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Anatomy of a Scare: Yellow Peril Politics in America, 1980–1993

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

M. J. HEALE
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Abstract

This article maps the rise and dissemination of Yellow Peril fears in the United States between about 1980 and 1993 and seeks to explain them. Anti-communism had been an animating force in Ronald Reagan's career, but shortly after he left office an opinion poll revealed that Japan had replaced the Soviet Union as the greatest perceived threat to the US. While economic anxieties contributed to the resurgence of Yellow Peril sentiments, this article emphasizes the vital parts played by other phenomena, notably Reagan's economic policies, partisan politics, a media war, and the ending of the Cold War. The Yellow Peril scare was widely criticized, and by the early 1990s the controversy had invaded popular culture. Ronald Reagan is frequently applauded for restoring American self-confidence after the “malaise” of the Carter years, but the apprehensions discussed here suggest that he enjoyed only limited success in this respect.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of American Studies , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 19 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University Press

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References

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47 Ellis Case, “Yellow-Peril Journalism,” 54; Judy Temes, “Rocky Repercussions,” Crain's New York Business, 6 Nov. 1989, 1.