Erika Lee

“To many, what happened to Chin represented a double tragedy: the murder of a young man with a promising future and a criminal justice system that failed to adequately punish the killers... Suddenly, people who had endured a lifetime of degrading treatment were wondering if their capacity to suffer in silence might no longer be a virtue.”
― Erika Lee

“On December 22, 1941, both Time and Life magazines ran stories helpfully guiding readers on how to distinguish their new Chinese "friends" from the enemy "Japs." Life's story included photographs. The first featured a Chinese government official smiling humbly at the camera. The other featured a stern-looking General Hideki Tojo, the Japanese prime minister responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Both portraits were covered with handwritten notes identifying defining features and racial rules. The Chinese, for example, had a "parchment yellow complexion," a "higher bridge," a "longer, narrower face," a "scant beard," and "never has rosy cheeks." In contrast, the Japanese had an "earthy yellow complexion," "flatter nose," "sometimes rosy cheeks," "heavy beard," and "broader, shorter face."
Time's description of "how to tell your friends from the Japs" was even more specific. "Virtually all Japanese are short... seldom fat, [and] often dry up and grow lean as they age" whereas the Chinese "often put on weight." Chinese had more "placid, kindly, open" facial expressions, while the Japanese were "more positive, dogmatic, arrogant." Perhaps unsurprisingly, some Chinese Americans sought ways to help white Americans distinguish them from Japanese Americans and wore "I am Chinese" buttons during the war.”
― Erika Lee