Racial and Ethnic Matter - Assignment Example

Racial and ethnic matter After the Portuguese took Recife Island in Brazil from the Dutch, the Jewish Americans fled. The Jews after fleeing from Recife Island they looked for refuge in New Amsterdam, but after some, time they travelled to shores of America, some to flee from persecution and others for economic reasons. The fate of Jewish Americans was not a bed of roses. They encountered a number of challenges as they tried to adapt to the American culture and stick to their traditions. There was the denial of opportunity for Jews to participate in American institutions.

Therefore, the Jews created their own institutions like, hospitals, schools and churches. This paper summarizes the life of the Jews in America, and the Japanese internment in accordance to racism in United States. (Wright 37). The introduction of anti-Semitism is another problem that the Jews in America faced. Anti-Semitism is the discrimination against Jews in relation to their culture and heritage. The beginning of anti-Semitic policy led to the Jews exclusion from mandatory co operations.

Anti Jewish quotas were also created by skilled universities and schools that dealt with different professions. Even in sports, there was no recognition of Jews since it has been mentioned in the Jewish Americans website that only one man named, Hank Greenberg, A base ball player. This also shows that the Jews were left out in social matters too. There was a restriction of Jews in some areas. For example, suburbs and neighborhoods were off limits to the Jews (Wright 44). From the website on Jewish Americans, it can be learned that though the Jews fled, from their original homeland, to look for shelter in America, it did not work out the way they expected.

The challenges and suffering they encountered are a proof to that. Though, there were celebrations of few Jews as heroes, from the story of Jews in America, we conclude that later there were some Jews who rose to be leaders in business and politics. The Jews minorities had to endure a lot in America to be where they are today. They faced discrimination, torment emotionally and hardship as slaves. They had to change some of their traditions to fit in to those of Americans thus losing their culture as Jews (Wright 87).

Japanese Internment The bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan led to the relocation of many Japanese descents. Many Japanese were at the war front when the United States entered the second world and were considered enemies. Japanese, including those that had American citizenship were seen as enemies. During this time, the Japanese faced a lot of prejudice from the Americans. Each Japanese internee was forced to register at a station that was set, take a loyalty oath, and to receive further instructions after registration.

Secret searches were being done on the Japanese residents, homes and businesses, thus depriving them of their privacy. The Japanese residents were removed and isolated, from the rest of Americans, farther island (Wright). The United States Government forced Japanese, even those who were loyal to the country, to migrate, and they were moved to 10 wartime enclaves. These areas were unfamiliar to the Japanese, and they were exposed to harsh weather conditions. Through their migration, they were forced to leave their businesses and live in those deserted areas.

The camps where the internees were moved to had insufficient food and limited residential areas and sanitation. Big families had to stay in a single room, and toilets and bathrooms were shared by more than 250 families. The only chance the Japanese internees had of leaving the camps were by joining the American army, and when this opportunity came many of them decide to join the army. At the camps, the workers ate in crowded rooms, and they earned little income for their labor (Wright 157). However, there were programs that ensured that the internees enjoyed free medical care and their children had their school fees paid for them.

The American government ensured they fully explored the skills of each internee by providing jobs or the internees. The camps were headed by non-internee chief and guided by military police. At the camps, the internees would carry out demonstrations asking for their rights according to the United States constitution. Eventually, these camps were turned into segregation areas where internees who appeared to cause problems or disturbances were sent. The only Japanese who escaped being kept at the camps were those who had American citizenship (Wright 172).

After the Japanese interns faced all this misery, pain, harsh conditions in the camps, the Government of the United States finally apologized and offered tokens of a financial nature to all Japanese Internees whose family was affected. Conclusion It can be concluded from this essay that both the Jews and the Japanese faced a lot of insight from the Americans. Though, at the end they managed to gain respect from the Americans, they had to go through many challenges (Wright). Works Cited Wright, W D.

Racism matters. West port: CT:Praeger, 1998.Print