You might refer to them as persons of Japanese Ancestry,
which was the term used by President Roosevelt in his order sending them to the
confinement camps.
I think your thesis is a good one; but
you probably should add some specifics as to racism, etc. Obviously you need to go
beyond the fact that the Japanese were confined. One rather salient point, I think, is
that there were no similar camps for Americans of German or Italian ancestry, even
though both countries declared war on the U.S. There is also the fact that "Jap" soon
became a common term for anyone of Japanese descent. You might mention how they were
refused service is stores and restaurants and suspected of disloyalty even though many
were born in this country. A barber shop in San Francisco carried a sign which read,
"free shaves for Japs; not responsible for accidents." Sadly it was all too easy to
conflate patriotism and racism during this time. You should also mention the gentleman,
an American citizen born in Japan who was asked who he wanted to end the war. His reply
was eloquent: When your mother and father are fighting, you dont want anyone to win; you
just want the fighting to stop. Make sure you read the Supreme Court case of Korematsu
vs. U.S. in which the Court upheld detention of these people as a constitutional
exercise of presidential power. Good luck!
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