Prologue
While coming up with a topic for this paper, one of my questions dealt with war and cultural groups. I will be the first to admit, Racism was the last thing on my mind. The original question being, “How does war affect a Social Culture and how does it stand today?” When I started thinking about Cultures that had been so deeply affected by war, one of the first that came to mind were the Japanese in World War II. Then I recalled what one person had told me of their younger days at college, when they were attending school. Their name will remain anonymous; I do not want to make the victim’s name public as it has a very personal nature.
They had told me that they had been beaten because they were Japanese. They told me how the group of people, mostly military brats had called them “Jap”. How they had beaten them up, some restraining them, some throwing punches or much worse. Knowing this person’s experience made me understand why they acted in the manner that they do now.
I was shocked initially, the only types of racism that I had heard of and witnessed firsthand was between Whites and African Americans as well as Whites vs. Hispanics. So to hear that another cultural group had been discriminated against in the past, here in the Mountains where I was attending school was an eye opening experience. While I was hearing this story, my mind kept querying, but my mouth remained silent.
The question that has pestered me since then and before when witnessing these acts of hatred was “Why?” My family, especially the female members are very suspicious of Hispanics.
One close family member in particular would interrupt rudely while I was teaching my sisters some Spanish phrases I would say them and they would repeat, “you a...
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...e A. Ito. Storied Lives: Japanese American Students and World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999. Print.
ten Broek J, Edward N. Barnhart, and Floyd W. Matson. Prejudice, War, and the Constitution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954. Print.
Thomas, Dorothy S. T, and Richard S. Nishimoto. The Spoilage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1946. Print.
Works Cited
Dr. Seuss. “Mental Insecticide” Cartoon. Dr. Seuss Sucks: 7 Racist Cartoons From the Doctor. March 2012. Online.
Lotchin, Roger W. "Japanese Relocation in World War II and the Illusion of Universal Racism." Journal of The Historical Society 11.2 (2011): 155-181. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Mar. 2012.
ten Broek J, Edward N. Barnhart, and Floyd W. Matson. Prejudice, War, and the Constitution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954. Print.
The reasoning behind the Constitution of the United States is presented as 'based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. It assumes the natural state of mankind in a state of war, and that the carnal mind is at enmity with God.' Throughout, the struggle between democracy and tyranny is discussed as the Founding Fathers who envisioned the Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787 believed not in total democracy, but instead saw common man as selfish and contemptuous, and therefore in need of a 'a good political constitution to control him.' Being a largely propertied body, with the exception of William Few, who was the only one who could honestly be said to represent the majority yeoman farmer class, the highly privileged classes were fearful of granting man his due rights, as the belief that 'man was an unregenerate rebel who has to be controlled' reverberated.
Okihiro, Gary Y. Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996.
Beginning in March of 1942, in the midst of World War II, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were forcefully removed from their homes and ordered to relocate to several of what the United States has euphemistically labeled “internment camps.” In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston describes in frightening detail her family’s experience of confinement for three and a half years during the war. In efforts to cope with the mortification and dehumanization and the boredom they were facing, the Wakatsukis and other Japanese-Americans participated in a wide range of activities. The children, before a structured school system was organized, generally played sports or made trouble; some adults worked for extremely meager wages, while others refused and had hobbies, and others involved themselves in more self-destructive activities.
On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures. First, and most obvious, Monica Sone accounts for, in an autobiographical manner, the important events and situations in her life that helped create her self-identity. She recounts an event at the age of five, when she found out that she?had Japanese blood.? This recognition will spark the chain of many more realizations to come.
Holton, Woody. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution. New York: Hill and Wang, 2007.
“Domestic tranquility”, and “All men created equal”, words used in the preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, irony at its finest in the period known as the Civil War. One month into the Civil War a black man, Alfred M. Green, gave a speech in Philadelphia to a Union audience about just that. In the oration he urged the African American people, who at this time were not eligible to enlist in the Union army, to fight for domestic harmony and equality. In doing so, Green uses figurative language and strong diction to help garner an emotional appeal, as well as establish a tone of empowerment.
People attending schools before 1960’s were learning about certain “unscrupulous carpetbaggers”, “traitorous scalawags”, and the “Radical Republicans”(223). According to the historians before the event of 1960’s revision, these people are the reason that the “white community of South banded together to overthrow these “black” governments and restore home rule”(223). While this might have been true if it was not for the fact that the “carpetbaggers were former Union soldiers”, “Scalawags… emerged as “Old Line” Whig Unionists”(227). Eric Foner wrote the lines in his thesis “The New View of Reconstruction” to show us how completely of target the historians before the 1960’s revision were in their beliefs.
As more immigrants immigrated to the colonies and established lives in colonial America, the colonist began to incorporate their ideas of freedoms, rights and tolerance in legal documents. Some legal documents, such as Maryland’s Toleration Act, illustrate the colonists’ belief in freedom and rights often connected to democracy. Other official documents, for...
Sokol, Jason. "IIP Digital | U.S. Department of State." White Southerners' Reactions to the Civil Rights
21 . Robinson, Greg By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans,2003, Harvard University Press
disfranchisement of every civil right.” James Otis’s point of view seemed to express concerns for the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of the colonists.
Holton, W. (2008). Unruly americans and the origins of the constitution (1 pbk ed.). New York: Hill and Wang.
Throughout his speech to Congress in support of the Voting Rights Act, President Lyndon B. Johnson employs a clear strategy to garner support from both Congress and the American people. Johnson appeals to the patriotism, character, and pathos of his audience by citing historical events and documents, shaming the American people for their systematic oppression, and revealing the plight of both poor whites and the African American citizens as a result of the attempt to uphold segregation and racism in America. Firstly, President Johnson utilizes historical American documents in his speech to sway his audience. In the first paragraphs of his speech, President Johnson mentions unifying moments of American history “in man’s unending search for freedom” at Lexington and Concord as well as Appomattox.
But for some of the Japanese Americans, it was even harder after they were discharged from the internment camp. The evacuation and the internment had changed the lives of all Japanese Americans. The evacuation and internment affected the Wakatsuki family in three ways: the destruction of Papa’s self-esteem, the separation of the Wakatsuki family, and the change in their social status. The destruction of Papa’s self-esteem is one effect of the evacuation and internment. Before the evacuation and internment, Papa was proud; he had a self-important attitude, yet he was dignified.
Racism is the mistreatment of a group of people on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, place of origin, or ancestry. The term racism may also denote a blind and unreasoning hatred, envy, or prejudice (Dimensions of Racism). Racism has had a strong effect on society. Despite the many efforts made to alleviate racism, what is the future of African Americans' Racism's long history, important leaders, current status, and future outlook will be the main factors in determining how to combat racism. Racism is still present in many societies, although many people are doing their best to put an end to racism and its somewhat tragic ordeals.