Japanese-American Prejudice Essay

Therefore, these particular people were considered threatening. During WWII,

Subsections (3) and (4) focus on discrimination really show how the Japanese were targeted because of their race. Not only did the government control where the Japanese were going to reside, but also the discrimination that they had to

In the article, it mentions that the Japanese who lived on the west coast of America and Canada were placed in camps that were in isolated areas of the United States. They were placed there because after Pearl Harbor, America was scared that their Japanese citizens

government implemented a system of outsider confinement offices. They were desensitizing codes word for detainment facilities and filled them with around 120,000 Japanese-Americans, 66% of whom were American residents and about every one of whom wee never charged, attempted or sentenced any wrongdoing. At the time these facilities were considered a “security” measure, but looking back now we can see they were nothing but unjustified judgement caused by the fear of American people and military. “Even in the aftermath of a disaster as largest Pearl Harbor, Eleanor felt the guarantees of the Bill of Rights must be protected. Roosevelt did not agree.

Upon hearing that Japan had attacked the United States, Okubo was certain that there would be racism and backlash against Japanese Americans. Okubo states, “Then on December 7, 1941, while my brother and I were having late breakfast I turned on the radio and heard the flash—“Pearl Harbor bombed by the Japanese!” We were shocked. We wondered what this would mean to us and the other people of Japanese descent in the United States” (Okubo 8). The belief that people of Japanese descent were a threat to national security was based on stereotypes and prejudices.

Japanese-American Relocation in the U.S. During World War II During World War II, many Japanese Americans were relocated by the orders of President Roosevelt. The launch of this war was due to the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941 as the national security was feared mainly on the west coast. The order was made to relocate all persons inland, citizens and noncitizens, who are part of a Japanese descent, mainly to prevent any infiltration and protection from those Americans who would want to take anger out on the Japanese. Since this order, 117,000 Japanese- Americans were affected, and about 66% were native-born citizens to the U.S.

Soon after that incident, Japanese Americans were rounded up and placed into Internment camps. These are the lines written in the history books. But the issue

The racism towards the Japanese during WWII was blatant. Because of the physical appearance and the alias and enemies the Western Countries had, it added to the discrimination. World War II was a war unlike many, especially western citizens who were of Japanese. During the war they would label anyone who was the descent of a country against North America as ‘enemy aliens.’

“The Broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership.”(“Personal Justice Denied” 5). None of what happened was “driven by analysis of military conditions” (“Personal Justice Denied”

Due to the increasing fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast, Lt. General John L. Dewitt recommended that all people of Japanese descent living in America be removed to the interior of the country. In the article “An American Tragedy: The Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II” by Norman Y. Mineta, former US Secretary of Transportation, Dewitt backed up his suggestion with rumors that “ethnic Japanese on the West Coast were signaling Japanese ships out in the Pacific ocean” and they “had stockpiled numerous rounds of ammunition and weapons” (Mineta 161). In order to combat this threat in case of enemy invasion, the camps would detain the Japanese Americans so they cannot aid the enemy. The warped logic used to imprison 110,000 people purely based on ethnic background was convincing enough to the American people that they didn’t even question

Imagine this! You are from the diverse continent of Asia.. You are a 13 year old and still go to school. You have to get an A in every class on every test. If you don't your parents will yell at you.

Minorities have made significant strides towards equality in American society. In America the minority groups are being stereotype due to their ethnicity. The media has had a significant impact in passing the stereotypes to the work that have convey negative impressions about certain ethnic groups. Minorities have been the victim of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the "majority" at the expense of a minority group ideals (Horton, Price, and Brown 1999). Stereotypes have been portraying negative characteristics of ethnic group in general.

Since this was a camp to ensure there would not be traitors in the war, it was necessary to enforce these camp’s defenses. However, there was an exception for the Japanese-Americans to get out of the Camps and it was by volunteering for the war. “There were about 1500 from the mainland — most from behind barbed wire in American Concentration Camps — while… nearly 100,000 volunteers from Hawaii [entered the war],” (Odo). Japanese Americans volunteered for the war, not forced to join, because these camps held no intention of harming these Japanese-Americans in the first place. So in this case, those handful of Japanese Americans voluntarily let themselves involved in warfare, knowing they may die in even harsher environments unlike living in the camps.

Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were savagely and unjustifiably uprooted from their daily lives. These Japanese-Americans were pulled from their jobs, schools, and home only to be pushed to

As a result, all Japanese were discriminated in the U.S.A. as biased perceptions were already set in their minds. They were judging the Japanese as the whole, just because the attack of a small part of the