Injustice and Dehumanization

The author uses this theme to explore how Japanese Americans were treated as outcasts and pariahs during World War II, with even those who were second or third generation immigrants (including children) cast as potential enemy combatants. The U.S. government's passing of Executive Order 9066 calling for Japanese internment set the tone that was then followed by the American public, who suddenly viewed their friends and neighbors of Japanese descent with suspicion and even anger, to the extent that when the internment camps were closed, George and his family were unsure if it was safe for them to return to Los Angeles. California Attorney General Earl Warren and many other political figures exacerbated the situation with their inflammatory rhetoric, with Warren claiming that Japanese immigrants living in his state were “the Achilles heel of the entire civilian defense effort” that could cause “a repetition of Pearl...