A reading of Wakatsuki Houston’s Farewell to Manzanar and Melba Pattillo Beals’ Warriors Don't Cry reveals that racial prejudice in the twentieth-century societies of the United States was against anybody who was not Caucasian. In other words, while Houston’s work focuses on the Japanese-Americans’ experiences after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the internment that came after, Beals talks of black segregation and the laws that declared black people inferior to the whites. Hence, there are similarities between the two books as they revolve around ideas of white supremacy that placed persons of African and Japanese descent at a disadvantage. Thus said, while both authors talk about institutional racism, they are different regarding the levels and signs of prejudice against their respective racial groups and their reaction to the same.
First, on the similarities, both Wakatsuki and Beal experienced racism based on the separation of races. In fact, Wakatsuki’s memoir only focuses on the separation of Japanese Americans from the rest of the country after the endorsement of the Executive order 9066 that was the federal government’s answer to the panic that followed Pearl Harbor (14). When talking about the internment camps, the author informs readers that Manzanar “was no more ready for [them] when [they] got there than [they] were ready for it” (Wakatsuki 26). Apparently, the place was in terrible condition with poor sanitation and overcrowding as many Japanese Americans were suddenly living inside confined spaces as suspects of betraying the American government. The poor state of the camp was enough proof that the Caucasians only wanted the Japanese gone and that they did not care how that happened as long as it did. The same case is evident in Beal’s book as the woman writes of her first experience with segregation laws. While commemorating the Fourth of July at a park, her family was “separated from the white people, set apart in a wooden section away from the pool and the merry-go-round” (4). The stories show that the typical signs of racial prejudice on American soil encompassed the separation of an unwanted ethnic group from the whites, and as much as the communities followed the rules, the government made them law.
Now, while the reader recognizes the features of racism in the two narrations, it is as though the authors have a different reaction to their situations. In Beal’s case, the woman was from a young age aware that her black skin meant that she was to miss out on certain chances that were only available to the whites. Hence, before attending a racially integrated high school, Beal says that what she was “afraid of most [was] that [the white students] won’t like [her] and integration won’t work” (31). Yes, the black community wanted equality, but they feared the idea of being equal to a race they always thought was superior. Such concerns emerge out of somewhere. Rather, they mark years of recognizing segregation and responding to it accordingly. Therefore, by the time she reached high school, Beal was not only well informed on the separation of races but reacting to the idea of equality just as the whites wanted her to, with fear. Wakatsuki was entirely different as she did not know the stereotypes that existed about the Japanese and is even surprised when she encounters a prejudicial attitude. Hence, when Beal realizes that her Caucasian friend Radine will have more chances of success because of her skin color she states “what demoralized [her] was watching Radine’s success” (154). The demoralization was the outcome of realizing the racial attitudes at the time would always ensure she remains a lesser citizen, second class to the whites. Notably, the two women approached racism from different angles: Beal accepted her status while Wakatsuki was either in denial or ignorant of what her being Japanese meant.
In conclusion, the history of the United States focuses so much on the racial divisions that existed between African Americans and the Caucasians and often overlooks the effects of white supremacy on other ethnic groups. An analysis of the works covered in this paper rectifies that by allowing the reader to conclude whether or not there were any differences between the treatment of coloreds and people from other nations. The answer is there was no difference although while African Americans responded with fear, the Japanese were more defiant and often refused to fall into the restrictions set by the whites. However, it is worth noting the Beal’s acceptance of her place propelled her to fight and change her situation. The same cannot apply to Wakatsuki.
Works Cited
Beals, Melba. Warriors Don't Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007. Print.
Wakatsuki Jeanne Houston. Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1973. Print.
