Ethnic and Racial Identity in Multiracial Sansei: Intergenerational Effects of the World War II Mass Incarceration of Japanese Americans1

Genealogy

Suyemoto, Karen L.¹ 

[1] College of Liberal Arts, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 William T Morrissey Blvd, Boston, MA 02125, USA

关键词: multiracial;    identity;    Nisei;    Sansei;    intergenerational trauma;    communication;    Japanese American;    internment;    World War II;    incarceration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/genealogy2030026

学科分类：分子生物学，细胞生物学和基因

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper reflects on ways in which intergenerational familial experience of the Japanese American World War II mass incarceration may have differentially affected the ethnic and racial identity development of multiracial Sansei (third generation Japanese Americans). I begin with a brief review of the literature related to the effects of the camps on Nisei, integrating psychological understandings of racial and ethnic identity development, contextual history, and research on the psychological effects; I focus here on effects for Nisei that have been connected to their intergenerational interactions: distancing from Japanese American heritage and identity, silence about the camp experience, and the negotiation of racism and discrimination. I turn then to the primary focus of the paper: Using a combination of autoethnographical reflection, examples from qualitative interviews, and literature review, I engage in reflective exploration of two ways in which intergenerational effects of the camp experience influenced Sansei racial and ethnic identities that vary among monoracial and multiracial Sansei: familial transmission of Japanese American culture by Nisei to Sansei, and the intergenerational effects and transmission of racial discrimination and racial acceptance. I conclude with reflections on intergenerational healing within Japanese American families and communities, and reflections on the relation of these dynamics to current issues of racial justice more generally.

【 授权许可】

CC BY