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Shih Hua Tu
ESL 33B
Project 3-final draft
9 December 2016
Did the U.S Incite Racism Against Japanese-Americans, the Revenge or Conspiracy Theory
during WWII?
From the founding of United States to the nineteen-century, the isolationist foreign policy of
the United States was used to [avoid] engagement in international conflicts in order to focus on
domestic affairs and development (Isolationism 655). However, due to the attack from
Germany, the United States was forced to participate in World War I (Denman 288). The
significant losses, uncollected debts, and Americans former allies [who] were less concerned
with peace and justice than with victory and plunder, stimulated a more determined American
isolationist attitude (288). In December 7, 1941, Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor
without any notice, which killed 2,400 Americans and wounded 1,200 people (McMahon 21).
On December 7,1991, in the 50th Pearl Harbor anniversary, as the president Bush said, We
stand here today, on the site of a tragedy spawned by isolationism (qtd. The Lesson of Pearl
Harbor 475). The Pearl Harbor attack was a historic milestone for the United States to
completely end its isolationist foreign policy (Isolationism 659). The Japanese betrayal and
tragic consequence of the Pearl Harbor attack led to an increased anti-Japanese sentiment in the
United States. When the Japanese diplomats hypocritically negotiated in Washington, the
Japanese military abruptly bombed Pearl Harbor (McMahon 22). The attack, furthermore,
inspired a thirst for revenge on the part of Americans that bordered on genocidal bloodlust
(McMahon 22). Americans turned the dissatisfaction with the Japanese government into extreme

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racial hatred. However, after the disaster, historians, journalists, and ordinary citizens [debated]
the meaning and causes of what [remained](Grier Investigations began immediately). The Pearl
Harbor attack was argued as a conspiracy of Roosevelt in order to convince the isolationist
Americans and enter the war. According to the book, Day of Deceit, the Pearl Harbor attack
had to be severe enough so that Roosevelt could persuade isolationist Americans and obtain the
support from the congress in order to successfully declare war on Japan and Germany (Jacobsen
111; McMahon 25). Although some Americans argue that racial hatred against Asian-Americans
during WWII was incited as part of a conspiracy theory to justify American involvement in the
war, others argue it grew out of pure revenge.
After the catastrophe in 1941, historians believed that Pearl Harbor attack was a conspiracy
theory of Roosevelt and found the clues to prove their arguments. They debated the U.S. officials
and Roosevelt had already known the signal of Pearl Harbor attack in advance because they
found an evidence that the United States had broken the major Japanese diplomatic cipher
machine, which the United States called PURPLE, well before the war (Budiansky 119). In
addition, they suspected the attitude of Roosevelt and why he wanted to hide the Japanese attack
information. Their argument seems reliable and verifiable, but the evidence the historians found
was finally overturned. Firstly, although the U.S. military officials and Roosevelt knew Japan
was going to launch an attack in advance, they did not know the attack target. Hence, the United
States could only wait until the first attack from Japan (Budiansky 120). Additionally, the United
States did not want to expose the information that Japan was going to launch the attack because
of the military factors (Budiansky 120). The U.S. had to protect the [code breakers who] had
been spying on the Germans and Japanese, quite another that [they] had, even before our entry
into the war, been spying on the French, the Russians, and the Mexicans and other Latin

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American nations (120). This argument was being denied at the end. Besides, most people
tended to believe that Pearl Harbor attack was only a Japanese military strategy because
according to the book, Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy, it mentions the Japanese
government and military in 1941 faced inadequate human and natural resource due to the war
with China, so Japan launched a self-destructive war toward the United States (Freeman). The
main reason why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor was that oil was a primary demand in the Second
World War, but when Japan and China were in war, the United States banned to export the
military goods and gasoline to Japan (Yergin 1-2). Therefore, Japan had no choice but to attack
the United States to weaken its morale (1).
Actually, the issue of anti-Asian-Americans had existed in the U.S. before the Pearl Harbor
attack. In the beginning of the 19th century, a large number of immigrants entered the United
States (Worsnop and Leepson Background). The number of immigrants was increasing from
1850 to 1930, indicated in the blue line (see figure 1). As a large number of Chinese workers
came into the U.S. in the mid-19th century, the anti-Asian violence began. (Worsnop and Leepson
Overview) The reason why white Americans were anti-Asians was that [they were] fear of being
overwhelmed by the Yellow Peril (Overview). Additionally, Chinese immigrants took jobs
away from whites and caused substandard wages (Overview) because as the population of
immigrants increased, the immigrants who shared the labor force in the United States increased
(see figure 2). For example, the company liked to hire the Chinese laborers instead of Americans
due to their cheap wages (Overview). On the other hand, Japanese immigrants, like the Chinese,
were welcomed to the United States in the early 19th century, but due to the Russo-Japanese War
in 1904, Japan's victory seemed to challenge the white supremacy (Worsnop and Leepson
Background). Even though the Issei were hard-working, productive members of society who

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lived quiet, family-oriented lives, the anti-Japanese voice appeared (Background). In 1908
President Theodore Roosevelt, under pressure from Californians, concluded an agreement with
Japan in which Japan would no longer issue passports to laborers for travel to the United States
(Background). Nevertheless, the agreement did not prohibit the Japanese immigrants of women
and children, so as the number of Japanese-Americans were increasing, the anti-Japanese
sentiment was rising (Background). As the result of the dissatisfaction in the United States, the
Legislature enacted a law in 1913 that barred aliens ineligible for citizenship from owning
property (Background).

Fig.1. U.S. Immigrant Population and Share over Time, 1850-Present.

Migrationpolicy.org, 18 Oct. 2016, migrationpolicy.org/programs/datahub/charts/immigrant-population-over-time.

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Fig. 2. Immigrant Share of the U.S. Population and Civilian Labor Force, 1980 - Present.
Migrationpolicy.org, 18 Oct. 2016, www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/datahub/charts/immigrant-share-us-population-and-civilian-labor-force.

On account of the long-suppressed dissatisfaction, the Pearl Harbor attack clearly stimulated
anti-Asian-Americans sentiment to its climax. The number of immigrants was decreasing during
1941 (see figure 1). The American citizens started revealing their negative feelings toward AsianAmericans, especially Japanese-Americans. Besides, the United States expanded its cruel
revenge by propaganda against Japanese-Americans. For instance, the government took
advantage of the patriotic music and the lyrics of the song filled with Japanese stereotypes and
misrepresentation to brainwash its American citizens because government officials understood

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the power of music and were interested in using it to mobilize the American people to support
the war (Moon 335). Ironically, World War II weakened the anti-Chinese sentiment because
China was a part of the Allies (Worsnop and Leepson Current Background). After the Pearl
Harbor attack, Time magazine published an article about how to identify the Japanese-Americans
and Chinese-Americans (Moon 335). The article was filled with the negative descriptions and
stereotypes of Japanese. The propaganda deepened the distrust between the Americans and
Japanese. A survey from Hadley Cantril indicated in July 1942 that 73 percent believed that the
Japanese people were "treacherous, "63 percent thought they were sly, 56 percent said cruel, 46
percent said warlike, and, on the positive side 39 percent said hard-working (335). The U.S.
government propaganda successfully caused the Japanese-Americans to be isolated and
distorted. On the other hand, the more brutal retaliation against Japan by the United States was
the Pacific War. As a result of the treachery of Japan, the Pearl Harbor attack triggered a chain of
events that stimulated the United States entered the Pacific War and dropped the atomic bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki (McMahon 21; McMahon 25). It led to the serious damage and
casualties in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (25). Japan killed 2,400 U.S. military personnel on
December 7, 1941; the United States, in response, killed as many as one million Japanese
civilians (McMahon 27). Eventually, the United States ended its revenge and Japan paid a
heavy price.
Due to the intense emotions and dissatisfaction of the war, it resulted in many rumors and
conspiracy theory in 19th century. The historian tried to find the evidence, such as the information
of the Japanese attack that was received in advance by U.S. officials and the plot of Roosevelt in
order to make the United States into the war, to prove their debates, but the correctness of these
rumors have not been verified. Historically, after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States

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incited the racial discrimination to revenge Japan was a fact. Although the anti-Chinese
sentiment was gradually cool down due to China who was a part of allies during WWII, the
discrimination was still difficult to eliminate because it was hard for Americans to identify the
Asian-Americans only by their appearance. Besides, the United States instilled the negative
stereotypes of Asians in the mind of Americans. There is a stereotype that Asians are foreigners
even though they've been here many generations (Worsnop and Leepson Current Situation).
These stereotypes would be the pain that Asian-Americans can never erase. Therefore, in order to
eliminate the long-standing discrimination and anti-Asian sentiment, it must need a more
broadly based educational effort (Worsnop and Leepson Overview). Nowadays, even though
Asian-Americans, the successful and well-educated minority in U.S., faced the unfair treatment
and misleading in white supremacy, they are still trying to get rid of the untrue stereotypes and
fight for their basic rights (Worsnop and Leepson Current Situation). The cost of the Pearl
Harbor attack was too huge, it not only caused a large number of victims to be killed but also led
to a racial hatred and discrimination. Even though the attack ended, the wound has been deeply
imprinted in victims heart and it even caused the negative influence, such as stereotypes, against
their offspring. Moreover, the United States and Japan should learn from the Second World War
and resolve their tense relations with each other; for example, the fiftieth anniversary festivities
would be a best opportunity to foster Japanese-American reconciliation as an "inappropriate,
possibly offensive" gesture (McMahon 28). Moreover, The United States in the fiftieth
anniversary festivities emphasized the national unity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice-themes
internal to the United States-rather than issues of bilateral tension and conflict (McMahon 30).

Works Cited

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Budiansky, Stephen. Closing The Book On Pearl Harbor. Cryptologia, vol. 24, no. 2, Apr.
2000, pp. 119130. Computing Database, doi:10.1080/01611190008984236. Accessed 14
Nov. 2016.
Denman, William N., and Grant T. Weller. "U.S. Isolationism: How did U.S. Isolationism
Contribute to the Cause of World War II?" History in Dispute, edited by Dennis Showalter,
vol. 5: World War II, 1943-1945, St. James Press, 2000, pp. 288-294. U.S. History in
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14 Nov. 2016.
Freeman, Jay. "Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy." Booklist, 15 Sept. 2013, p. 17. Biography in
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Nov. 2016.

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Grier, Peter. "Pearl Harbor attack: Who was really to blame?" Christian Science Monitor, 9 Dec.
2009, p. 2. Biography in Context, login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow?
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Id=BIC1&search_within_results=&p=BIC1&mode=view&catId=&limiter=&displayquery=&displayGroups=&contentModules=&action=e&sortBy=&documentId=GALE
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Nov. 2016.
Immigrant Share of the U.S. Population and Civilian Labor Force, 1980 - Present.
Migrationpolicy.org, 18 Oct. 2016, www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/datahub/charts/immigrant-share-us-population-and-civilian-labor-force.
"Isolationism." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, edited by Thomas Riggs, 2nd ed.,
vol. 2, Gale, 2015, pp. 655-659. Biography in Context, login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?
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&source=Bookmark&u=pasa19871&jsid=3294593bf9a2e0d06ab8a3c3ac5e669b. Accessed
14 Nov. 2016.

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Jacobsen, Philip H. A Cryptologic Veteran's Analysis Of Day Of Deceit A Book Review*.

Cryptologia, vol. 24, no. 2, Apr. 2000, pp. 110118. Computing Database,
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McMahon, Robert J. "The Pearl Harbor Attack And The Origins Of The Pacific War: Contested
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2010, pp.21-31. America: History and Life with Full Text,
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Moon, Krystyn R. There's No Yellow in the Red, White, and Blue: The Creation of AntiJapanese Music during World War II. Pacific Historical Review, vol. 72, no. 3, Aug. 2003,
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"The Lesson of Pearl Harbor." America, vol. 165, no. 20, 1991, pp. 475
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U.S. Immigrant Population and Share over Time, 1850-Present. Migrationpolicy.org, 18 Oct.
2016, migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/immigrant-population-over-time.
Worsnop, Richard L., and Marc Leepson. Asian Americans. CQ Researcher, 13 Dec. 1991,
library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1991121300. Accessed 14 Nov. 2016.

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Yergin, Daniel. "Blood and Oil: Why Japan Attacked Pearl; FDR's Embargo and the Start of
the Pacific War." The Washington Post, 01 Dec. 1991.https://login.ezp.pasadena.edu/login?
url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/307493779?accountid=28371. Accessed 18 Nov. 2016.