What Does It Mean To Be an American?

When the belief spreads that some of the people in a community don’t belong – that they are different or threatening – those people can become vulnerable to abuse, discrimination, and persecution, even if that belief is based on lies.

As Japan and the United States became enemies in World War II, paranoia and suspicion of Japanese Americans increased. Through its policies and language, the U.S. government treated Japanese Americans as “others” who didn’t belong in this country, stoking many Americans’ existing fear and prejudice and conditioning them to accept the incarceration of their fellow American citizens.

Even today, language is used to “other” groups of people and to open the door for laws and social policies built on fear and prejudice. The recent Muslim travel ban and the rise of anti-Asian hate during the COVID-19 pandemic are two instances of this recurring pattern: scapegoating people from minority groups, whether racial, ethnic, or religious, in the name of national security.

Mrs. B. G. Miller points to an anti-Japanese sign on her home. She was a member of the “Hollywood Protective Association.” The HPA was organized for the purpose of keeping people of Japanese descent from settling in the neighborhood after a Japanese Presbyterian Church opened nearby. Los Angeles Examiner, May 18, 1923.