1. WWII and Discrimination

2. African Americans Military Segregation “Separate but equal”
Double V Campaign
Executive Order No employment discrimination in defense industries based on race, creed, color, or national origin
Fair Employment Practices Commission- civil rights agency to enforce EO 8802
Racial tensions spurred riots in Detroit
African Americans

4. Bracero Program- 200,000 Mexican workers came to aid U.S. war effort
Harvest fruit and vegetables
Build and maintain railroads
Racial tensions between Mexicans and whites
Zoot Suit Riots- 2,500 American soldiers and sailors attack Mexican neighborhoods in Los Angeles
500,000 Hispanic Americans served in armed forces during WWII
Mexican Americans

5. After Pearl Harbor, racial tensions increase between Japanese immigrants and whites
Attacks on Japanese businesses, homes, etc.
Social discrimination
Fear of Japanese spies
Executive Order 9066-
Declared West Coast a military zone
Forced Japanese Americans (2/3 citizens) to internment camps
Lost homes, businesses, farms, possessions
Korematsu v. United States- relocation constitutional because of “military urgency”
No Japanese were ever tried for espionage or sabotage
Japanese Americans

7. Italian and German Americans
FDR Proclamations, December 8, 1941
All unnaturalized residents of German and Italian decent, 14 yrs. and up
Deemed enemy aliens
Travel restrictions
Forced to carry I.D. cards
Personal property taken
5,000 arrested
Forced to live in military internment camps
Italian and German Americans

8. 40,000 Native men and women left reservations to work in defense industries
Alaskan tribes served as territorial defense against Japanese occupation
U.S. used Native resources for war materials- land, oil, helium, lumber, etc.
25,000 Native men served in armed forces
Navajo Code Talkers
Native Americans