Examples Of Racism Against Asians
Racism against Asians wasn’t new in the US, it was actual very common. Laws were established to prevent Asian immigration and citizenship. During World War II an attack occurred at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese; this event had brought the US into the war. After this attack US citizens became paranoid of possible danger and assumed that Japanese people in the US would side with Japan in the war by act as spies. This hysteria even caused the military to panic which lead to President Roosevelt’s order of creating designated areas for “any or all persons may be excluded.” This gave the Secretary of Defense the power to send anyone who posed as a threat, especially Japanese, to those areas. As Americans, we created prejudices (intended for the Japanese) about Asians to protect ourselves, we forced them (even if they were citizens) out of
…show more content…
their homes and business to poor quality camps, and treated them as second class citizens just because of the fear of becoming attacked by them.
At first it was just men being sent to the camps, but first they were inspected. Police officers would search their homes and business, then sent to the camps. The people who were forced into camps were normal people such as you and I. These were families, workers, children, teachers. They had a short amount of time to sell their property (at a lower price than it’s worth), business, and pack their belongings to move to the internment camps. Others were extremely unlucky and had to abandon their possessions. Sometimes their property was raided by the police to drive them out. Even after the internment their land and possessions were not returned and they had to start their lives over again. The paranoia and fear were still alive in the Americans after the internment so the Japanese lived in more difficult circumstances. Not till way after the war, the government apologized for their unjust action and paid 20,000 dollars to those who had survived.
The camps themselves aren’t the best places to live. Housing in the camps were small military like shacks with a few pieces of furniture. These camps were in dry and hot areas which prevented people growing crops and government expected them to be self sufficient. Camps had public The camps were hot during the day and cold during the night. Surrounding the camp was barbed wire and armed sentries to prevent the people from leaving. Children attend school in the camps while adults were offered jobs that paid five dollars a day. Some of the men were put in all Japanese American military units to fight in the war. In the encampments families were split up and placed in different parts of the camp. In America, we had confidence that was shattered by the Japanese in the attack on Pearl Harbor, which created a fear and paranoia in us.
Fear is known to cause people to think irrationally because snap judgements are used in scenarios of fear. It’s like a person gets into a fight, they either run, fight, or defend themselves, but it is done very quickly. People tend to make judgements that help themselves, but may also harm others. The fear and paranoia caused Americans to make a prejudicial about Japanese being traitor. Since there was still a lot of racism in American Asians were also sent to camps for not being able to tell the difference between races. Even some of the the Japanese people in those camps lived in America their whole lives and couldn’t speak Japanese. Some business were able to stay when signs were put saying “ I am an American.” Even before being forced into the camps Japanese and Asian people had to deal with the Americans attitudes and signs. These things restricted their access to public places. People that had nothing to do with the Japan’s conquest were forced into those poor quality
camps. Overall the Japanese internment has been just another piece of the dark and racist past of America’s history. We try to hide our fear with false lies and actions to make our lives better, but all it does is hurt others and ourselves. We need to face our fears and our past with confidence and change the present with the knowledge we have to create a brighter future for everyone.
their homes and business to poor quality camps, and treated them as second class citizens just because of the fear of becoming attacked by them.
At first it was just men being sent to the camps, but first they were inspected. Police officers would search their homes and business, then sent to the camps. The people who were forced into camps were normal people such as you and I. These were families, workers, children, teachers. They had a short amount of time to sell their property (at a lower price than it’s worth), business, and pack their belongings to move to the internment camps. Others were extremely unlucky and had to abandon their possessions. Sometimes their property was raided by the police to drive them out. Even after the internment their land and possessions were not returned and they had to start their lives over again. The paranoia and fear were still alive in the Americans after the internment so the Japanese lived in more difficult circumstances. Not till way after the war, the government apologized for their unjust action and paid 20,000 dollars to those who had survived.
The camps themselves aren’t the best places to live. Housing in the camps were small military like shacks with a few pieces of furniture. These camps were in dry and hot areas which prevented people growing crops and government expected them to be self sufficient. Camps had public The camps were hot during the day and cold during the night. Surrounding the camp was barbed wire and armed sentries to prevent the people from leaving. Children attend school in the camps while adults were offered jobs that paid five dollars a day. Some of the men were put in all Japanese American military units to fight in the war. In the encampments families were split up and placed in different parts of the camp. In America, we had confidence that was shattered by the Japanese in the attack on Pearl Harbor, which created a fear and paranoia in us.
Fear is known to cause people to think irrationally because snap judgements are used in scenarios of fear. It’s like a person gets into a fight, they either run, fight, or defend themselves, but it is done very quickly. People tend to make judgements that help themselves, but may also harm others. The fear and paranoia caused Americans to make a prejudicial about Japanese being traitor. Since there was still a lot of racism in American Asians were also sent to camps for not being able to tell the difference between races. Even some of the the Japanese people in those camps lived in America their whole lives and couldn’t speak Japanese. Some business were able to stay when signs were put saying “ I am an American.” Even before being forced into the camps Japanese and Asian people had to deal with the Americans attitudes and signs. These things restricted their access to public places. People that had nothing to do with the Japan’s conquest were forced into those poor quality
camps. Overall the Japanese internment has been just another piece of the dark and racist past of America’s history. We try to hide our fear with false lies and actions to make our lives better, but all it does is hurt others and ourselves. We need to face our fears and our past with confidence and change the present with the knowledge we have to create a brighter future for everyone.