Case Study: A Day Of Infamy

In the peak of immigration, Japanese immigrants never made up more than a tiny percentage of the United States population. However, by the early years of the century, organized campaigns had already arisen to exclude Japanese immigrants from U.S. life. Sensational reports appeared in the English-language press portraying the Japanese as the enemies of the American worker, as a menace to American womanhood, and as corrupting agents in American society-in other words, repeating many of the same slanders as had been used against Chinese immigrants in the decades before. The head of the American Federation of Labor, Samuel Gompers, denounced all Asians and barred them from membership in the nation 's largest union. Legislators and mayors called for a Japanese Exclusion Act to protect the U.S. from "the brown toilers of the mikado 's realm."

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

The internment and cruel treatment of the Japanese in the U.S. stemmed from a fear of a full-pledged invasion from Japan and also from years of racial prejudice

Part of the reason that American citizens wanted the Japanese gone, along with irrational fear, was to weed out the Japanese businesses that were competing with their own. Much of the pressure that Roosevelt felt came from American farmers that wanted their Japanese competition out of the picture so that they could make larger profits. This again ties in with the personal gain aspect of the Salem Witch Trials, using accusation to get rid of disliked villagers. Along with the competition of Japanese owned businesses, the Americans felt that the Japanese were taking their jobs and used their anti-immigrant feelings to fuel their hatred. This aspect of Japanese Internment can be seen today in American politics with the deportation of Mexican peoples out of the United States because the American citizens feel their jobs are being taken from

America and the residents felt threatened by the Japanese so they started an internment camps. “President Roosevelt ordered the evacuation of Japanese-Americans relocation and internment camps after 2 months”(Japanese Internment camps )The FBI was In charge of the internment camps and ordered to gather the Japanese decedent. According to the ……….. research “The Japanese were given two weeks to gather their belonging and sell their business”.

Most of the Japanese-Americans could not vote or take part in any election. Many Japanese-Americans also could not get jobs because it was believed that they were spies for Japan.

Of course, the American public was also feeling great resentment towards the Japanese-Americans during this particular time period. Congress merely intensified these feelings of hatred by passing laws such as the executive order 9066.

The relocation of thousands of Japanese-Americans would spark debates throughout the country. In a quote from PBS, “The head of the California Grower-Shipper Vegetable Association told the Saturday Evening Post: ‘If all of the Japs were removed tomorrow, we’d never miss them… because the white farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we don’t want them back when the war ends, either.’”(PBS.org, 2007) There was also Japanese-American sympathizers that did not agree with Presidents Roosevelts Executive Order 9066. These sympathizers would write the

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

“Herd ‘em up, pack ‘em off, and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands”(Hearst newspaper column). Many Americans were feeling this way toward people of Japanese descent after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The feelings Americans were enduring were motivated largely by wartime hysteria, racial prejudice, and a failure of political leadership. The Japanese-Americans were being denied their constitutional rights, they were provided poor living conditions in these relocation camps, and by the time apologies and reparations were paid to the Japanese, it was too late.

Racism had been escalating in the United States since the 19th century. Anxiety between migrant workers and the white workers had been excessive for years as many bosses forced them to compete for jobs and land. By 1924, the U.S. government prohibited nearly all immigration from Japan. Numerous states banned nuptials between white people and people of Asian ancestry. The United States became full of fear and hatred after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Anxiety of more attacks by the Japanese on their cities, homes, and businesses was especially present along the Pacific coast of the United States. However, this event did not give the government or the whites the right to discriminate and violate the rights of loyal hard working Japanese Americans.

In the United States, prejudice, propaganda, and power were collective factors influencing discrimination against Japanese Americans before, and during World War II, but the bombing of Pearl harbor catapulted the greatest violation of civil rights against a minority group during this time with the issuance of Executive Order 9066, which ordered their confinement.

Often in America, the public is educated about the victories of the nation, such as in World War II (WWII); however, they are unaware of the after effects it imposed onto other parties (enemy nations). Specifically, Japanese people lost their defenses, and the lifestyles of the citizens were significantly modified. Moreover, Japan was part of the Axis powers during the war and gained worldwide attention when the island attacked Pearl Harbor, a United States Naval base. This event caused the Americans to join the battle and eventually overwhelm the Japanese and forcing a surrender in 1945. Post WWII, Japan’s failure in the war was responsible for a cultural change in the country that is still present in modern day, which led to reform in family dynamics, mentality adjustments, and perceptional alteration of women. Also, whether young or old, all were exposed to this change, and those that lived in family styled households together, were the first to experience their relationships shift.

However racist the country was as a whole, not all Americans concurred with their government about the Japanese. Some thought that the military ambition of Japan was a

After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, life in the U.S. had changed. It was the first time in a long time that America was attacked on its homeland. This national security threat was a big shock to the people. The Japanese had to suffer the consequences of their attack. Just as the Germans developed concentration camps for the Jewish during World War II, the Americans set up "relocation" programs better known as internment camps to keep all the Japanese. The reason the Japanese were moved into these camps was because they were suspected of being spies. They were forced to live there for up to four years and were not able to continue with their own lives as they were before while they were living in these camps.