They Called Us Enemy Study Guide

How America Was at War With Itself During the Pacific War Did you know that over 110,000 Japanese people were locked in internment camps for reasons that were not truly related to them? During the Pacific War, the US government was essentially at war with its own citizens. This is because everyone who had a Japanese background, regardless if they were born in Japan or if they were American citizens, were considered and treated like enemies. This was shown as people were put into internment camps separating them from their country, they had to overcome difficult choices and internal conflicts and face discrimination all of the time. In the novel They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, from the perspective of an innocent Japanese family, they had

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Americans were now afraid that there would be any other attack that would put them at risk of their national security. The solution to avoid any attacks from their Japanese enemies would be to put all people of Japanese background into internment camps. Even though they were still American citizens, which meant they were looked at as enemies in war, which is why it was as if the United States was at war with their citizens. Families like George Takei’s were sent to these camps and they had to face many difficult choices and internal conflicts. An example of a conflict they faced was when the government made people in the internment camps fill out a loyalty questionnaire. This questionnaire made them say yes to absurd questions or say no, but it would prove that they were enemies and they would face consequences. Questions 27 and 28 stood out from the rest because of what they were asking. Question 27 wants them to pledge their lives to the country which locked them up in internment camps and treated them horribly and question 28 says that they have any sort of allegiance to Japan, it poses them an enemy even though they only have a Japanese