1. Minorities and WWII
Lecture 3

2. Standard
Identify the role and sacrifices of individual American soldiers, as well as the unique contributions of the special fighting forces (e.g., the Tuskegee Airmen, the 442nd Regimental Combat team, the Navajo Codetalkers).
Essential Question: Do you think that the government should pay reparations to people?
Japanese-Americans
Native Americans
African Americans

3. Japanese Americans Executive Order #9066, 1942
German and Italian immigrants held in camps
released
100,000 Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans were detained
Korematsu vs. United States, 1944
the Supreme Court upheld the law
“pressing public necessity”
battle between personal freedom and national security

5. Japanese Americans 442nd Regimental Combat Team
a segregated unit fought in Italy and became the most decorated unit in American history
about 6,000 Nisei served as translators and interrogators
the precursor to the CIA used them for spy missions

6. African Americans A. Phillip Randolph Executive Order #8802, 1940
labor leader who got the first major labor contract with a black union in 1937
organized a massive march on DC
FDR’s discrimination in the military and government jobs
Executive Order #8802, 1940
assured fair hiring for all government jobs

7. African Americans Congress of Racial Equality, 1942 Tuskegee Airmen
non-violent protest to fight segregation in the South
James Farmar included blacks and whites in this northern organization
foundation of the civil rights movement in the 1960s
Tuskegee Airmen
Tuskegee was a college founded by Booker T. Washington
this segregated black fighter squadron flew 1500 escort missions and never lost a single bomber

8. Mexican Americans bracero program
the US recruited 100,000s of Mexican workers to come and farm as guest workers
the program ended in 1964
following the war many stayed and many were forced out

9. Mexican Americans Zoot Suit Riots, 1943
a fight between off-duty sailors and Mexicans teens in LA escalated
fighting occurred over seven days
the zoot suit was seen as a waste of resources
LA banned wearing zoot suits to keep peace in the city

10. Women Women’s Army Corps (WAC) 350,000 women in the military
the navy had WAVES
women largely filled clerical (office) and nursing positions
women also drove trucks, taught classes, and did lab work
this freed up men to fight
57,000 nurses went to war

11. Women Rosie the Riveter symbol of the working woman
6 million went to work (3/4 of all women)
the government spent $50 million to build 3,000 day cares
long-term this opened up more job opportunities for women

12. The Holocaust America’s Response to the Holocaust
the US held to its immigration quotas
the Holocaust got little attention in the news
military resources were not used to destroy rail lines to the camps
Israel