World War II and American RacismThe United States was a divided nation at the time of World War II. Divided by race and racism. This division had been much greater in the past with the institution of slavery. Over the years, these beliefs slowly deteriorated, but they were still present during the years of World War II. This division was experienced in two forms: legislation and social behavior. Legislation took the form of “Jim Crow” laws. The belief that some people were naturally superior and others inferior, scientific racism, was the accepted belief of the time. These cultural traits were in decline. After the end of World War II, their decline accelerated further. From the first days of World War II, ordinary citizens of this country already sensed the great change to come. Interviews from the Library of Congress, in the collection titled “After the Day of Infamy,” provide a window into the past. In the America that existed in the first days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into the war. Inside the collection, the pulse of the nation is revealed. Ordinary people, some of whom do not reveal their names, are given the opportunity to express their opinions on the war, the Japanese people and race relations within the union. In these open letters to the president and in the "Man on the Street" interviews, the American public reveals its prejudices and concerns in the most frank way possible. American society, like that of Germany, was tainted by bigotry and racial prejudice. The Japanese were considered particularly treacherous people during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The betrayal was obviously thought to lie in the middle of paper...it was legal for non-white immigrants to become naturalized citizens. Many immigrants born in Japan and held in concentration camps could now apply for citizenship status. It would take many years for African Americans to gain the freedoms they had fought for overseas. These efforts were accelerated by the war and the prosperity it brought. Eventually, Jim Crow would fall in the South and African Americans would take their struggle to every part of the country. It was never a nightly sensation. The civil rights movement was a long, continuous effort that took place before and after World War II. The process has been long and still continues.[1] After the Day of Infamy: Interviews with the "Man on the Street" Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, United States Library of Congress, American Folk Life Center