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 …show more content…
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
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
...conflict. The war had a profound effect on the United States domestic life. The government had massive spending. The more than $150 billion spent throughout this war led to a severe economic crisis (Lawrence, 171.) The war also caused Americans to not trust their governmental leaders for the first time in history. This was due to the Watergate scandal along with the war efforts (Lawrence, 172.) Due to the profound effects economically and socially the war had on Americans, the U.S. should have not proceeded to entering into a battle that was not their own.
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
America was built on a notion of freedom, justice, and equality, thus inviting people from all different parts of the world to pursue success while still retaining their background. However, despite what this nation was truly supposed to stand for, there were grim periods in which it did not truly uphold its core values. During World War II, in which the relationship between the U.S. and Japan was at its worst, many Japanese- Americans faced discrimination and injustice. Americans claimed that this needed to be done as a national emergency and for the peace of the nation. From the sources “War Message” by Franklin D. Roosevelt and “Desert Exile” by Yoshiko Uchida we can piece together the events that lead to the discrimination of Japanese
Before World War II, although Abraham Lincoln had spoken the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the U.S. had gone through the Civil War around 1861, not much had significantly changed for African-Americans. Really nothing changed for African-Americans until much later, around the 1960s, when schools legally had to integrate African-Americans and whites. In relation to other events, World War II began in 1939, Jackie Robinson started on first base in 1947, and Rosa Parks was arrested in 1961. Therefore, at the time leading up to and shortly before World War II, there was not much effective action in terms of equal rights for all races. However, as seen here, after World War II, equality between races became a very prominent, pressing issue. This can partially be traced back to the effect of African-Americans in World War II.
World War II was a time of deliberate hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. Japanese-Americans were persecuted due to the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had attacked the United States on December 7th, 1941 at the naval base, Pearl Harbor. This hatred toward the group was due to newspapers creating a scare for the American people, as well as the government restricting the rights of Japanese-Americans. The Japanese-Americans were mistreated during World War II for no other reason than being different. These men, women, and children were loathed by the American public for looking like the people of the Japanese army that had attacked the United States. These people were only hated by association, even though many had come to the United States to create a better life for their family.
Their loyalty was questioned, they had to suffer. They were betrayed, they had to stay in camp in fear and anguish. All the suffering that Japanese American had to face shows that America is not a paradise, America can make people feel so bad, though there is hope for good life in people. Racism is the foundation for hate and anger and which would later turn into action. In shirt there was a combination of racism and anger that lead Japanese Americans into the horrors of the internment camps. There are no cities or states like this in United States anymore. It was very heart breaking situation but this should always be included in United States history, so that our next generation will never forget what Japanese Americans had to go through. At this point in history of United States, what we can see is that white people are discriminating, ignoring Japanese people. They are following racism. They are practicing “Defense against Difference”, which is Milton Bennett saying. The people from United States, white people are showing differentiation between them and Japanese, they are showing difference between two culture and they are thinking whites are more superior to Japanese culture. I have learned a lot about intercultural sensitivity this semester. This assignment gave me opportunity to not only evaluate intercultural stages but I got to learn about the other cultures. I have learned that everybody should accept other culture and respect them. If we are aware of the history of Japanese Americans, everyone will be educated and there will be no chances of repeating the same history
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.
Before the US entered World War II, the west coast of America was riddled with racism and prejudice against Asian-Americans; especially in laws like the Chinese exclusion act of 1882 and the California Alien Land Law of 1913 which mainly targeted Japanese immigrants. Then with Imperial Japans seemingly unprovoked and unjustified attack of pearl harbor, it was easy for Americans to justify hysteria and their pre-existing prejudices against American citizens of Japanese descent. It was to the point that even being 1/16 Japanese could brand you as a possible treat to the nation. Then on the incredibly baseless, possibility of an internal Japanese threat Executive Order 9066 was enacted; declaring most of the west coast a war zone and declaring the region under martial law. The Order made it legal to send Japanese Americans to
Prior to World War I there was much social, economic, and political inequality for African Americans. This made it difficult for African Americans to accept their own ethnicity and integrate with the rest of American society. By the end of World War II however African Americans had made great strides towards reaching complete equality, developing their culture, securing basic rights, and incorporating into American society.
The Incarceration of Japanese Americans is widely regarded as one of the biggest breaches of civil rights in American History. Incarceration evolved from deep-seated anti-Japanese sentiment in the West Coast of the United States. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, pressure from the military leadership, politicians, media and nativist groups in the West Coast eventually convinced the President Franklin Roosevelt that action had to be taken to deal with the national security “threat” that Japanese Americans posed. In reality, Japanese Americans were no real threat to the United States, but the racist sentiments against them prevailed and greatly influenced United States policy during the war.
In terms of discussing racism most of the historians exclude the events United States took part in during the time frame of the World War II. A particular race that had been mistreated during the World War II was the Japanese Americans in 1945 by the Untied States. In the film, Race: The Power of an Illusion mentions the segregation Japanese American went through, “The fact that they were seen as non American, enabled many Americans to see them as, uh, as the enemy, and to strip them totally of their civil liberties and to put them in, in internment camps during World War II.” The Americans felt threaten by the Japanese American, in which they were all forced to leave their home and live in camps. The film, Something Strong Within exposed the
Michael C. C. Adams' book, The Best War Ever: America and World War II, attempts to dispel the numerous misconceptions of the Second World War. As the title suggests, Americans came out of the war with a positive view of the preceding five turbulent years. This myth was born from several factors. Due to the overseas setting of both theaters of the war, intense government propaganda, Hollywood's glamorization, and widespread economic prosperity, Americans were largely sheltered form the brutal truth of World War II. Even to this day, the generation of World War II is viewed as being superior in morality and unity. The popular illusion held that 'there were no ethnic or gender problems, families were happy and united, and children worked hard in school and read a great number of books.' (115)
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.
WWI affected every aspect of American life, including the economy. The economy immediately grew in the buildup to the war and during its prosecution, due to the high production of goods, loans, the stock market boom, and exports.