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Japanese Internment Camps During Ww2 Essay

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Japanese Internment during World War II Following the beginning of World War II, more than 75,000 Japanese- Americans were placed into internment camps. Internment of Japanese-Americans occurred as a result of racial prejudice; moreover, the institutional and societal racism that pervaded American society influenced public policy so as to justify the creation of these internment camps.
From the outbreak of World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, outward xenophobia toward Japanese Americans increased as the United States entered the war. Such racism manifested itself through many forms, from the pejorative stereotypes of “fifth columns” to the literal segregation of suspected fifth columns into internment camps. One of these cartoons …show more content…

Americans were very harsh and discriminative of the Japanese. In this image, there is a person with a displeased expression pointing towards the sign that reads, “Japs keep moving, this is a white man’s neighborhood” (Document 3). The fact that the Americans called the Japanese “japs” as a racial slur shows that the Americans did not favor or respect the Japanese Having signs such as those in front of houses just shows how blatant racism was socially acceptable at the time. This is important because the Americans did not treat the Japanese fairly, basically belittling an entire race.To add on, concentration camps are forms of systematic oppression because the government is supporting the separation of races, which in reality should not be justified. By even suggesting putting all Japanese people in concentration camps and saying that it’s a form of being patriotic is cruel and unjust. “...namely, that by permitting himself to be placed in a concentration camp, he would be making his sacrifice, and he should be willing to do it if he is patriotic and working for us” (Document 4). The sacrifice of the Japanese is not a fair comparison because they should not have to choose between life in regret or death. This is the most clear form of racism, considering that they are choosing to put only the Japanese in concentration camps. Overall, the idea and

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