Propaganda for Japanese-American internment

Propaganda for Japanese American Internment is a form of propaganda created between 1941 and 1944 within the United States that focused on the relocation of Japanese-Americans from the West Coast during World War II. Several types of media were used to reach the American people such as motion pictures and newspaper articles. The significance of this propaganda was to project the relocation of Japanese-Americans as matter of national security, although according to a federal commission created by President Jimmy Carter in 1983:

The promulgation of Executive Order 9066 was not justified by military necessity, and the decisions that followed from it – detention, ending detention and ending exclusion – were not driven by analysis of military conditions. The broad historical causes which shaped these decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership. [Daniels, R. (2002). Incarceration of the Japanese Americans: A sixty-year perspective. History Teacher, 35(3), 297-311.]

History

After the attack by the Japanese Empire on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, American attitudes towards people of Japanese ancestry indicated a strong sense of racism. Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.] This sentiment became further intensified by the media of the time, which played upon issues of:

*racism on the West Coast
*the social fear of the Japanese people and
*citizen-influenced farming conflicts with the Japanese people.

This, along with the attitude of the leaders of the western defense command and the lack of perseverance by the Justice Department to protect the civil rights of Japanese Americans led to the successful relocation of both native and foreign born Japanese. Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.]

On February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which recognized specific military sites on the United States West Coast as off-limits to people of Japanese descent. Ng, W. (2002). Japanese American internment during world war II: A history and reference guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.] This order gave members of the military the authority to remove Japanese people from the area if their presence there was deemed too close to the military establishment. In April 1942, Exclusion Order 346 was issued to force the Japanese American citizens to live in assembly centers which were located in various open spaces such as fairgrounds and tracks. Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.] By the fall of 1942, the Japanese people had been evacuated out of the West Coast and into inland internment camps built by the United States government to hold over 80,000 evacuees. Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.] Propaganda in favor of Japanese-American internment was produced by both the government and local citizens through mediums such as movies and print.

Movies

As a common form of entertainment for many Americans, motion pictures were utilized to portray a positive image of relocation to non-Japanese movie-goers. Produced by the United States War Relocation Authority, such movies as "A Challenge to Democracy" (1944) [U.S. War Relocation Authority (Producer). (1944). A challenge to democracy [Motion Picture] . (Available from Prelinger Archives). http://www.archive.org/details/Challeng1944] and "Japanese Relocation" (1943) [U.S. Office of War Information (Producer). (1943). Japanese relocation [Motion Picture] . (Available from Prelinger Archives). http://www.archive.org/details/Japanese1943] , depicted the internment camps in a positive light and showed the Japanese people as happy and content, benefiting from their new life in the internment camps. To accomplish this, these government-issued propaganda films touched on common positive themes, such as:
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thumb|300px|right|Internees_farming_sugar beets while relocated at the Amache Internment Camp]
*ensuring the safety of internee property
*providing Japanese-Americans with greater opportunities, such as education, employment, internal government, and religion
*cooperation of the internees with the local authorities and federal government
*language comparing the relocated people to early American frontiersmen

Such motion pictures were made with film from actual Japanese American internment camps with a narrator informing the audience of what they were witnessing. As the UCLA Film and Television Archive writes:

[This] film reminds us how easily unpleasant truths can be rationalized into banality and individual liberties can be swept away. (UCLA, 2007)

Newspapers

As a prominent news source for many Americans in the 1940’s, the newspaper media also played an integral role in influencing national attitudes toward Japanese citizens. Many times, editorials published in these newspapers would approach relocation as a necessary inevitability characteristic in times of war. The San Francisco Chronicle on February 21, 1942 displayed just such an attitude of pro-Japanese-American internment, stating, “We have to be tough, even if civil rights do take a beating for a time” [ Okihiro, G.Y. (1983). The press, Japanese Americans, and the concentration camps. Phylon, 44(1), 66-83.] . The Bakersfield Californian was among the newspapers of the time to criminalize the Japanese American population, stating, “We have had enough experiences with Japs in times of peace to emphasize the opinion that they are not to be trusted.” Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.] Violent sentiment would also be characteristic of some of these editorials, as when a writer to the Corvallis Gazette Times expressed, “The loyal Jap American citizens have the law on their side, but that may not protect them. Besides, what is the law and what is the Constitution to a dead Jap. If they are smart, they will not return” Chiasson, L.E. (1991). The Japanese-American encampment: An editorial analysis of 27 west coast newspapers. The Newspaper Research Journal, 92-107.] . Many newspapers would also publish propaganda cartoons concerning the Japanese military, which fueled a general racist attitude towards Japanese-American residents. [Dower, J.W. (1986). War without mercy: Race and power in the Pacific war. New York: Pantheon Books. ]

End of internment

On December 17 1944, the United States Supreme Court deemed that exclusion of loyal Japanese American citizens was unconstitutional and through Public Proclamation 21, the internment came to an end.Ng, W. (2002). Japanese American internment during world war II: A history and reference guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.] It included the resettlement of the majority of the Japanese Americans and equal treatment of these people once back in their homes and neighborhoods. Those who were determined to be potential security risks by the criteria established by the Justice Department and War Department were not allowed into specific high risk areas. Though resettlement was issued by the U.S. government, anti-Japanese propaganda continued throughout the duration of the war until V-J Day on August 15th, 1945.

References