Question

During World War II, many Americans still experienced oppression and injustice at home. In one paragraph, describe the the experiences of African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Japanese Americans during World War II at home. Include one specific examples from each ethnic group in your response.

Answer 1

The extreme and brutal oppression of the Jewish people and other minorities was one of the most important reasons for the United States to join the allies in World War II. However, within the USA there was a lot oppression of minorities a well, African- Americans, Mexicans and The Japanese people all suffered as Americans in this time era.

Jim Crow Laws kept African-American people in a state of terribly inequality in the Southern states. The laws said that white and black people had to be "separate but equal" however, nothing was equal about their situations. All the facilities such as schools, hospitals, public places, bathrooms and drinking fountains were all designated for white or black. African-American schools and hospitals had much fewer resources and significantly less funding, so the access to good education and healthcare was not common for black people. Black people had trouble finding job opportunities available to them, they were forced to use back doors, lousy restrooms and made to sit at the back of the bus in the South. To make matters worse they lived in constant fear of hangings by hate groups such as the KKK.

The Japanese were responsible for attacking Pearl Harbor which was the big event that cause the US to join the war. For this reason Americans became very racist against Japanese people regardless of whether they were loyal to America or Japan. The Japanese people living in America were forced into interment camps, similar to prisons, for the duration of the war. They lived in terrible conditions and were treated without compassion because they were blamed for the attack and were not trusted.

Mexicans were moving to America to escape poverty and violence in Mexico. However, they also faced oppression. American people refused to hire, trade or do any kind of business with Mexicans and stigmatized them as bad workers and untrustworthy business men.