seattle, 1985); Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California's Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino, Calif., 1985).
152. Kesa Noda and Valerie J. Matsumoto have studied the neighboring communities of Livingston and Cortez, where all the Japanese farmers were landowners. Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley, where more tenants than landowners lived, are the subjects of Kazuko Nakane and of Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, respectively. Kesa Noda, The Yamato Colony: 1906-1960 (Livingston- Merced, Calif., 1981); Valerie J. Matsumoto, Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American Community in California, 1919-1982 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1993); Kazuko Nakane, Nothing Left in My Hands: An Early Japanese American Community in California's Pajaro Valley (Seattle, 1985); Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California's Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino, Calif., 1985).
153. Kesa Noda and Valerie J. Matsumoto have studied the neighboring communities of Livingston and Cortez, where all the Japanese farmers were landowners. Watsonville and the Santa Clara Valley, where more tenants than landowners lived, are the subjects of Kazuko Nakane and of Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, respectively. Kesa Noda, The Yamato Colony: 1906-1960 (Livingston- Merced, Calif., 1981); Valerie J. Matsumoto, Farming the Home Place: A Japanese American Community in California, 1919-1982 (Ithaca, N.Y., 1993); Kazuko Nakane, Nothing Left in My Hands: An Early Japanese American Community in California's Pajaro Valley (Seattle, 1985); Timothy J. Lukes and Gary Y. Okihiro, Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California's Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino, Calif., 1985).
154. Mexican laborers struck against Japanese farmers in Southern California twice, in 1933 and in 1936. See Charles Wollenberg, "Race and Class in Rural California: The El Monte Berry Strike of 1933," California Historical Quarterly, 51 (1972), 155-164, and Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti." Though these studies do not explore the different patterns of racialization in the labor-ethnic disputes, my reading of local Japanese newspapers reveals that, in those instances, Filipinos often became a "good" race - that is, a friend of the Issei farming class - while Mexicans were considered the main menace. For a description of Filipinos in the El Monte strike, see Rafu Shimpo, June 12, 13, 15, 28, 1933; Kashu Mainichi, June 28, 1933.
155. Mexican laborers struck against Japanese farmers in Southern California twice, in 1933 and in 1936. See Charles Wollenberg, "Race and Class in Rural California: The El Monte Berry Strike of 1933," California Historical Quarterly, 51 (1972), 155-164, and Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti." Though these studies do not explore the different patterns of racialization in the labor-ethnic disputes, my reading of local Japanese newspapers reveals that, in those instances, Filipinos often became a "good" race - that is, a friend of the Issei farming class - while Mexicans were considered the main menace. For a description of Filipinos in the El Monte strike, see Rafu Shimpo, June 12, 13, 15, 28, 1933; Kashu Mainichi, June 28, 1933.
156. Mexican laborers struck against Japanese farmers in Southern California twice, in 1933 and in 1936. See Charles Wollenberg, "Race and Class in Rural California: The El Monte Berry Strike of 1933," California Historical Quarterly, 51 (1972), 155-164, and Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti." Though these studies do not explore the different patterns of racialization in the labor-ethnic disputes, my reading of local Japanese newspapers reveals that, in those instances, Filipinos often became a "good" race - that is, a friend of the Issei farming class - while Mexicans were considered the main menace. For a description of Filipinos in the El Monte strike, see Rafu Shimpo, June 12, 13, 15, 28, 1933; Kashu Mainichi, June 28, 1933.
157. Mexican laborers struck against Japanese farmers in Southern California twice, in 1933 and in 1936. See Charles Wollenberg, "Race and Class in Rural California: The El Monte Berry Strike of 1933," California Historical Quarterly, 51 (1972), 155-164, and Matsumoto, "1936-nen Rosuanjerusu Serori Sutoraiki to Nikkei Nogyo Komyuniti." Though these studies do not explore the different patterns of racialization in the labor-ethnic disputes, my reading of local Japanese newspapers reveals that, in those instances, Filipinos often became a "good" race - that is, a friend of the Issei farming class - while Mexicans were considered the main menace. For a description of Filipinos in the El Monte strike, see Rafu Shimpo, June 12, 13, 15, 28, 1933; Kashu Mainichi, June 28, 1933.
158. For some cases of interethnic solidarity, consult Ronald Takaki, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii (Honolulu, 1985), 153-176; Edward D. Beechert, Working in Hawaii: A Labor History (Honolulu, 1985); Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 149-171. Takaki has traced a sort of "progressive history" from ethnic division to interethnic labor solidarity among plantation workers in the Hawaiian strike of 1920, while Beechert has illuminated the exceptional nature of the 1920 case by stressing the difficulty of working-class unity. Friday has also considered the conflicting forces toward ethnic division and unionization, underlining the volatile nature of labor unity among Asian cannery workers in the Pacific Northwest.
159. For some cases of interethnic solidarity, consult Ronald Takaki, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii (Honolulu, 1985), 153-176; Edward D. Beechert, Working in Hawaii: A Labor History (Honolulu, 1985); Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 149-171. Takaki has traced a sort of "progressive history" from ethnic division to interethnic labor solidarity among plantation workers in the Hawaiian strike of 1920, while Beechert has illuminated the exceptional nature of the 1920 case by stressing the difficulty of working-class unity. Friday has also considered the conflicting forces toward ethnic division and unionization, underlining the volatile nature of labor unity among Asian cannery workers in the Pacific Northwest.
160. For some cases of interethnic solidarity, consult Ronald Takaki, Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii (Honolulu, 1985), 153-176; Edward D. Beechert, Working in Hawaii: A Labor History (Honolulu, 1985); Friday, Organizing Asian American Labor, 149-171. Takaki has traced a sort of "progressive history" from ethnic division to interethnic labor solidarity among plantation workers in the Hawaiian strike of 1920, while Beechert has illuminated the exceptional nature of the 1920 case by stressing the difficulty of working-class unity. Friday has also considered the conflicting forces toward ethnic division and unionization, underlining the volatile nature of labor unity among Asian cannery workers in the Pacific Northwest.