1. Section 4: The Struggle for Justice at Home

2.  Objectives  Describe the kinds of discrimination that African Americans faced and the steps they took to counter them.  Compare the experiences of Mexican Americans and Native Americans at home during WWII.  Explain why Japanese Americans were interned during the war.  Main Idea  While the war brought new job opportunities for some racial and ethnic minorities, Japanese Americans were the victims of widespread intolerance.

3.  Before the war the struggle to end discrimination had been under way but was still a powerful institution in both the South and North.  Faced discrimination in employment, education, and housing

4.  Unemployment was high, 1/5 of potential workers jobless among African Americans  Government agencies still honored “whites only” procedures  Segregation severely limited house and apartments available, to compound the problem many could not afford good housing.  Many end up living in ghettos, 50% of all African American housing was substandard  White workers resented newcomers in the workplace and neighborhoods, sometimes these situations escalated to violence

5.  Races were segregated until the very end of the war.  Even returning African American GI’s were discriminated against when they returned from war.

6.  1942 poll, six out of ten whites felt that black Americans were satisfied with existing and needed no new opportunities.  Even the president (FDR) did not support social equality during the time of war  Black Americans began the “Double V” campaign  Formed the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to combat discrimination non-violently.

7.  Mexican Americans  With the shortage of laborers many Mexican Americans were provided with the opportunity for work.  Faced the same types of discrimination as African Americans  Bracero (agricultural) Program was an agreement to use Mexican laborers to work in the U.S., upwards of 200,000 workers took part and lived in barrios.

8.  Mexican Americans (cont’d)  Crowded barrios and discrimination led to tension in barrios  “Zoot Suit Riots” took place in the L.A. barrios between military personal and Mexican Americans.  Mexican Americans were usually wrongly blamed and accused for the problems

9.  Native Americans  25,000 Native Americans joined the military  Many migrated off reservations to work in manufacturing centers; many did not return causing many Native Americans to lose touch with their culture on the reservations.

10.  Suffered the worst discrimination during the war; made up only 0.1% of population (on West coast primarily)  2/3 were Nisei, or Japanese born in the U.S. to emigrant parents  Hostility and hatred grew after Pearl Harbor; the media escalated these feelings  Japanese “Spies” where EVERYWHERE

11.  Executive Order 9066 was signed to remove “aliens” from the West coast.  For a few months this included Italians and Germans but Japanese were the primary target  War Relocation Authority moved 110,000 people with Japanese ancestry to internment camps.  Took place extremely fast and many lost all of their personal possessions.

12.  Internment camps were in desolate places and were very sparsely furnished.  Shared toilets, bathing, and dining facilities.  Barbed wire and armed guards surrounded these facilities

13.  Four cases of Japanese Americans reached the supreme court.  Korematsu v. Unites States it was ruled that Japanese civil rights were not being violated based on the situation (WWII)  Early in 1945, Japanese Americans were allowed to move home  We later apologized for our transgressions and provided each Japanese internee with 20,000 dollars.