Abstract
This Independent Study regards the ways in which the Japanese American population faced social injustices on behalf of the United States government following the attack of Pearl Harbor. Despite official reports attesting to this minority’s innocence and overall disconnect from the Imperial Nation of Japan, the government continued to claim a fear of espionage and attack from those of Japanese descent on the west coast. The resulting action taken by the government was the ratification of Executive Order 9066, which relocated all those of Japanese ancestry to relocation centers, or internment camps. I will discuss how their “shikata ga nai” mindset shaped their experience as a whole, how they navigated questions of self-identity in a country that hated them, reacted to the WRA’s attempts of Americanization, and ultimately, how their plight relates to that of modern Muslim Americans.
Advisor
Matsuzawa, Setsuko
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Cooper, Hayley J., "“Shikata Ga Nai:” An Analysis of the Japanese American Experience of Internment, Social Injustice, and Perseverance" (2016). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7066.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7066
Publication Date
2016
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2016 Hayley J. Cooper