Race
Relations on
the Home Front Fasttrack to America's Past |
Originating Page |
African
Americans found
some racial
barriers came down, at least temporarily The great need for factory workers during the war had a generally positive effect for African Americans. Many found they were being offered a chance to do higher skilled jobs - jobs that before the war they were not often hired for. Discrimination and prejudice against blacks did not totally disappear, but any change for the better was welcomed. For both men in the photo below, this might have been the first time in their life they actually worked side by side with someone of another race. |
The government encouraged
all groups to work
together, and to set aside old
prejudices
The government poster shown below urges Americans to put aside prejudices about other races and ethnic groups. Instead, they should see themselves as "Americans All." The last names shown in the poster are easily identifiable as Irish, Italian, Jewish, French, Polish, German, and African American. Notice the message quoted at the bottom of the poster below, and notice whose name is there. |
Japanese Americans were forced to
leave areas along the West Coast After the Japanese attack in 1941 on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans living on the West Coast found they were often treated with suspicion or even hostility. There was a fear that some Japanese Americans might still feel loyalty to Japan. Another fear was that Japanese spies might easily blend into the Japanese American neighborhoods, and then report back to Japan on ship movements at U.S. Navy bases. In 1942 the federal government created a plan to move more than a hundred thousand Japanese Americans living along the West Coast to relocation camps. The map below shows the locations of the camps. |
Corporal Jimmie Shohara |
Pvt. Margaret Fukuoka, Women's Air Corps |
Was
it fair?
The relocation of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast is considered by many people today to have been completely unfair and un-American. Others, however, consider it an unfortunate but necessary action taken to protect American ships, sailors, and soldiers headed to battle in the Pacific. In 1988 Congress approved a plan to give those who lived in the camps a payment of about $20,000 each, along with an official apology from the American government. Should
the internment camps be
called concentration camps? You may find teachers and books that, for various reasons, make a point of referring to these camps as "concentration camps." Considering the hellish nature of the camps by that name set up in Germany by the Nazi government during World War II, I think it is misleading to use the same term for the camps described above. You will need to consider this question of word choice for yourself. |
Copyright Notice
Copyright 2009, 2020 by David Burns. All rights reserved. |