Japanese Identity Quotes
The Japanese have always been very race conscious seeing themselves as the racial pinnacle of Asian peoples and others as inferior. The peoples of Okinawa were not the racially pure Japanese and MacArthur turned out to be right that protection of Okinawan rights, prerogatives, and dignity was much less important than for ethnic Japanese. It would not be until the last decade of the 20th century that Japanese public opinion was seriously concerned about the Okinawans. Even then, Japan’s independence and dignity as a sovereign nation appeared more important than the rights and dignity of the native Okinawans.
This law was the excuse that was used by the racists of the 1920s to deny Japanese the right of American Citizenship and to inter them on the West Coast in WWII. The concept of Dual Citizenship which was so common in America after WWII was then anathema on the grounds that Americans cannot have dual loyalties. The anti-Japanese American forces claimed that since Japanese are always Japanese citizens even if born in America. Therefore, they are not to be trusted.
