The Vietnam And Desert Exile

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

According to the novel Farewell to Manzanar, “I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all” (158). After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, the government saw all Japanese-Americans as enemies even though most, if not all of them, had done nothing wrong. They were taken from their homes and send to awful internment camps where they were treated as prisoners. The Japanese-Americans stayed in the camps four years, just because of where they come from. During this time Americans completely turned against the Japanese people living in their country and bombarded the news with anti-Japanese propaganda which showed how much racial discrimination there was, even back in the 1940s. While Farewell to Manzanar explores this concept, there are many questions in which the reader is left with. First, the Japanese-American Internment was fueled by more than war time panic, which reveals the question: what role did prejudice play in the Japanese-American Relocation? Then, there is the question: what modern day connections can you make with this time in American history? Lastly, this story leaves the reader with the question: do you think something like this could happen today? Farewell to Manzanar gives a glimpse of the lives of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s and

It wasn’t very long after Pearl Harbor that we succumbed to fear of the Japanese here in America, thinking they were spies, and still loyal their ancestral land. Sadly, even our president Roosevelt succumbed to this, in which he signed executive order 9066 which authorized the relocation of all Japanese citizens here in America to internment camps where they would spend 4 years of their life, and lose their homes, valuables, lifes savings,businesses, and much more. Japanese Americans were taken by bus and train to assembly centers such as racetracks and fairgrounds, after this there were camps were created in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. Over 127,000 United States citizens were imprisoned during World War II because

While many Americans of the time would argue that any Japanese-looking person could have been dangerous and anti-America, in reality, the U.S. simply hated Japan and their culture which was shown through societal racism. Firstly, a document published in 1942, states, “All Japanese look very much alike to a white person-it is hard for us to distinguish between them… Many Japanese-Americans have been educated in Japan. Many, believers in Shintoism, worship the Emperor and regard his orders as superior to any loyalty they may owe the United States.” (Document H). Clearly, many white Americans felt that internment could be justified by the fact that it was hard to tell which Japanese-looking people were pro Japan and which were pro United States, therefore meaning that they should all be held captive. These Americans misunderstand the situation by getting the false impression that

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

To be a Japanese immigrant in the early 1900s was difficult but after December 7, 1941 things only got worse. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. “Although conflict had been underway in both Europe and Asia for years, the United States did not formally enter the hostilities until December 8, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously declared the attack on Pearl Harbor ‘a day which we live in infamy’ and asked Congress for a declaration of war” (Wu and Izumi). After the attack on Pearl Harbor “race became increasingly associated with loyalty in the United States” (Harth 254). “What Japan had done was blamed on Japanese Americans” (Wu 2). On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 granted the secretary of war and his commanders the power “to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded” (Executive Order 9066). “Although the text of Executive Order 9066 did not specifically mention Japanese Americans, it was intended to apply to them exclusively” (G. Robinson and G. Robinson 4).

Japanese-Americans were forced to evacuate from coastal areas following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A massive amount of Americans who were not of Japanese descent believed that the Japanese community could not be trusted, so the government felt that it was necessary to remove them from their homes and place them in camps located away from militarized coastal regions. This was a controversial decision at the time and still receives criticism today for going against typical American constitutional values centering around citizen’s unalienable rights. Through the research of many letters written during Japanese internment or reflecting on the event, it seems that Japanese-Americans of that time period had mixed feelings about being relocated and the majority of the community was upset that they were viewed and treated differently than other Americans but did acknowledge that the overall treatment they received at camp was fair. Japanese Internment camps were psychologically damaging to Japanese-Americans due to the racist nature of selective forced evacuation, and the Japanese community was more upset about being removed from their homes than how they were treated at camp.

“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.

During the brink of war in World War II to the Civil Rights era, the United States was globally known for their considerable dedication of nationwide pride and prosperity as the outside perspective of the nation was depicted as a powerhouse along with a booming economy. However, the inside perspective of the nation gave away its true colors, becoming a tough pill to swallow as the minority of the United States’ population experienced a time of turmoil facing the white majority. It was fairly easy to overlook the prime examples of racial injustice in the 20th century, but not unfairly to sense the hardship for equality. Victims of the crimes of hatred and vengeance were heavily targeted as being Japanese-Americans and African-Americans. The motive for the discrimination of the Japanese-Americans was influenced by the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, which caused mainstream hatred toward all persons of Japanese ancestry. As an act of precaution, all Japanese-Americans were forced to be imprisoned in internment camps until the end of the war. Moreover, the pursuit of racial equality for African-Americans was a continuous struggle that ensured the limitations of their freedom and civil rights. Whereas one of the incentive for the cause of segregation was merely to input fear to distribute the mindset of whites being the dominant race. Both the Japanese-Americans and the African-Americans battled the impaired judgement that was written all over the partial citizenship they were

With such events occurring quickly in such a small time period, the second World War came as a massive shock. Yet again, Americans called for isolationism and neutrality as they believed America should focus on ending the Great Depression, not worrying about and dealing with the international issues of other nations and peoples. By analyzing Document 5, it is clear that many Americans still believe in isolationism during the Great Depression. Bennett Champ Clark states in his Defense of the First Neutrality Act that “the desire to keep the United States from becoming involved in any war between foreign nations seems practically unanimous among the rank and file of American citizens.” Americans influenced the US foreign policy yet again as the First Neutrality Act was passed in 1935. By analyzing Document 6, it is clear that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the choices he made were still influenced by isolationist sentiment as he states in his Quarantine Speech that “it is my determination to adopt every practicable measure to avoid involvement in war.” However, it is clear in President Roosevelt's speech that he knew that entering the war was inevitable as he states that the “peace of the world and the welfare and security of every nation, including our own is today being threatened by that very thing (war).” Although the United States tried its best to not enter the second World War for many years, it could not avoided by the end of 1941. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. The federal government’s response to this attack can be analyzed in Document 7, President Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Address to the Congress of the United States. In response to the attack, Roosevelt calls for Congress to “declare . . . a state of war has existed between the United States and the

World War II did not only have positive impacts on the American lifestyle, however. The biggest group to suffer from the war was the Japanese Americans. Due to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, and their racial origin caused Americans to fear these citizens. In response to these fears, President Roosevelt “gave the army power, without warrants or hearings, to arrest every person of Japanese descent on the West Coast” (Scott, Lecture 5). As a result of this, 120,000 Japanese Americans, ¾ of which were Nisei (born in the U.S.), were forced into concentration camps all along

During the Imperialist Japan’s bombing of pearl harbor, struct fear for Americans and created a misconception that Asian, main centralizing on the Japanese, are worried that one might be a double agent or a traitor. The American government initiated a temporary legislation to arrest people from Japan for the the safety of the greater good for the United States of America. Victims who are prosecuted and arrested to undergo in a highly surveilled internment camps start to question their social title and what it really meant to be a citizen in the United States of America. They devoted and took oath of the American flag in order to become a citizen of the United States, but the loyalty and their trust to their country ended up stabbing them in the back. Frustrated and livid Japanese Americans protested and fought against these unlawful act of illegally captivating Japanese People without an unreasonable doubt that they are traitors to the country. The act that the United States took upon themselves without any second thought to the interned the Japanese is immoral and unjust. Fred Korematsu, fought the legislation and took up to the supreme court in hope to free his people. Korematsu taught and believed that “in school they taught us that all people are equal in this country, regardless of race and religion. I’m an American interning people just because of their race is simply wrong” (Chandler37). Fred Korematsu protest and resistance again the federal government and they legislation against the Japanese community incriminates and entire race due to a terrorized act of another company doesn't mean it is just to label the entire

Discrimination against Japanese Americans drastically increased and led to an immense amount of stress on Japanese American families who had businesses and jobs. This stress built up so much to the point where they were ashamed of who they were. In Japanese beliefs “shame in [their] culture is worse than death” (Peter Ota 28), yet they were constantly being told they were the enemy everyday so it became hard for them to be themselves. They “had to prove” (Peter Ota 31) that they were Americans which still did not change many people’s views on them. Many became “more American than Americans - to blend into the community and become part of white America” (Peter Ota 32).

World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, lasting from 1939-1945. One of the initiators, Japan, was behaving aggressively and pushed the United States away from the country’s attempt to stay neutral regarding global issues. Japan’s belligerent conquests were the ignition to the fuel of hostility against the Japanese-Americans that has been increasing for many years. Americans sought a solution to fix the Japanese issue after its brutal attack against the United States, but failed to distinguish between domestic and global issues. The United States decided to intern all Japanese citizens on the west coast. Families were given notice, told to move to evacuation centers, and then to predetermined military zones. Although the

Therefore, it came as a shock when “The U.S Department of Treasury froze the assets of all citizens...who were born in Japan, and the Department of Justice arrested...1,500 religious and community leaders as potentially dangerous enemy aliens” (Encylopaedia Britannica).}}{{Clearly, there was no cogency behind this rash decision. The US government had no right in disregarding aid to citizens based on the sudden belief that they may possess loyalty to Japan.}}{{Secondly, the first two generations of Japanese citizens, the Issei and Nisei, had either legally gained their citizenship or had never even stepped foot on Japanese soil. Before the tragedy in 1941, the “...Issei and Nisei had enjoyed the rights of any US citizens; now their own government imposed strict curfews...and raided their homes for contraband…” (From Citizen to Enemy).}}{{Obviously, the Japanese had done nothing to cause the American government to react this way. The government was being paranoid and fearful of citizens who had been no threat previously.}}{{This discrimination not only became the new mentality of the entire nation, but it was also publicized in a humiliating way by the media. For example, “...From Dr. Seuss cartoons to the covers of mainstream magazines, Japanese Americans were