What does the "I Am Chinese" button represent in the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet?

The “I Am Chinese” button that Henry’s father makes him wear represents his father’s pride in being Chinese and the unrest between the Chinese and Japanese in Henry's family's part of town. Henry’s father wants to make sure that no one mistakes Henry for a person of Japanese descent. At Henry’s school, it does not matter that Henry wears the button because students still accuse him of being Japanese and make fun of him because he is of Asian descent. It is Keiko who tells Henry that he can be Chinese if he wants, but she chooses to refer to herself as an American.