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Civilized yet Colored: The Racial Barrier of the US Immigration Act of 1924 and the Japan Problem

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2023, 13(1), pp.197~224
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general
  • Received : October 12, 2022
  • Accepted : April 3, 2023
  • Published : April 30, 2023

이원규 1

1서울대학교

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ABSTRACT

The article has two aims. First, we examine the US Immigration Act of 1924 and demonstrate the racial barrier posed against Asia in the era of the imperialist international order. Second, we interpret Japan’s protest as a claim over its status as a civilized state. The Immigration Act of 1924, legislated under the purpose of control reinforcement, classified every country in the world into two groups of civilized ‘family of nations’ and ‘unassimilable’ colored nations. Countries received annual quotas or were banned from immigration according to this standard. In such context, the Japanese Empire, a civilized but colored nation, posed a dilemma to the US Congress. After months of debate, Congress decided to ban all Japanese immigration citing the lack of eligibility for US citizenship. In substance, the Immigration Act of 1924 declared the Japanese people as an inferior race never to mix with white Christian nations. Japan, again facing the racial barrier as in the case of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, came to develop strong anti-American sentiments and distrust toward Western countries.

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