A popular song from the musical South Pacific reminds listeners that "You've got to be taught to hate and fear." During the years leading up to the war with Germany and Japan, the various media were filled with images and stories intended to paint our enemies as sub-human.

Posters, cartoons, and editorials from the early 1940s warned Americans that enemies and terrorists were living among us. Americans were urged to root out the foreign elements and to report any suspicious behaviors (such as listening to short wave broadcasts in unfamiliar languages) or any evidence of "un-American" activities.

Eventually, over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were under lock and key in the US as reports were spread that up to 25% of Japanese Americans were of dubious loyalty.

Media Articles and Photographs

In the media many stories, articles, and photographs fed the prejudice and hatred.

A Different Kind of Media Coverage

Not all media coverage during WWII was biased against Japanese Americans. Check out this May 21, 1942, article from the San Francisco Chronicle.

In the Movies

The Japanese were referred to as "monkeys" or "apes" in many Hollywood movies. The U.S. used these films as vehicles for WWII propaganda.

Cartoons

Cartoons ridiculed the Japanese as funny-looking, goofy and treacherous. Some of the best/worst cartoons were drawn by a young advertising executive named Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss).