Hey kids! I’ve got a story for y’all, in honor of today being Presidents Day, AND the 76th anniversary of FDR’s Executive Order 9066 which incarcerated tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent, AND we’re still in Black History Month. Guess what? All of those things are mashed up in a pair of incredibly overt, unabashed, literally white supremacist rulings by our federal government less than 100 years ago. Have you ever heard of the Ozawa and Thind cases? CUT TO:
The year is 1922. [For context, one of my granddads is already 10 years old; the other was just born. Which means this was not so very long ago.] Our first hero Takao Ozawa is living in Hawaii. He was born in Japan but has lived here for years, went to the University of California, got married, had a family, had a business. Didn’t let his kids speak Japanese, kept himself totally apart from all things Japanese, did his damnedest to assimilate to the point of erasing his family heritage.
Now he applies for US citizenship, and gets denied because under the Naturalization Act of 1906, only “free white persons” and “persons of African nativity or persons of African descent” can become citizens. [Did you know that? I didn’t know that! Know what else I didn’t know? That was the law of our land until freakin 1952!]
So Ozawa appeals to the Supreme Court, and the argument goes a little something like this:
OZAWA: Hi guys! I see you’ve got this thing where you have to be white to become a citizen. Have you checked out my skin? It’s really light! Us Japanese people are actually paler than most white folks. So would it be OK for me to join your club?
SCOTUS: Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that “the words ‘white person’ were meant to indicate only a person of what is popularly known as the Caucasian race” and you are “clearly of a race which is not Caucasian.” [Actual verbatim quotes.]
So Ozawa loses, and so do hundreds of other Japanese-Americans who had previously been allowed to naturalize but whose citizenships are now retroactively revoked, which who knew that was even a thing? Plus his case helps pave the way for the 1924 Immigration Act which effectively banned Asian immigration until 1965, so bonus win for white supremacy!
But that’s not all, because then things get even more astoundingly racist. Here comes Bhagat Singh Thind, a Sikh immigrant from India, who has also been living here for years and wants to become a citizen and by the way he fought in the US Army in WWI. Thind’s citizenship request ends up in front of the Supreme Court in 1923, three months after the Ozawa decision, which as far as Thind is concerned is good news because watch this incredible spin he puts on it:
THIND: Hey guys, saw your decision in Ozawa! Loved it. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! Especially that part about the Caucasian race. Here’s a bunch of accepted race science experts proving that the Caucasian race originated in India, which is why we say that English is an Indo-European language. I am literally Aryan! So I’ll take my citizenship now please kthxbye.
SCOTUS: Don’t be silly. When we said that, we of course meant that white is “synonymous with the word ‘Caucasian’ only as that word is popularly understood… by unscientific men.” [Yup, actual verbatim quote again.] White is whatever we say it is, whenever we say it, even three months after we just said something else. And we say it ain’t you. Don’t let the door to our country hit you on your way out.
Here’s where traditionally a story would say THE END. But it wasn’t, and it isn’t. “We should have more immigrants from Norway,” says our President. Which brings us back around to: Happy Presidents Day. Happy EO9066 Anniversary Day. Happy Black History Month.
At least there’s this: Happy 2018. Let’s go vote.
[Special acknowledgement to the Seeing White podcast where I first heard about these cases and which I strongly recommend in its entirety.]