World War II: Mistreatment Of Japanese-American Citizens

Many people consider World War II a successful and beneficial war to the Unites States of America. They say that the jobs that it created pulled the country out of the depression, and that people working towards the war effort brought the nation closer together. I do not agree with this idea of World War II being a “Good war”. I believe that instead it resulted in the mistreatment and abuse of the country 's own citizens, and poor communication resulting in unnecessary panic among american citizens. The effects of World War II on the American homefront involved mistreatment of Japanese-American citizens, as well as splitting up families across the nation and creating a rise in panic and chaos in American cities. Japanese-american citizens along

The often racist and offensive propaganda found on war bond posters, and other merchandise led to a huge increase in racist thoughts and urges. This is shown when Frank Keegan, a hearty, full-of-himself, true American says “We were dreadfully frightened of the Japanese. For years we were told of the yellow hordes. We had the Oriental Exclusion Act. Even before Pearl Harbor we were scared of them”(36). This quote shows the unnecessary fear of the Japanese as a whole. Although many young Americans felt excited to go off to war, they had already been mentally affected by the war. The propaganda and use of Japanese camps in the United States lead a generation of young Americans into having a bloodthirsty urge to kill a group of people, not defined by their ideas, but by their race. This ultimately led to the anger and mistreatment of Japanese-Americans in the United States for many years following the conclusion of the war. Some Americans also thought of the war as a good thing at the time, because they believed it matured young men and opened their eyes to the world. This is described by Jack Short, a middle class American, when he says “You don’t believe it until you see it. You look at the war and say, Gee, was that something I really experienced? Many people are forgetting that there was a World War II. In a way WWII had a positive impact on me as an

homefront. Japanese-Americans were unfairly put into camps by their fellow citizens against their will. The large number of Italian-Americans felt scared to demonstrate their political views, and their rich culture was squashed by the war effort. Finally the American citizens obtained a twisted view of Japanese, Italian, and German people. These things all contributed to an unnecessarily bad mood in the United States during World War