Pearl Harbor: Catalyst for American Xenophobia

720 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: America's response to the attack at Pearl Harbour

It all started with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. During the 1940s, United States placed an embargo on Japan’s access to war materials in an attempt to stop Japan from further invasion in Asia. However, the plan did not work out well. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the US’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, and caused more than 2,400 deaths of Americans (Roark 671). This surprise attack not only pushed the United States into World War II, but also triggered the start of racial discrimination against Asians in America, specifically Japanese Americans, Chinese, and of course, the Japanese. In this essay, an excerpt taken from the Life Magazine will be analyzed and supported with The American Promise written by James Roark et al. …show more content…

This excerpt was published days after the attack and its purpose was to “distinguish friendly Chinese from enemy alien Japs” (“How To Tell Japs” 81-82). The title of this excerpt was capitalized in bold letters with a subheading “angry citizens victimize allies with emotional outburst at enemy”. Based on the subheading, one can conclude that besides Japanese Americans, other innocent Asians also fell into the enemy category after the attack. Although the US citizens were outraged, they could not just take their anger out on every Asian looking person because the Chinese, who were an ally of US, make up a huge population in the country. Therefore, to avoid mistaking a Chinese as a Jap, this excerpt was published to serve as an information guide for Americans to differentiate the two …show more content…

The need for Americans to physically draw out the two ethnic groups is ironic and racist. It is racist because all the descriptions provided on the Chinese and Japanese were based on the Americans’ perspectives towards the people, they were all stereotypes of Asians in general. On the other hand, it is ironic because the Americans claimed that the Chinese were their ally, yet they couldn’t tell the differences in appearance between a friend and an enemy. In conclusion, not only did the Japanese’ attack surprised and frightened the nation but it also revealed the ignorance of

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Betrayed By America By Kristin Lewis

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • How Is Japanese Internment Justified

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • You People Did This Essay

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    World War Two was one of the biggest militarized conflicts in all of human history, and like all wars it lead to the marginalization of many people around the world. We as Americans saw ourselves as the great righteous liberators of those interned into concentration camps under Nazi Germany, while in reality our horse was not that much higher than theirs. The fear and hysteria following the attacks on pearl harbour lead to the forced removal and internment of over 110,000 Japanese American residents (Benson). This internment indiscriminately applied to both first and second generation Japanese Americans, Similarly to those interned in concentration camps, they were forced to either sell, store or leave behind their belongings. Reshma Memon Yaqub in her article “You People Did This,” describes a similar story to that of the Japanese Americans. The counterpart event of pearl harbour being the attacks on the world trade

    Read More

  • The Rape of Nanking

    2406 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...ce of ordinary people, fear of retribution from the Japanese underground they still believed to be in existence… (Yamamoto p. 190).” Even after the war, the Chinese were so traumatized by the vile actions that they were still afraid that the Japanese army would return to treat as livestock once more.

    Read More

  • The Impact of WWII On American Minorities

    1622 Words  | 4 Pages

    American minorities made up a significant amount of America’s population in the 1920s and 1930s, estimated to be around 11.9 million people, according to . However, even with all those people, there still was harsh segregation going on. Caucasians made African-Americans work for them as slaves, farmers, babysitters, and many other things in that line. Then when World War II came, “World War II required the reunification and mobilization of Americans as never before” (Module2). They needed to cooperate on many things, even if they didn’t want to. These minorities mainly refer to African, Asian, and Mexican-Americans. They all suffered much pain as they were treated as if they weren’t even human beings. They were separated, looked down upon, and wasn’t given much respect because they had a different culture or their skin color was different. However, the lives of American minorities changed forever as World War 2 impacted them significantly with segregation problems, socially, and in their working lives, both at that time and for generations after.

    Read More

  • Mexican Migration Essay

    601 Words  | 2 Pages

    The bombing on Pearl Harbor impaired America, which brought an increase to racial tension. However, this impairment brought all nationalities together. “Thirty-three thousand Japanese Americans enlisted in the United States Armed Forces. They believed participation in the defense of their country was the best way to express their loyalty and fulfill their obligation as citizens” (Takaki 348). Takaki proves to us that the battle for independence was grappled on the ends of enslaved races. The deception of discrimination within the military force didn’t only bewilder Americans that sensed the agony of segregation, but also to the rest of world who honored and idolized America as a beam of freedom for

    Read More

  • Truman's Blunder: The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

    1777 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anti-Asian bigotries, with their origins in the 19th century, added to the way Americans rapidly radicalized World War II within Asia. Racist beliefs concerning the Japanese reached its highest in the aftershock of the destructive surprise attack at Pearl Harbor (Maddox, 138). Americans started to classify World War II as two very different wars, the Pacific war and the European war. In Europe, Hitler and the Nazis were identified as enemies and were distinguished from the German people as a whole. On the other hand, in the Pacific, American antagonism was usually targeted the entire Japanese race or the “Japs” as they were called. Throughout the war, the Ja...

    Read More

  • Racial And Cultural Stereotypes In War Without Mercy By John Dower

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, both the American and Japanese propaganda machine spun into action, churning out dehumanizing propaganda materials about each other that instills fear and anger onto the civilians of the two respective countries. John Dower’s book, War Without Mercy, depicts the changing perceptions of the protagonists in the pacific theater. From the Japanese perspective, the Americans were the antagonist, while the American counterpart will view the Japanese as the antagonist. Therefore, the central premise was that racial fear and hatred, perpetuated by demonizing propagandas, was the determining factor on how both sides look at the “inferior” other. Dower asserted, “In this milieu of historical forgetfulness, selective reporting centralized propaganda, and a truly savage war, atrocities and war crimes played a major role in the propagation of racial and cultural stereotypes. The stereotypes preceded the atrocities,

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment After Pearl Harbor

    2439 Words  | 5 Pages

    On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3

    Read More

  • Japanese Internment

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Otsuka's 'Buddha In The Attic'

    1356 Words  | 3 Pages

    Towns already had signs that warned any Japanese person move into their town they will be arrested. Certain businesses were refusing services to the point that the next generation learned to call a business to ask if they serve Japanese before going to the place. They had to learn to protect themselves by never being along but also never with a huge group. Many felt that they had to remain quiet and invisible to be accepted by the community by simply agreeing with certain circumstances; such as, moving when a person feels more privileged to ask you to move instead of moving themselves away from the area they don’t feel comfortable in. The war gave people the push to perform the acts they had been desiring for years without being concerned about the government intervening. When the attack happened the signs became more descriptive explaining certain features for the enemy that then led to people being taken away from their hard worked lands being returned to those who believed it belonged to the Caucasians. America was never a melting pot but a plate that refuses to let the food touch each other. If the food crossed their limits then the whole goal or flavor was destroyed forcing people to fix it by attacking or throwing it

    Read More

  • Why Did Asian Americans Adopt The Anti-Japanese Persuasion

    465 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Pearl Harbor was first bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, many people turned their backs to the whole Asian race. Koreans and other Asian ethnicities wanted to be contrasted as much as they could be from the Japanese. Several articles were written to differentiate between the races such as one that was titled, “How to tell Japs from the Chinese.” Other people, such as the Koreans, wore badges reading “I am Korean,” or for the Chinese “I am Chinese.” Many of the Asian Americans tried very hard to prove their loyalty to the U.S. Therefore, they adopted the Anti-Japanese Persuasion because the Koreans, along with other Asians, were just as against the Japanese as the Americans were. However, this did not stop Koreans from being taken

    Read More

  • The American Dream and the Declaration of Independence

    491 Words  | 1 Pages

    "All Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among there are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness". It is in this sentence from the Declaration of Independence, that the idea of the American dream has its roots. The phrase, “the American dream” can mean many different things, but among the most basic interpretation is that America is a land of opportunity and freedom for all who come to it. The idea of the American dream has influenced people to come to America in search of economic opportunities, political choice, and religious freedom.

    Read More

  • The American Promise Summary

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    In my opinion and based on my readings of our textbook The American Promise: A History of the United States by James Roark, the most pressing issue the young republic faced after the new congress took power under the new constitution in 1789, and George Washington became president was searching for stability. In the young republic 's search for stability they needed to cover many bases politically, socially, and culturally.

    Read More

  • Asian American Literature

    499 Words  | 1 Pages

    For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued. In essence, he was shunned” (Hongo 4) by the white people who could not believe that he would attack their superior American ways. According to writers such as Frank Chin and the rest of the “Aiiieeeee!” group, the Americans have dictated Asian culture and created a perception as “nice and quiet” (Chin 1972, 18), “mama’s boys and crybabies” without “a man in all [the] males.” (Chin 1972, 24). This has become the belief of the proceeding generations of Asian Americans and therefore manifested these stereotypes.

    Read More

More about Pearl Harbor: Catalyst for American Xenophobia

Open Document