The Shift in Attitudes Towards Japanese-Americans

Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes, and not in a foreign

country. In the United States of America, citizens were put into detainment camps on the premise

of either being born in Japan, or having at least one parent that was born in Japan. This racism

started with the reason why Americans disapprove of most immigrant populations; the idea that

they are taking jobs away from Americans and not contributing to the economy. However, in this

case there was a sharp escalation in racial distrust at the start of the 20th century because of

Japan’s threat as a rising world power. It continued to rise due to attacks on countries that the

United States had ties with and failed negotiations near the beginning of the second World War,

until the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor gave an excuse for the government to take action. The

entrance of the United States into the war plays a key role as it was fueled by the combination of

public outcry over Pearl Harbor and the deep history of the Japanese American relations. The

Day of Infamy for constitutional legislation was provoked by deep fear and hatred for Japanese-

Americans. The gradual shift of attitudes toward Japanese-Americans began turning negative

through the turn of 20th century until the attack on Pearl Harbor allowed the United States to

officially codify their racism towards them.

Chinese laborers were the first major Asian immigrant population to come to the United

States for work opportunities. American treatment of that initial group set the precedent for how

Japanese immigrants were treated shortly after. As with many laborers, the Chinese males that

came to America in the 19th century intended to make money and then go back to China - this

led to a deep distrust, bordering on hatred, of labor communities that continues to today

(Daniels). The American people were, and continue to be, outraged by this trend of coming to

America to profit off the economy without putting money back into the economy by staying the
country and paying taxes. This outrage led to widespread hatred of Chinese and Asian people as

whole, as well as the passing of debatably racist legislature. California’s first legal code in 1850

barred the testimony of blacks and Indians as whites, and Chinese were soon barred as well.

Tensions got so high that eventually Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, with

President Chester A. Arthur signing it. It was then extended twice more for another ten years

each (Daniels). This extreme step in banning a certain group of people from entering the United

States contributed significantly to the escalation of tensions between the United States and Japan

due to the added conflict of Japan’s power threatening American security.

As soon as Japanese immigrants began imitating the Chinese laborers, the United States

saw it as more of a threat than ever before. Japan won the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905

which proved their military prowess. Japan established themselves as the most powerful Asian

nation and was well on its way to becoming a world power. The anti-Japanese immigration

movement started the same way that the anti-Chinese immigration movements, with opposition

based on the limitations of availability for jobs. All three major political parties at the time,

Republicans, Democrats, and Populist, advertised their anti-Japanese immigration stances. It was

such a popular opinion that few politicians during the time to openly go against the internment of

Japanese-Americans, including Governor Ralph Carr of Colorado and Senator Robert Taft of

Ohio. They both made statements that what is happening to Japanese-Americans is unacceptable,

but they received backlash. People would threaten and attack Japanese people, or supporters of

Japanese immigration. Not was open discrimination acceptable, so was violence. A law

preventing the naturalization of Asian immigrants was soon passed. Racism against the Japanese

was not only custom by this point, but statutory as well (Daniels and Paul).
 The tides started to turn when the Japanese began to invade China.Through journalists in

China, the American people learned about the war crimes committed against the Chinese, such as

the Nanking Massacre. Reporters brought back images and stories about the mass murder and

rape of Chinese citizens by the Japanese. Despite the open hatred of Chinese people prior to the

turn of the 20th century, many Americans became sympathetic towards Chinese people. There

were several large campaigns across the nation to boycott goods made in Japan and collectively

put an economic strain on Japan’s market (Ikuhiko). Even before World War II, Japan’s actions

sparked public outcry in America, which only increased after Japan began targeting American

interesting during the war. While the United States was not officially involved at the time,

Americans felt strongly about supporting allies and American interests. Japanese actions

continued to outrage the American public; events such as the Bataan Death March, Kamikaze

attacks on Allied ships, and malicious mistreatment of prisoners of war stoked the flame of

American anger. The attack prior to Pearl Harbor that dramatically increased American hatred of

Japan was the invasion of French West Indochina in 1940. The purpose of this invasion was to

control the support that was coming to China from countries like the United States, the United

Kingdom, and France. In response to this, the United States stopped all exports to Japan besides

oil, which the Japanese saw as deeply unfriendly (Department of State). When Japan continued

expansion in 1941 after the fall of France, the United States had no choice but to stop oil exports

as well, feeling that Japan was refusing to heed their economic-base warnings. However, Japan

viewed this act as a declaration of war (Lightbody). Japan needed to take action, but their options

were to withdraw out of China or continue expansion to take over resources in other territories.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, sent American opinion on Japan from

deeply negative to a fever pitch of hatred and racism. Americans felt a desperate need for justice.
All acts of racism towards the Japanese up until this point were small things that presented a

minor inconvenience to Japanese-Americans. The attack on Pearl Harbor infuriated the whole

nation. It was a show of poor taste for the Japanese to initiate a secret attack on American

territory while in the middle of negotiations. Within seven hours of this attack, the Imperial

Japanese Air Navy Service also attacked some of our territories like the Philippines, Guam, and

Wake Island and our allies’ territories like Malaya, Hong Kong and Singapore. This was all part

of an elaborate plan to stop interference of the Japanese routes to military attacks in Southeast

Asia against the territories of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the United States. The

Japanese sunk many war ships and destroyed almost two hundred aircrafts in the attack on Pearl

Harbor. Not only did they murder 2,403 Americans and wound another thousand, they also killed

their chance to a peaceful resolution. Pearl Harbor was the event that dragged one of the largest

world powers into the second World War. This direct attack on the United States allowed for the

racist beliefs of the people to manifest into violent and xenophobic legislature.

One of the most infamous pieces of legislature in American history is Executive Order

No. 9066. Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, this order forced roughly 110,000

Japanese-Americans from their homes in California, Oregon, and Washington. They were

relocated to one of ten detention camps in desolate parts of the United States. While not nearly as

violent as concentration camps during World War II, they were stilled guarded with soldiers and

fenced in with barbed wire (“Relocation and Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World

War II.”). It was now a matter of national security for the country. A misconception that led to

further racism was the belief that all Japanese people were taught that their duty is to die for the

emperor, thus making each individual a potential threat to the United States. Many Americans

believed that their neighbors were spies and had no trust in Japanese-Americans, even though
they might have been born here (Dower). Over 70% of the people sent to these camps were

American citizens and many of them were kept in the camps once the war was already over

(Daniels). The detainment of Japanese-Americans was in complete contrast to the founding

principles of the United States, and many of the laws instituted during their detainment were in

direct violation of the Constitution. Some examples of these are that the Shinto religion was

prohibited in these camps, going against freedom of religion, the Japanese language was banned

from being used in public meetings, going against founding ideals of democracy, and the FBI

frequently searched the houses of Japanese-Americans without a warrant, going against no

search and seizure without a warrant. Despite obvious violations of the Bill of Rights, there was

not a single vote against this action from Congress, and it was upheld as constitutional by the

Supreme Court. This order was executed in an atmosphere of fear and anger at Japan and was

justified as a military necessity to combat our panic of national security.

Even though legislation is a huge part of the change in attitudes, how the public saw the

Japanese-Americans was what gave the legislation its power. Public opinion swayed many

decisions in media and our military strategies. The way that the American public felt was

portrayed in the military actions against not only Japanese-Americans, but prisoners of war as

well. An opinion poll taken in 1944 found that 13% of the United States public were in favor of

the extermination of all Japanese (Bagby and Feraru). They were seen as “animals” and

“subhuman” (Weingartner). Not only were the characteristics of Japanese culture embellished by

wartime filmmakers, but Japanese characters usually were seen as evil, rat faced enemies

(Sheppard, Palmer, and Legg). Books such as “The Yellow Peril” by Greenberry G. Rupert and

“The Rising Tide of Color” by Lothrop Stoddard talk about the ‘Yellow Peril’. These books

played into the xenophobic theory of East Asia’s danger to the western world, and many
propaganda posters portrayed the Japanese as rats or as the targets for violence. Nationwide

agreement that the Japanese were not even humans made them unworthy of normal treatment as

citizens, let alone as prisoners of war. The treatment of prisoners of war was worse than ever

before, and it was justified through the public opinion of the Japanese (Fergusson). This

stemmed from how the Japanese were treating America and its allies before and during the war,

from the attacks on United States territories to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to allowing for the

United States government to easily make legislation aligning with the racist ideals of the

American people.

The negative public opinion of Japan was amplified because of the actions the Japanese

were taking against the United States and our allies or territories. In turn, public opinion

influenced American legislation and military actions against Japan. American fear and hatred of

Japanese-Americans shifted from the belief they were somehow stealing American jobs to the

belief that all Japanese-Americans were a threat to American national security. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt himself justified this violation of civil and human rights on the basis of

military necessity. Today, however, Executive Order No. 9066 is acknowledged to be based on

racial prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure on the part of American leaders to protect the rights

of citizens. Through the turn of the 20th century and leading through World War II there was a

gradual shift of attitude towards Japanese-Americans that allowed the United States to officially

codify their racism towards them. The immense hatred targeted at Japanese-Americans only

grew with time and thousands of Japanese American citizens suffered. An infamous day for civil

and human rights was seen as constitutional at the time because of the escalation of racism

towards the Japanese.

 Works Cited

Bagby 1999, p. 135

Daniels, Roger. “Japanese Americans: The War at Home.” World War II Remembered,

Scholastic, www.teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwii/ahf/mineta/background.htm.

Daniels, Roger. “Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II.” Penn State

WebAccess, Hill and Wang, www.books-google-

com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/books?hl=en&lr=&id=S_-t04-o-

M0C&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=%22japanese%2Bamericans%22%2B%22pearl%2Bharbor%22%

2B%22post-
war%22%2Bprejudice&ots=XdFZwKeeXc&sig=nVf4sKiUQv28eVWep6Kb7h914z8#v=onepa

ge&q&f=false.

Department of State. “United States Foreign Policy 1931-1941.” Peace and War, United

States Government Printing Office, 1983, www.ibiblio.org/pha/paw/.

Dower, W. John, War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War p53 ISBN 0-

394-50030-X

Feraru, A. N. (1950). "Public Opinion Polls on Japan". Far Eastern Survey. 19 (10): 101–

103. doi:10.1525/as.1950.19.10.01p0599l.

Ikuhiko, Hata. “The Nanking Atrocities: Fact and Fable.” The Nanking Atrocities: Fact

and Fable, Japan Echo, Aug. 1998,

web.archive.org/web/20110228031202/http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China/Nanjing/nanji

ng2.html.

Lightbody, Bradley (2004). The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis. London &

New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-22404-8.

Niall Fergusson, "Prisoner Taking and Prisoner Killing in the Age of Total War: Towards

a Political Economy of Military Defeat", War in History, 2004, 11 (2): p.182

Palmer, M. and Legg, S: The Mask of Nippon, Black and White film, NFB/ONF, 1942,

National Film Board of Canada

Paul, Jesse. “In Gov. Ralph Carr, Colorado Has a Shining Light in the Painful History of

Japanese Internment.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 27 Mar. 2017,

www.denverpost.com/2016/12/06/ralph-carr-colorado-japanese-internment/.
 “Relocation and Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II.” Calisphere,

Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive (JARDA), 2005,

www.calisphere.org/exhibitions/essay/8/relocation/.

Rupert, Greenberry G. The Yellow Peril; or, The Orient vs. the Occident as Viewed by

Modern Statesmen and Ancient Prophets. Union Pub. Co., 1911.

Sheppard, W. A: An Exotic Enemy: Anti-Japanese Musical Propaganda in World War II

Hollywood,University of California Press, 2001, Vol. 54, N. 2, p 306

Stoddard, Lothrop. The Rising Tide of Color against White World-Supremacy. General

Books, 1920

Weingartner, James J. (February 1992). "Trophies of War: U.S. Troops and the

Mutilation of Japanese War Dead, 1941-1945". Pacific Historical Review. 61 (1): 53–67. JSTOR

3640788.