Looking like the enemy : Japanese Mexicans, the Mexican state, and US hegemony, 1897-1945 / Jerry García.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

García, Jerry, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Japanese--Mexico--History--20th century.

Japanese.

Japanese--Mexico--Ethnic identity.

Japanese--Mexico--Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945.

Ethnicity.

History.

Mexico.

World War, 1939-1945--Social aspects--Mexico.

World War, 1939-1945.

Mexico--Foreign relations--United States.

International relations.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations--Mexico.

Physical Description:

xiii, 249 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Tucson : University of Arizona Press, [2014]

Summary:

" At the beginning of the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese citizens sought new opportunities abroad. By 1910, nearly ten thousand had settled in Mexico. Over time, they found work, put down roots, and raised families. But until now, very little has been written about their lives. Looking Like the Enemy is the first English-language history of the Japanese experience in Mexico. Japanese citizens were initially lured to Mexico with promises of cheap and productive land in Chiapas. Many of the promises were false, and the immigrants were forced to fan out across the country, especially to the borderlands along the United States. As Jerry Garci;a reveals, they were victims of discrimination based on "difference," but they also displayed "markers of whiteness" that linked them positively to Europeans and Americans, who were perceived as powerful and socially advanced. And, Garci;a reports, many Mexicans looked favorably on the Japanese as hardworking and family-centered. The book delves deeply into the experiences of the Japanese on both sides of the border during World War II, illuminating the similarities and differences in their treatment. Although some Japanese Mexicans were eventually interned (at the urging of the US government), in general the fear and vitriol that Japanese Americans encountered never reached the same levels in Mexico. Looking Like the Enemy is an ambitious study of a tumultuous half-century in Mexico. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of the immigrant experience in the Western Hemisphere and to the burgeoning field of borderlands studies"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : the Japanese experiment in Mexico

Japanese Mexicans, immigration, and the public imagination, 1897-1910

Japanese Orientalism and the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920

Japanese and the post revolutionary Mexico, 1920-1930s

The long reach of the American empire : U.S. hegemony and Mexican propaganda, 1941-1945

Prisoners without chains : the removal of Japanese Mexicans during World War II, 1942-1945

El Comité Japonés de Ayuda Mutua : hacienda internment camps and Japanese resistance, 1942-1945

Conclusion : I am sixty percent Mexican and sixty percent Japanese.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780816530250

0816530254

OCLC:

863201300