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Japanese internment after ww2
Japanese internment after ww2
Japanese internment sociological theory
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World War Two was tragic and not only resulted in millions of deaths, but also increased racial prejudice in America. Racism against Japanese people and those of Japanese descent living in America increased after the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7th, 1941. Many Japanese people living in America had their basic rights restricted, and were relocated. Although Japanese people were repressed, they tried to stay positive while in internment camps. Racial conflict affected Japanese- Americans all over the US, especially in the North-West, where those of Japanese descent had lived for generations. Californian farmers began to lose trust in their Japanese employees, and many homes and businesses put up signs to discourage those of Japanese descent
It was no secret that when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, countless Americans were frightened on what will happen next. The attack transpiring during WW2 only added to the hysteria of American citizens. According to the article “Betrayed by America” it expressed,”After the bombing many members of the public and media began calling for anyone of Japanese ancestry။citizens or not။to be removed from the West Coast.”(7) The corroboration supports the reason why America interned Japanese-Americans because it talks about Americans wanting to remove Japanese-Americans from the West Coast due to Japan bombing America. Japan bombing America led to Americans grow fear and hysteria. Fear due to the recent attack caused internment because Americans were afraid of what people with Japanese ancestry could do. In order to cease the hysteria, America turned to internment. American logic tells us that by getting the Japanese-Americans interned, many
The conditions the Japanese Americans were put through were horrible and everyone deserves to be treated equally. The worst part was the persecution of numerous innocent people because they did nothing wrong. The outbreak of hysteria was a big part of them being thrown into camps because the government thought they were working with Japan. In the Internment Camps and Salem Witch Trials people had no evidence and were treated unfairly, making them similar even though it was two different time
Forced to relocate into internment camps, Japanese-Americans were feared and considered the enemy. With anti-Japanese prejudice existing for years (prior to WWII), the military actions of Japan, erupted the hostility
The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. “Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships” (“Attack” 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. “Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists” (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942, all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps.
The U.S. went into WWII in 1942 after the Japanese bombed U.S. naval base, Pearl Harbor. The bombing of Pearl Harbor took out the majority of the U.S. Navy. This attack struck fear in all Americans, and was followed by extreme hostility to the Japanese Americans. The fear became so severe that the U.S. government created the internment camps inland from the west coast where they sent all people of Japanese descent. This occurred because the government was afraid that the Japanese Americans, living too close to the coast, could communicate with Japan. They were “stripped of their civil liberties” (Des Jardins) on American soil. Part of the American Dream for people was to escape persecutions of all kinds. The camps eroded people’s American Dream and freedoms. Moving into these camps was disaster for the Japanese Americans. The camps destroyed the old traditions and gender roles. The men felt “emasculated by the low wages” (Des Jardins) they received from low-status jobs inside the camps and the women were “shamed in barrack commodes” (Des Jardins) having to expose themselves in front of their families and strangers. Before the camps, families would eat meals together. Once the Japanese Americans were forced into the camps and their lifestyles changed, families stopped their
During 1941 many Americans were on edge as they became increasingly more involved in WWII. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese decided to take matters to their own hands. They attacked the naval base Pearl Harbor and killed 68 Americans in order to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with their military. After this surprise attack, the Americans officially entered the war, which caused many people to become paranoid (Baughman). Many people feared the Japanese because they thought they were spies for Japan, and because of this the Executive Order 9066 was signed and issued by FDR which sent many Japanese Americans to live in internment camps (Roosevelt). This caused the Japanese to become a scapegoat of America’s fear and anger. The Issei and Nisei who once moved to this country to find new opportunities and
Racism had been an ongoing problem in America during the time of WWII. The American citizens were not happy with the arriving of the Japanese immigrants and were not very keen in hiding it. The Japanese were titled with the degrading title of “Japs” and labeled as undesirables. Bombarding propaganda and social restrictions fueled the discrimination towards the Japanese. A depiction of a house owned by white residents shows a bold sign plastered on the roof, blaring “Japs keep moving - This is a white man’s neighborhood” ("Japs Keep Moving - This Is a White Man's Neighborhood"). The white man’s hatred and hostility towards the Japanese could not have been made any clearer. Another source intensifies the racism by representing the Japanese as a swarm of homogeneous Asians with uniform outfits, ...
...ilroad and mining companies had depended on cheap Chinese labor for the majority of their profits and were still unwilling to pay higher wages to white American workers. These businesses increasingly depended on Japanese immigrants to replace the prohibited Chinese workers. As the Japanese came, the Americans told the same story that they had with the Chinese. They were once again arguing that the Japanese were taking their jobs and not absorbing the American culture. The United States took action yet again, by creating an informal treaty with Japan, restricting Japanese immigration to the U.S.
The Japanese internment camps started in February, around two months after the Pearl Harbor bombing, which was also the reason America decided to enter the war. People’s suspicions of Japanese led the government, passing an order to uproot 120,000 people from their homes, lives, families, everything they knew. WWII brought lots of change, although their families were being contained, many young Japanese joined the U.S. army in the fight against Germany and Japan. It’s important for people to learn and remember who the really is against. “Sure enough, 40 days later January 20, 1942, came a letter that said, greeting from the President of the United States you are now in the army, and that was my draft notice.”( Interview with Norman Saburo
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.
Stetson Conn (1990) wrote “For several decades the Japanese population had been the target of hostility and restrictive action.” It was easy for the government to take advantage of the Japanese-Americans because they were already the target of aggression. Since the Japanese population was already in such a low position in society, taking advantage of their circumstances was easy for the government. The Japanese found themselves having to defend their presence in a country that was supposed to be accepting; this also happened to the Chinese before the Japanese. (Terry, 2012)
Inevitably, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that began World War II, Japanese-Americans were frowned upon and stereotyped because of their descent. However, Japanese immigrants contributed to economic expansion of the United States. Whites resented the Japanese immigrants, but reaped economic profit from the Japanese-American residents’ discipline and hard work. Japanese-Americans of this time seem to be attacked; however, they choose to uphold their disconnection with the rest of the Americans. Many Japanese felt they had superiority over Americans, creating tension and disconnection.
American society, like that of Germany, was tainted with racial bigotry and prejudice. The Japanese were thought of as especially treacherous people for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The treachery was obviously thought to reside in ...
The United States of America is the place of opportunity and fortune. “Many immigrants hoped to achieve this in the United States and similar to other immigrants many people from the Asian Pacific region hoped to make their fortune. They planned to either return to their homelands or build a home in their new country (Spring, 2013).” For this reason, life became very complicated for these people. They faced many challenges in this new country, such as: classifying them in terms of race and ethnicity, denying them the right to become naturalized citizens, and rejecting them the right of equal educational opportunities within the school systems. “This combination of racism and economic exploitation resulted in the educational policies to deny Asians schooling or provide them with segregated schooling (Spring, 2013).”This was not the country of opportunity and fortune as many believed. It was the country of struggle and hardship. Similarly, like many other immigrants, Asian Americans had the determination to overcome these obstacles that they faced to prove that the United States was indeed their home too.
In the beginning when only a few Japanese were coming over there was no evident signs of resentment from the Americans, but as time went on the numbers grew to about 38,303 the racism was inevitable. Akagi Shyly, a picture bride said, “children would throw eggs and tomatoes at him as he rode to work in the streetcar”, this was because her husband was Japanese. The American people did not accept the Japanese immigration so they found ways to harass them.