Imigran dan Warga Keturunan Jepang di Amerika Serikat: Sentimen-Sentimen Terhadapnya Dulu dan Kini

Abstract

Abstrak

Sejarah mencatat sentimen rasial yang tertuang dalam produk undang-undang Amerika Serikat seperti Chinese Exclusion Act 1882, pada masanya turut menyasar para imigran dan warga keturunan Jepang. Beragam tindakan kekerasan verbal maupun fisik dan diskriminasi dialami imigran Asia, dalam konteks ini Cina dan Jepang, ketika itu. Lebih lanjut, merebaknya Covid-19 dalam kurun dua tahun ini kembali memunculkan masalah sosial serupa bagi komunitas imigran dan warga keturunan Asia, termasuk Jepang. Isu berhembus memojokan para pendatang dan warga keturunan Asia sebagai tertuduh pembawa virus Covid-19. Dengan demikian, aksi-aksi rasis, diskriminatif, dan xenophobic terrekam pada dua konteks waktu yang berbeda. Dengan mengumpulkan data-data melalui metode studi pustaka dan kemudian mengolahnya, diketahui terdapat perbedaan dan kesamaan fenomena di tengah sentimen-sentimen yang menarget imigran maupun warga keturunan Jepang di Amerika. Perbedaan yang dimaksud merujuk pada aspek pemicu. Pada masa-masa awal kedatangannya, sentimen terhadap imigran Jepang di Amerika Serikat dipicu oleh masalah kesempatan kerja dan kecurigaan bernuansa politik. Sementara itu, pada kurun waktu pandemi Covid-19 sentimen anti-Asian dipicu oleh isu penyebaran virus Covid-19. Di sisi lain, terdapat kesamaan dalam munculnya sentimen-setimen anti-Asian dulu dan kini yaitu tersebarnya informasi palsu dan provokatif, merebaknya prasangka dan diskriminasi rasial, adanya peran tokoh publik dalam menyebarkan kebencian, dan adanya kebijakan hukum yang diambil oleh otoritas untuk merespon isu terkait.

Kata Kunci: Amerika Serikat, Jepang, Imigran, Xenophobia, Covid-19

Abstract

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was one of the US Federal Laws restricting immigration, was meant to target Chinese immigrants at that time. Being among the Asian communities in the US, the Japanese immigrants were unsurprisingly affected. Racial discrimination and hatred began to arise as the implementation of the law was going on. Various acts of verbal and physical violence suffered by the Asian (Chinese and Japanese) immigrants at that time. Further, the outbreak of Covid-19 in the past two years has raised similar social problems for the immigrant communities and people of Asian descent including Japanese. The issue of cornering the immigrants and the residents of this descent as being accused of carrying the Covid-19 virus arises. Various acts of hatred begin to target the immigrants and citizens of Asian descent. Applying the library research method and processing the relevant data, there found differences and similarities amidst the sentiments targeting the immigrants and citizens of Japanese descent in America. The difference refers to the triggering aspect. In the early days of their arrival, the anti-Japanese immigrant sentiment in the United States was more motivated by the problems of job opportunity and political suspicions. Meanwhile, during the Covid-19 pandemic, anti-Asian sentiment was triggered by the issue of the spread of the Covid-19 virus. On the other hand, there are similarities to the emergence of anti-Asian sentiments today including the spread of false and provocative information, the spread of racial prejudice and discrimination, the role of public figures in spreading hatred, and the existence of legal policies taken by authorities to respond to the related issues.

Keywords: the United States, Japanese, Immigrants, Xenophobia, Covid-19