Speech #920248589

He was successful. and thousands of Japanese migrated to the islands before the turn of the century. Most of them. however. considered their stay in Hawaii as temporary. and fully intended to return to Japan as soon as their contract with the plantation company was fulfilled. normally 3 years. They came as "contract laborers." and the contracts were harsh ones indeed. The Hawaiian planters provided free but inadequate housing and paid their new employees as little as $9 a month. and imposed on them restrictions touching every facet of their lives. In 1900. when Hawaii was annexed to the United States. the "contract labor" practice ended. and the Japanese began to make their way up the economic and social ladder in Hawaii. The "Issei." or first generation immigrants. however. never realized their dream of amassing a fortune in Hawaii and returning to a life of ease in Japan. They were forced to remain in Hawaii with no fortune in sight. Their struggles. industry. and perseverance gained for them the respect of their employers. but unlike other immigrants before them. they were denied the right to become American citizens and denied the right to own any part of the land which they tilled. Undaunted by discriminatory laws passed against them at both the Federal and State levels. the Issei abandoned their earlier goal and built a dream of hope not for themselves. but for their childrenthe Nisei. No sacrifice was too great. They were determined that by the sweat of their brow every Nissei child was going to have the highest possible education for a life of decency and dignity in America. This became the Isseis life goalto prepare their children for a life they themselves were denied. I am the son of one of those immigrant plantation workersand I have benefited from the hardships endured by the first generation of Japanese in America. By and large. the Isseis were successful in attaining this one goal. Until a few years ago. statistics showed that Americans of Japanese ancestry constituted the highest educated of all identifiable minority groups in the United States.