The War At Home – Section TWO

1. Guided Reading Activity Answers The War At Home – Section TWO

2. 300,000 Japanese-Americans lived in the United States during World War II

3. Executive Order #9066

4. Japanese-Americans, many of whom had lived in the United States for generations, were forced to sell all of their property at reduced prices and imprisoned in remote camps scattered across the United States during the war. These camps were not concentration camps or death camps. They were generally very clean, adequately supplied, and orderly – although Spartan. There was even recreation – athletic fields, and entertainment. The Japanese internment camps were supervised by armed guards, but usually were organized and run by democratically elected councils of the Japanese themselves. The degradation and humiliation of the experience were excruciating for many Japanese-Americans, nevertheless. No such camps were set up for German-Americans or Italian-Americans – although they constituted a larger, and as it turned out, more palpable threat. Japanese internment camps in the United States, 1942 - 1945

5. Over 17,000 Japanese Americans served in the United States Armed forces in WW II Japanese Soldiers generally fought in Europe during World War II. They participated in campaigns in North Africa, Italy, and France – less frequently in the Pacific Theatre, where the Japanese were being engaged. They were called upon as translators from time to time if they spoke Japanese. The loyal service of these soldiers further demonstrated the loyalty of Japanese-Americans in general.

6. During the years leading up to World War II, many prominent Americans offered their support to Nazi Germany. There was widespread admiration for Hitler, despite his anti-Semitic stances and obvious contempt for international law. Many Americans shared his anti-Semitism, like Henry Ford. Others wanted to avoid war at all costs, even if it meant compromising some American values. Charles Lindbergh, for example, was a member of the America First Committee, which sought to stay out of the war in Europe no matter what. Thousands of ordinary Americans joined the German-American Bund – a friendship league which encouraged cultural exchange and good relations with the Nazis. Only a handful of German or Italian Americans were detained by the US Government, which demonstrates that racism motivated the interment of the Japanese to a large extent.

7. A. Philip Randolph was the leader of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. He was also the leading African-American advocate for worker’s rights during World War II. His primary concern during World War II was that African-American laborers and contractors be given the opportunity to work for and win contracts with the US Government. Asa Philip Randolph repeatedly threatened President Roosevelt – claiming he would organize a March on Washington by African-American men to protest their treatment by the government. Roosevelt feared that such a march would cause turmoil or even rioting in the nation’s capital – and soon created the Fair Employment Practices Commission to provide African-Americans workers and contactors with access to military jobs. Asaphilip Randolph

8. Fair Employment Practices Commission The purpose of the FEPC was to insure that African-American workers and contractors would have equal access to government jobs and government military contracts. Anti-discrimination laws were enforced by the agency.

9. Two Million African-Americans worked in War Munitions plants during WW II. Over two million African-American workers took advantage of the opportunity to work for their country. Although many conflicts would emerge during the course of the war, African-Americans made a major positive contribution to the war effort.

10. Detroit Race riot, 1943 A conflict came about in Detroit, Michigan in the summer of 1943 due to racial conflict in the area. During 1942 and 1943 over 50,000 African-Americans and close to 300,000 whites had moved to Detroit, and a shortage of housing made tempers flare. The riot in Detroit lasted for three days before federal troops restored order.

11. New york City Race Riot, 1943 In Harlem, New York, an ugly race riot took place after an African-American soldier was shot and injured by a New York City police officer.

12. The bracero program During World War II, the United States signed an agreement with the government of Mexico encouraging Mexican citizens to come to the United States and work for the military munitions plants producing weapons and materials.

13. During the Zoot Suit Riots, American soldiers stationed on the West Coast lashed out at Mexican-Americans - particularly young men in stylish “Zoot Suits” who were believed to be gang members and unpatriotic for refusing to join the war effort. After violence had broken out resulting in the injury of several American soldiers, the military men took matters into their own hands. They patrolled the street, confronted “Zoot Suiters,”, beat them up, and frequently undressed them – relieving them of their fashionable suits. The “Zoot Suiters” – mostly young Mexican-Americans and blacks, were left on the streets, beaten up and stripped to their underwear. Once First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt spoke out to denounce the behavior of the American military men as beneath the conduct of good soldier, violence stopped. Zoot suit riots – Los Angeles