Responses of non-Japanese Americans

The reactions of non-Japanese friends, neighbors and classmates were mixed. Some turned their heads and refused to recognize their former friends. Others believed the government propaganda and became outright hostile. Still others helped their Japanese American neighbors by storing belongings and driving them to the places where they were to be picked up. Perhaps only a handful of people understood the true implications of the course of events.

World War II (231)
Pearl Harbor and aftermath (247)
Responses of non-Japanese Americans (166)

Related articles from the Densho Encyclopedia :
Asian American response to incarceration, Jewish response to incarceration

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166 items
Letter from Albert W. Palmer to Commissioner Allman (ddr-densho-446-22)
doc Letter from Albert W. Palmer to Commissioner Allman (ddr-densho-446-22)
Notification that the Japanese Church of Christ will start meeting again on May 24, 1942. Palmer identifies and vouches for ACS as pastor.
Letter from Ai Chih Tsai to John Mulder (ddr-densho-446-18)
doc Letter from Ai Chih Tsai to John Mulder (ddr-densho-446-18)
ACS thanks JM for his kindness and requests to attend the Wednesday meeting at Fourth Presbyterian Church
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies  meeting on January 30, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-763)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on January 30, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-763)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on January 30, 1942. Topics covered in the meeting include: ideas to support the Japanese American community as it faces discrimination, how to use media to lessen confusion between state and federal orders, working with California's Norther Civil Rights Committee, and questions about who would assist the …
Interpreter Releases Vol. XVIII No. 57 Series C: The Foreign Born in U.S.A., No. 13 Supplement No. II (ddr-densho-356-840)
doc Interpreter Releases Vol. XVIII No. 57 Series C: The Foreign Born in U.S.A., No. 13 Supplement No. II (ddr-densho-356-840)
Supplement to Interpreter Releases Vol. XVIII No. 57 Series C: The Foreign Born in U.S.A., No. 13. Supplement includes three press releases by the Attorney General from between December 10, 1941 and December 14, 1941.
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies  meeting on December 11, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-758)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 11, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-758)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 11, 1941. Special meeting called to discuss five major problems facing Japanese Americans since the declaration of war. The five issues are: finance, transportation, unemployment, education, and child care.
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies  meeting on December 23, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-760)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 23, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-760)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 23, 1941. Topics covered in the meeting include: reopening of closed businesses, bank withdrawals, other committees working to address similar problems, travel of Japanese clergymen, stranded Japanese fishermen, fear of travel for Nisei chick sexers, individuals detained by FBI being moved inland, and bullying of …
Interpreter Releases Vol. XVIII No. 57 Series C: The Foreign Born in U.S.A., No. 13 (ddr-densho-356-838)
doc Interpreter Releases Vol. XVIII No. 57 Series C: The Foreign Born in U.S.A., No. 13 (ddr-densho-356-838)
Summery of and full text of President Franklin Roosevelt's Proclamation regarding citizens of Japan in the United States. Summery produced by Common Council for American Unity.
Written statement by Mike Masoka on problems facing Japanese Americans for the Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies (ddr-densho-356-762)
doc Written statement by Mike Masoka on problems facing Japanese Americans for the Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies (ddr-densho-356-762)
A written statement by Mike Masaoka on problems facing Japanese Americans for the Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies. Issues include: decrees in patronage to Japanese owned business, cancelation of insurance polices for Japanese Americans, increased violence towards Japanese Americans, conflicting information regarding state and federal orders being provided to the community, inability to travel, and inability …
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 13, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-766)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 13, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-766)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 13, 1942. Topics covered in the meeting include: reading correspondence regarding Japanese Americans, discussion about forming an office for gathering information about evacuation, and various types of social assistance to Japanese Americans.
Case Notes (ddr-densho-356-757)
doc Case Notes (ddr-densho-356-757)
Handwritten notes about reaching out to local business owner.
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 6, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-765)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 6, 1942 (ddr-densho-356-765)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on February 6, 1942. Topics covered in the meeting include: public support for German immigrants, and updates to restrictions on Japanese Americans in California, plans to help effected Japanese Americans.
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies  meeting on December 17, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-759)
doc Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 17, 1941 (ddr-densho-356-759)
Meeting Minutes from Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies meeting on December 17, 1941. Topics covered in the meeting include: Japanese travel restrictions, public school reactions, summary of conference with State Employment Department on employment of Japanese Americans, financial issues facing Japanese nationals due to the war, situation facing Italian and German immigrants, and community responses to …
Brief Analysis of Problems of Enemy Aliens with particular reference to San Francisco (ddr-densho-356-764)
doc Brief Analysis of Problems of Enemy Aliens with particular reference to San Francisco (ddr-densho-356-764)
A report from February 4, 1942 on immigrants of German, Italian, and Japanese descent living in California, the issues these communities are facing due to the war, xenophobia, and racism, and what the Committee of Immigrant Serving Agencies Family Welfare Council can do to support them.
American Concentration Camps VOLUME 6 June, 1942- December, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-6)
doc American Concentration Camps VOLUME 6 June, 1942- December, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-6)
Volume 6 divides into six sections. Description about this volume reads directly from the book as follows: Section 1 presents archival documents from June 1942 that show the first major modifications of relocation policies and depict the resistance by Western Defense Command to any amelioration of the condition of the Japanese Americans. Section 2 contains selected …
American Concentration Camps VOLUME 5 May, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-5)
doc American Concentration Camps VOLUME 5 May, 1942 (ddr-densho-372-5)
Volume 5 divides into two sections. Description about this volume reads directly from the book as follows: The first half of volume 5 includes archival documents from May 1942 which show the Army making California and the other West Coast areas "free" of Japanese, as first the Assembly Centers and then the Relocation Centers began to …
Letter to Clarence R. Walker from Gonkichi Miyagi (ddr-densho-416-34)
doc Letter to Clarence R. Walker from Gonkichi Miyagi (ddr-densho-416-34)
Letter to Clarence R. Walker from Gonkichi Miyagi. Gonkichi talks about receiving 125 dollars from Clarence Walker for Clarence having sold something of Gonkichi's. Gonkichi tells Clarence he does not expect to return to California any time soon. Gonkichi talks how he feels about his grandson William Miyagi being drafted into the army while the rest …
img "Japs keep out" sign close-up (ddr-densho-475-293)
Black and white photograph of "JAPS KEEP OUT YOU RATS" sign painted on a door.
img "Japs keep out" sign (ddr-densho-475-292)
Black and white photograph of a barbershop door with "JAPS KEEP OUT YOU RATS" sign painted on the door.
img "Japs keep out" sign close-up (ddr-densho-475-294)
Black and white photograph of "JAPS KEEP OUT YOU RATS" sign painted on a door.
Ben Chikaraishi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-chi-1-11-3)
vh Ben Chikaraishi Interview Segment 3 (ddr-chi-1-11-3)
Hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, father's arrest by the FBI
Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 10 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-10)
vh Mollie Nakasaki Interview Segment 10 (ddr-jamsj-2-4-10)
Returning to school after Pearl Harbor: classmates "turned against me"; father taken in FBI raid

This interview was conducted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose, and is part of a project entitled "Lasting Stories: The Resettlement of San Jose Japantown," a collaborative project between the Japanese American Museum of San Jose and Densho.

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