Racial Equity Resources

In the early 1900s, racism against Japanese immigrants increased on the West Coast, particularly San Francisco, threatening diplomatic ties between the US and Japan. The administration of President Theodore Roosevelt, who ostensibly held the Japanese in high regard, crafted an agreement in 1907 whereby Japan voluntarily restricted emigration, known as the Gentlemen's Agreement. (Canada had its own Gentlemen's Agreement with Japan at roughly the same time.) Next week we will explore one of the results of the Gentlemen's Agreement, the arrival of Picture Brides.