Author Question: Examine the possible reasons for the wartime evacuation of Japanese Americans. What will be an ... (Read 68 times)

sabina · **on:** Aug 8, 2018

Examine the possible reasons for the wartime evacuation of Japanese Americans.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Which of the following statements is true of the economic trends prevalent in Puerto Rico?

a. Efforts to raise the wages of Puerto Rican workers make the island more attractive to labor-intensive businesses.
b. Agriculture is the primary source of tax revenue and contributes to two-thirds of the GDP.
c. Puerto Rico's unemployment rate is substantially lesser than that of the mainland.
d. The median household income of Puerto Rico is one-third of what it is in the United States.

Jossy · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 8, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Racism cannot be ignored as an explanation. Japanese Americans were placed in camps, but German Americans and Italian Americans were largely ignored. Many of those whose decisions brought about the evacuation were of German and Italian ancestry. The fact was that the Japanese were expendable. Placing them in camps posed no hardship for the rest of society, and, in fact, other Americans profited by their misfortune. That Japanese Americans were evacuated because they were seen as expendable is evident from the decision not to evacuate Hawai'i's Japanese. In Hawai'i, the Japanese were an integral part of the society; removing them would have destroyed the islands economically.

Documents recently unearthed show that government officials saw the Japanese Americans collectively as enemy aliens and that it would not be possible to determine loyalty of individual people. According to the thinking at the time, government leaders felt the cultural traits of the Japanese prevented outsiders from telling who was loyal and disloyal.

Some people argue that the Japanese lack of resistance made internment possible. This seems a weak effort to transfer guiltto blame the victim. In the 1960s, some Sansei and Yonsei were concerned about the alleged timidity of their parents and grandparents when faced with evacuation orders. However, many evacuees, if not most, probably did not really believe what was happening. It just cannot be that bad, they may have thought. At worst, the evacuees can be accused of being naive. But even if they did see clearly how devastating the order would be, there were no alternatives open to them.

Answer to Question 2

d