Kevin Lee- Blog Post #7

            In Jeffrey Lesser’s chapter “From Japanese to Nikkei and Back: Integration Strategies of Japanese Immigrants and Their Descendants in Brazil,” Lesser talks about the Nikkei, or Japanese diaspora, in Brazil and how they try to embrace the “Brazilian” part of their ethnicity. Nikkei in Brazil embraced their Brazilian identity, this making them multicultural. This would be the first step of an Asian diasporic community accepting the “whiteness” of their identity. Nikkei shows that it is possible for Asian diasporas to accept multiple ethnic identities. However, the negative of this is the model minority stereotype. Lesser states, “We need more Brazilians like this Japanese… Japanese are the best possible Brazilians: honest, hard-working, and well-connected” (Displacements 119). This statements shows that Brazil sees Nikkei as a model minority whose example should be followed. Even though Nikkei accepts their Brazilian identity, Brazil may not necessarily accept Nikkei into their national identity, thus still creating a rift between the two.

Question: Will Nikkei ever be officially accepted into the Brazilian national identity? Will accepting one’s “whiteness” allow for recognition in the dominant community?

Work Cited:

Lesser, J. (2005). From Japanese to Nikkei and Back. In W. W. Anderson & R. G. Lee (Eds.), Displacements and Diasporas: Asians in the Americas (pp. 112-121). New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press.

http://japanfocus.org/data/japanese_brazilians.png