The Legend | Historical Context

The Legend Historical Context

Discrimination and Asian American History

Hongo's work is grounded in his deep awareness of Asian peoples' history in America, including the struggle of Asian immigrants to gain respect and equality in society. As such, his work has also served to memorialize the various injustices suffered by Asian Americans. For instance, Hongo has written about the Asian Exclusion Laws of the early 1900s, which prohibited Asian Americans from owning property and marrying whites and also barred single Asian women from moving to the United States. In California, the Alien Land Law prohibited Japanese people from owning real estate.

In 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, bringing the United States into World War II. In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, requiring the 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast to be relocated to ten internment camps throughout the nation. Indeed, Japanese Americans faced widespread prejudice and bitterness in...
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