Lack Of Freedoms In Minorities During WWII

The Lack of Freedoms in Minorities During WWII During WWII, many Americans and the President himself cherished four essential human freedoms. The first of which was the freedom of speech and expression where everyone had an equal voice. The next promised freedom was the ability to worship God in any way shape or form. The third freedom was the freedom from want, meaning all citizens may live a healthy and happy life. The fourth and final freedom was the freedom from fear, which means everyone may live peacefully without fear of dying. Despite Americans holding these freedoms so dearly to their hearts, events during the war changed their views. For example, the Nazis’ values exemplified anti-semitism which inflamed pre existing discrimination
The first group of minorities that lacked the totality of this freedom were the Jews. In a New York Times advertisement, it is stated that 70,000 Jews will be sold at $50 dollars a piece. It describes that Romania is tired of killing Jews, so they will practically give them way for nothing (Document #4). Although this ad was fake, the message it delivered was very real. It illustrated to American society how poorly Jews were being treated by showing how Jews were being dehumanized. This message is a clear example of the freedom of speech as a Jewish writer is using the newspaper to beg for help. However, the dramatic steps needed to be taken by this article in order to get America's attention shows how pleas from Jews were otherwise ignored. Another group of minorities that were not fully granted the freedom of speech were African Americans. Several Americans, including President Hoover, saw African American newspapers as discouraging readers to support the war. In an article regarding sedition, by PBS.org, it is stated “Hoover saw the double V campaign as an act of sedition. With President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s approval, he sought to indict black publishers for treason” (Document #7). The Double V campaign arose near the beginning of the war with the intent to win democracy for African Americans both in the U.S. and abroad. Despite these attempts to silence African Americans and their movement, they continued to produce newspapers. However, these newspapers often faced opposition, so African Americans could not fully broadcast their voices to all Americans. The final group of minorities that were denied the entirety of freedom of speech were the Japanese. According to a video produced by the Office of War Information, within internment camps the Japanese were self-organized, had a newspaper, had education, and had their own governing systems (Japanese