Asian American History

Respond to The Japanese American Creed

Choose one of the following audiences and write a speech responding to Mike Masaokas Japanese American Creed. The Creed began circulating widely after it was read in Congress on May 9, 1941 and it was reprinted and used at JACL meetings for decades. Regardless of the audience, the speech should show an understanding of (A) the context in which Masaoka wrote the Creed, (B) the overall message and aims of the Creed, and (C) specific ideas from the Creed which would be important to the audience. You may speak in support of the Creed, in opposition to it, to critique its sentiments, to build upon them, and/or to advance any other position that you think would fit the audience you choose.

As a speech, the essay need not follow traditional academic mechanical conventions (e.g. paragraph length, complete sentences, or other elements). The speech should be between 1200 and 1800 words (2-3 pages if written as a standard essay). Please give your speech a title and identify the audience for which you wrote it. [Extra points for posting the actual speech?]

Speaker 1: An audience of Japanese / Americans who have recently arrived at a concentration camp
Speaker 2: An audience of Japanese / American students preparing to leave the camps for college
Speaker 3: A Chinese, Korean, South Asian, or Filipino American group during WWII
Speaker 4: A non-Asian speaker discussing Asian / Americans who want to move into the local neighborhood in the postwar years
Speaker 5: An Asian / American activist speaking at a rally (1960s-70s)