Essay on Anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States

I’m sure everyone has learned about World War II at some point during their school years. It’s a part of American history and one of the U.S’s wins because we like to only show the good side of what we do. Since only the wins of the U.S is shown more in textbooks or in schools in general, the Manzanar internment camps aren’t something that is talked about a lot. The effects of the Manzanar internment camps aren’t talked about enough in textbooks or in schools here in the U.S and those effects haunted the Japanese for many decades. The Japanese had always been a victim of racism and prejudice and it became a bigger problem after the Manzanar internment camps.

The Japanese had always been a victim of oppression for several years even before World War II. The U.S was dealing with poor Chinese immigrants trying to settle in the U.S for money at the time before Japanese immigrants were starting to migrate to the U.S. The U.S saw the Japanese immigrants as more of a threat than the Chinese. Shortly after the Japanese tried immigrating to the U.S, anti-Asian organizations were starting to form, starting the Anti-Japanese Exclusion movement. Politicians and community leaders made many efforts to discourage the Japanese immigration to the U.S. Efforts such as enforcing boycotts on Japanese businesses and spreading propaganda that paints the Japanese as the “undesirable race” (Anderson, 2020). It was a way to keep the Japanese out of the U.S borders. San Francisco’s Board of Education declared segregation between Asian children and American students to keep the tension between the two pacific coast countries low. In 1906, the board ordered all Japanese and Korean students to be grouped with the Chinese students who had already been segregated. (Eng., 2006) That obviously angered many Japanese individuals. The Japanese government argued that this law violated the Treaty of 1894, which granted to Japanese the same rights as U.S citizens. In 1913, California passed a law called the “California Alien Land Law of 1913” in where immigrants were banned from owning any agricultural land. This was enforced on the Japanese because it was supported by some farmers who feared “economic competition.” The Japanese were making a strong presence in the agricultural industry. (Personal Justice Denied, 29)

On December 7 in the year 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack with a missile to destroy Pearl Harbor in the U.S. Right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Justice Department made around 3,000 arrests of people who were considered “dangerous”, about half of them being Japanese-Americans. Most of the arrests were for Japanese organizations and religious groups. Not only that but the Department froze all of the Japanese’s bank accounts. These two actions paralyzed the Japanese American community by depriving it of both its leadership and financial assets. (Farrell, 2000). The Japanese community was already starting to struggle and not many days had passed.  Certain images, known as propaganda, created tensions between the U.S and Japan. All posters and articles painted a certain image of the Japanese. A certain propaganda poster named “How to Tell Japs from the Chinese” spread across all newspapers and local stores “By dehumanizing the Japanese and instilling fear in the minds of Americans, WWII propaganda posters prompted cultural and racial hatred that led to massive historical consequences for the Japanese.” (Miles, 2012.) She analyzes a propaganda poster titled “This Is The Enemy” She then says, “ Other differentiation of the soldier include slanted eyes and a face that resembles an animal. The slanted eyes illustrate another Asian stereotype, and the monkey-like face depicts the Japanese as animalistic monsters. The woman, on the other hand, has an ideal American appearance. She has attractive facial features and shows no hints of animalism.” In these propagandas, they give the Japanese an image of an animalistic monster. They portray the Japanese with yellow skin, slanted eyes, and almost looking like monkeys. In the same poster, they portray the American as the victim. This furthers the dehumanization of the Japanese. As we all know, those consequences were the Manzanar camps and the numerous amounts of hate crimes toward innocent Japanese people. World War II wasn’t just between Japan and the U.S. World War II involved Italy and Germany. There was so much tension between the Japanese and the U.S but there is almost nothing between Italy and Germany. It was mostly Japanese-Americans that were evacuated from their homes and taken to internment camps but what about Italian-Americans, German-Americans, or anyone of European descent? (Wakatsuki, 92.) John L. DeWitt, a 4-star general, who was in the U.S Army, best known for leading the Japanese-American internment camps, originally wanted the evacuation to involve all Japanese, German, and Italian-Americans. The public opposed that decision. They were in favor of relocating the Japanese but “opposed to any mass evacuation of German or Italian aliens, much less second-generation Germans or Italians.” (Burton, 2000). There isn’t a specific reason why the public decided that but it is clear that this had racist motivations.

One of the famous books about the Manzanar internment camps, Farewell to Manzanar, is about the author’s experience in the internment camps. Jeanne Watsuki, the author of Farewell to Manzanar, talks about her high school years after her family got out of the internment camps. She made a friend named Radine, a Caucasian girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. Jeanne always felt like Radine was in the spotlight more than her, Radine was prettier with her blonde hair and blue eyes, and white skin. She felt like no matter how many achievements she has, and how much work she put into things, she’d never get that attention like Radine. This is a form of prejudice or racism that Jeanne felt. She always felt invisible and what made it worse was that she was a Japanese GIRL. “At that age, I was too young to consciously use my sexuality or to understand how an oriental female can fascinate Caucasian men, and of course far too young to see that even this is usually are just another form of invisibility.” (Wakatsuki, 117) Even after the Manzanar camps closed and World War II ended, Jeanne never felt like she belonged with her Caucasian peers. The Japanese had always felt resentment from the white Americans. Even after the War, Japanese-Americans, especially former prisoners, faced prejudice and discrimination. Social-justice activist and American teacher, Aki Kurose, noted that she and her husband, Junks, had difficulty finding a home after being released from the Manzanar camps. They had difficulty due to racial discrimination and a shortage of available housing. When her husband, Junks, was looking for a job, local electrical and construction sites refused to hire Japanese-Americans, which left Junks jobless. When Aki worked as an educational instructor, many parents questioned her ability to teach. Even one of the parents told her “If you want to bring your rice bowl and chopsticks, it's okay" (Matsumoto, 2012). Japanese-amercaisn had lost everything after the war ended. They had no home or job to go back to either. Their homes were heavily vandalized and destroyed, “leaving internees a grim reminder that they were no longer American/Canadian but another form of the enemy.” (Baker, 2018). The Japanese-Americans didn’t feel connected to either side of their identities. Ever since these Japanese-Americans tried living a better life ever, they realized that being in the Manzanar camps costed them alot of time and made them feel like they have no one to turn back to.

It’s evident that the Japanese have experienced decades and decades of oppression and prejudice. Post-World War II and after World War II, the Japanese have always been the victim, the blame for the war. The Manzanar camps changed generations of Japanese and Japanese-Americans. The U.S like to show its accomplishments but doesn’t want to take the blame for the horrific things they have done to innocent people. Even if some of the negative sides of the U.S gets taught, it’s really just a watered-down version of it.