Pearl Harbor and the Yellow Peril-Japanese Discrimination

During the late 1800's, and throughout the 20th century, Asians in the United States have been perceived as a "yellow peril." The term was first coined in the early 1800s by white Americans who viewed new immigrants from China and other Eastern nations as foreigners with different cultural practices whose presence threatened the stability and peace of the country. The phrase arose at the time when Japanese and Chinese immigration to America was meeting resistance and when Japan was growing as a military power. The Chinese and Japanese were generally believed to be morally deviant and infe…