Analysis Of Ken Burns The War

Latasha Thomas

Professor Daniel Gilmartin

AMH 2020

29 June 2015

Ken Burns: The War The documentary Ken Burns: The War, provided an in depth view on World War II and its impact on the United States from the vantage point of Americans. Residents from Minnesota, Connecticut, Alabama and California attested to the many effects of the war. There were many testaments of the lackadaisical attitudes Americans displayed at the beginning of the war, the impact that the war had on the economy, as well as the impact on the lives of women of every race, the strong sense of family and community, as well as the many issues with race relations during the war given from the viewpoints of actual people whose families were impacted. World War II although very

After Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were looked at loathingly by whites. Eventually, with the passing of Executive Order 9066 the Japanese-Americans’ homes were taken away, they were stripped of their property, livelihoods and most importantly their freedom. Even those that were born in the United States were stripped of their rights and forced into internment camps. The racial issues of course did not stop at just the Japanese. African Americans were expected to fight in a war for freedoms that were not even given to them in their own country. At times, they were even denied the ability to enlist in the Armed Forces. Although many African Americans found a new start in the many war towns, they were still discriminated against and still had to deal with segregation. Whites kept African Americans in the low un-skilled jobs. When Roosevelt signed the federal order for the Fair Employment Practices in the defense industries that called for equal opportunity and prohibited discrimination, the new changed caused a lot of problems. Trouble really came when 12 African American workers became welders, whites started a riot because they wanted African American workers to remain in inferior roles. African American workers were then bombarded with racial slurs and violence, which caused some to leave the war towns to protect themselves and their families. Once again proving that the United States was involved in a war for “freedom” that its own citizens were not able to experience fully. The War touched on so many more topics that are all important to the lives of Americans in the past as well as the present. Financial security, livelihood, family and community are things that were and still are important to every American family. World War II caused so many lives to be lost for freedoms that many are still fighting for