World War 2 had transformative impacts on American home life. Racial prejudice against the Japanese became public opinion due to mass propaganda. "...anti-Japanese propaganda was intense. Movies, comic strips, newspapers, books, and advertisements caricatured Japanese by portraying them with thick glasses and huge buck teeth" (Digital History). Executive Order 9066 displaced large amounts of Japanese Americans and put them into internment camps, with the Supreme Court upholding the internment order in the 1944 case Korematsu v. the U.S. "The order authorized the military to remove people of Japanese ancestry from designated military areas, leading to the relocation of "more than 120,000 Japanese people'" (United States Courts). The Korematsu case law was a legal precedent until 1983 when a group of young Japanese American Lawyers, "...showed that the government's legal team had intentionally suppressed or destroyed evidence from government intelligence agencies reporting that Japanese Americans posed no military threat to the U.S." (United States Courts). Beyond internment camps for citizens, racism was cultivated in this era in other ways, too. The GI Bill disproportionately benefitted white veterans over ethnically diverse veterans. Urban Removal programs demolished Black neighborhoods to make room for middle-class whites or institutions. Even the Nazis were inspired by American racism, being praised in Hitler's Mein Kampf. While the United States fought across the battlefield of World War II, the home life of Americans was also a racist battle.
"Digital History." Www.digitalhistory.uh.edu, 2021, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3492. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
United States Courts. "Facts and Case Summary — Korematsu v. U.S." United States Courts, www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/annual-observances/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month/korematsu-v-us-balancing-liberties-and-safety/facts-and-case-summary-korematsu-v-us. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
"Digital History." Www.digitalhistory.uh.edu, 2021, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3492. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.
United States Courts. "Facts and Case Summary — Korematsu v. U.S." United States Courts, www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/annual-observances/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month/korematsu-v-us-balancing-liberties-and-safety/facts-and-case-summary-korematsu-v-us. Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.