Welcome

1. Welcome AAS 33B Asian Americans in the US Historical and Political Process The Cold War, 1945-1953

2. Agenda • Exams • Extra Credit Assignment • Essay • The Early Cold War Period (1945-1953) • Geopolitics, Decolonization • Immigration • Setting the stage for the Civil Rights Movement

3. Extra Credit Assignment • Extra Credit Assignment • I was happy to see so many of you there. Another extra credit assignment will probably be available before the end of the semester. • When you turn in your write-up I will ask for your permission to share your thoughts with the organizers of the event.

4. The Cold War • After World War II the US has global economic, political, military, and cultural dominance. • The Cold War was a conflict between the US and the USSR between 1945 and 1989. The war was “cold” because the two countries did not directly engage in war. • Both sides were armed with nuclear weapons (the US from 1945, the Soviets from 1949). • The Cold War was instead characterized by “proxy war,” in which hot wars would be waged in many locations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with the US and the USSR supplying arms and other aid to opposing sides.

5. The Cold War • Review: During World War II, a contradiction between the image of the US as the land of freedom and democracy and the actual conditions of people of color in the US. • This would continue under different conditions during the Cold War. • “The retreat of European colonialism and American competition with the Soviet Union nonetheless encouraged many white Americans to acknowledge the contradictions between leading the ‘free world’ and limiting the freedoms of Americans of color” (Jones 557). • The Cold War, like World War II, created a situation where many white Americans would see the need for an end to racial discrimination in the US. • Many people of color in the US as well as people in colonized countries were acutely aware of this contradiction.

6. The Cold War • Recall that during World War II the US was allied with communists. • Something you should keep in mind: many communists had high ideals, they really wanted a better world without exploitation in which they and their fellow workers could live in peace and prosperity. • Many communists advocated for the independence of colonized countries. • Like any affiliation, there are significant differences between people who belong.

7. The Cold War • Decolonization • Arguably, the most important geopolitical process of the 20th century. • Review of colonialism: • "Natives" become second-class, not necessarily citizens in the place they are from. • Colonialism dividing countries—some natives side with government by colonizers, some people side with movements for self-determination (national independence). Deadly enmity develops (many examples of this during the Cold War). • During the Cold War several of the close allies of the US—Britain and France in particular—were fighting against decolonization movements in their colonies.

8. The Cold War • Decolonization • 1947 – Independence of British India, partition of India along religious lines (Pakistan, India; Pakistan would later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh); culmination of a long movement • 1927 -1949 - Chinese Civil War • 1949 - Capital of the Republic of China (Taiwan) established in Taipei (Japanese colony from 1895-1945) •  1945 Korean split, administration by the US and the USSR; 1950 - 1953 Korean War (Japanese colony from 1910-1945) • 1941 - 1954 First Indochina War (Vietnamese war for independence from Japanese and French rule, US supporting French rule) • Partition in both Korea and Vietnam • Very few people of Vietnamese descent in the US before 1975

9. The Cold War • Decolonization • 1946 - Philippines becomes independent from the US, but military and trade treaties with the US prevent the long-term development of the Philippine economy • Military Bases Agreement (bases would grow during US involvement in Vietnam) • Bell Trade Act • Preferential tariffs preventing the growth of Filipino industries • Parity Rights – US citizens and corporations having the same rights as Filipinos • Repatriation of profits • 1949 - Indonesia becomes independent from Dutch rule • Movement for independence for Malaysia from British rule • Most of Africa becomes independent between 1960 and 1975.

10. The Cold War • Immigration (movement from colonies to the US) • Review: Citizenship gained for some through military service since World War I. • War Brides Act (1945) • Chinese and Filipino soldiers marrying women from China and the Philippines • US servicemen marrying women in Korea and Japan, where there was a large military presence (later, the Philippines)

11. The Cold War • Immigration • McCarran Walters Act (1952) • Allowed small quotas (overturned the Asiatic Barred Zone), typically around 100 people per year, for countries in Asia. • Anti-communism • Deportation of those suspected of being "communists“ • People from communist countries given refugee status • 5,000 from China permitted to stay in the US under the 1948 Displaced Persons Act and the 1953 Refugee Relief Act • Regulation of Sexuality (Who is a true American?) • Homosexuality classified by the Public Health Service and the American Psychological Association as a mental health disorder, which lead to exclusion of homosexuals from entering the US

12. The Cold War • Immigration • Review Categories • Alien: A non-US citizen in the US • Alien ineligible for citizenship: Most Asians from 1790 until 1952 • US National: The status of people in territories conquered by the US in the late-19th and early 20th centuries (the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Pacific Islands) • Citizen (People of Asian-descent born in the US)

13. The Cold War • Changing race relations in the US • Recall that the US was projecting an image of itself as a nation of freedom, in contrast to the USSR, and that white supremacy in the US called this image into question. • Conditions favorable for people of color to win greater equality.

14. The Cold War • Changing race relations in the US • Combined political/workplace actions in Hawaii • Hawaii was not a state until 1959, but those born in Hawaii were considered citizens of the US after 1900. • The ILWU (plantation workers), with large Japanese and Filipino memberships, organized political action committees in order to win major victories in the 1944 elections in Hawaii. • The electoral victories allowed workers to secure the right for collective bargaining, which had been won by industrial workers during the Great Depression in the US. • Unions promoted multiethnic leadership in order to ensure that workers would not be divided along ethnic and racial lines. • 1946 "all race strike," which included Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, and Hawaiian members, won higher wages and a 40-hour workweek.

15. The Cold War • Changing race relations in the US • Court victories • Alien Land Law ruled unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1948. • Anti-Miscegenation Laws ruled unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1948. • NAACP wins court victories outlawing segregation in voting primaries, interstate transportation, contracts for house sales, and graduate schools (1944-1950). • Segregated schools for Mexican Americans outlawed in California in 1948 (before Brown v Board of Education in 1954).