The Role Of Japanese Americans In WWII

American way of life was changed overnight with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Americans were outraged over the loss of more than two thousand lives. Ready or not, the United States was at war; all Americans’ way of life would be affected. The most interesting changes included industrial transformation to war production, increased bias toward Japanese Americans and other minorities, and combat for the armed forces.
When the United States entered WWII, the nation was not prepared for a major war. I was very surprised that the U.S. Army was ranked thirty-ninth among armed forces in the world (The War - At Home – War Production, par. 2). President Franklin Roosevelt mandated that our troops have superior quantity and quality of equipment;
Because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was understandable that Americans were intensely angry with the Japanese; however, the Japanese Americans were not deserving of the treatment they received. It is interesting to note that even with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s assurance that all individuals considered a threat to security were already detained, political pressure won and the Japanese Americans on the West Coast were sent to internment camps (The War –At Home – Civil Rights, par. 7-8). Interestingly, Japanese Americans in Hawaii were allowed to remain free; plantation owners there lobbied for their freedom to continue work in the fields. Although they suffered many indecencies, the Japanese Americans were resilient and adapted to life in the camps. Most of the internees lost everything they owned and had to rebuild their lives when they were released. Blacks and Latinos hoped to improve their lives with the availability of jobs as a result of the War. Many factories still did not hire Blacks; those hired were given the lowest unskilled jobs. Interestingly, some factories sectioned off work areas to segregate Negroes who could hold different level jobs. Latinos faced the same discrimination felt by the Blacks; segregation prohibited Latinos from using some public facilities and denied them job opportunities available to Anglos. Because men and women had left farm jobs to serve in the military or take factory jobs, there was a great need for farm laborers; Mexican Americans filled those jobs. Another interesting note is that the void left in farm labor by the interment of the Japanese Americans was also filled by Mexican Americans. Regardless of the bias, Blacks and Latinos were able to take advantage of better job opportunities and improve their