Images of the Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2007 From Despised Enemy to Wronged American: Images of the Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992 Kenichiro Tsuchihashi University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Tsuchihashi, Kenichiro, "From Despised Enemy to Wronged American: Images of the Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2007. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4441 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Kenichiro Tsuchihashi entitled "From Despised Enemy to Wronged American: Images of the Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in History. G. Kurt Piehler, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lynn Sacco, George White, Jr. Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Kenichiro Tsuchihashi entitled "From Despised Enemy to Wronged American: Images of the Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992." I have examined the final paper copy of this thesis forform and content and recommended that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the �eq�iremen the degree of Masters of Arts, with a major in History. /J...Jr � Dr. G. Kurt Piehler,i ' Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: . � 4ed;.� Vice Provost and Deanof the Graduate School From Despised Enemy to Wronged American: Images of Japanese American Internment, 1942-1992. A Thesis Presented forthe Master of Arts Degree The University of Tennessee Knoxville Kenichiro Tsuchihashi May2007 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents, Mr. Kenshi Tsuchihashi and Mrs. Tokiko Tsuchihashi. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thankmy advisor Dr. G. Kurt Piehler, who gave me an opportunity to work in the University of Tennessee under his guidance. Without his support and encouragement this work would not have been possible. I also want to thank my committee members, Dr. Lynn Sacco and Dr. George White Jr. fortheir valuable suggestion and encouragement. I would also like to extend my special thanks to Ms. Jayme French and Ms. Maggie Yancey, who patiently proofread my drafts and helped me complete this project. 111 ABSTRACT This thesis attempts to elucidate the popular image of the World War II Japanese American internmentin postwar America. It examines how the internmentwas described in the print press, high school history textbooks, and motion pictures between the early 1940s and the early 1990s, and explains when, why, and how the description changed. The popular image of the internmentwas transformed from "justifiablerelocation of despised enemies" to "unjustifiable incarcerationof wronged American citizens." Despite earlier studies on the internment,which oftensuggest this dramaticshift occurred in the late 1980s, this thesis demonstrates that the shiftactually took place in the mid 1950s and the early 1960s. Althoughthe image of Japanese Americans as hateful enemies dominated the wartimeprint media, it dissipated quickly after the end of the war and never became prevalent in the postwar era. The counter image of them as wronged citizens emerged in the midst of the war, and swiftly replaced the negative image within a decade afterthe war. From then on, the internmenthas always been depicted as a grave injustice and a tragic mistake. Therefore, at least at the level of the popular image, the American public's critical attitude toward the internment and their sympathy for Japanese Americans were obvious three decades beforethe passage of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which mandated a formalapology by the president and monetary compensation to survivingex-internees. This transition of Japanese Americanimage seems attributable to a series of reversals of longstanding legal discrimination against Asian Americans in the late 1940s and the early 1950s, as well as to the enactment of the Japanese American Claims Act of lV 1948. These legal changes presumably raised the image of ex-internees. Furthermore, Japanese Americans' wartimegood behavior contributed to the development of their own image as wronged citizens. V TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 Background..................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ............................................................................................................ 2 Materials, Methodology, and Organization .................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................ 9 NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES ................................................................................ 9 Japanese Americans as Despised Enemy: The War Years ........................................... 11 Japanese Americans as Wronged Citizens: The War Years......................................... 18 The 1950s and 1960s .................................................................................................... 23 The 1970s and 1980s .................................................................................................... 30 Summary....................................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER II ..................................................................................................................... 3 3 HISTORY TEXTBOOKS ................................................................................................ 33 The 1950s and 1960s .................................................................................................... 35 The 1970s and 1980s .................................................................................................... 43 The 1990s ...................................................................................................................... 54 Atomic Bombing in History Textbooks........................................................................ 55 Summary....................................................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER III ................................................................................................................... 62 FILMS ............................................................................................................................... 62 The 1950s ...................................................................................................................... 62 The 1970s ...................................................................................................................... 72 The 1990s ...................................................................................................................... 85 Summary..................... .................................................................................................. 89 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 91 Why Did This Transition Occur When It Did? ............................................................. 94 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................ 98 PrimarySources ............................................................................................................ 99 SecondarySources ...................................................................................................... 103 VITA ............................................................................................................................... 107 Vl INTRODUCTION Background In 1988, the U.S. Congresspassed the Civil LibertiesAct, which included a formalapology by the president and grantedreparation to Japanese Americans who had been internedby the U.S. government during World War II. Each of about 60,000 surviving ex-internees received$20,000 in compensation and a letter of apology signed by the president for having violated their civil liberties andconstitutional rights. The passage of this legislation was the result of a so-called "redress movement," grassroots efforts begun by Japanese Americans in the early 1970s that advocated recognitionof, and reparations for, theinjustice of the internment. JapaneseAmericans welcomed the passage of the redress bill. The New York Times reported on August 11, 1988, the day afterits passage, that Japanese Americanleaders "reacted with 'a collective sighof relief in receiving an officialapology."