American RadioWorks : Days of Infamy, The 'Enemy' Among Us

Getting the News | Patriotism | The 'Enemy' Among Us | Sacrifice |

A Japanese-American farm family subject to evacuation from the West coast area under executive order 9066. Los Angeles County, California, April 1942. Photo: Russell Lee / Library of Congress

Jewish, Arab, Muslim and South Asian religious groups joined together to urge restraint in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Pictured are Al-Hajj Talif Abdur-Rashid, Imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood, Lorne Lieb, of Jews Against the Occupation, and Andy Stettner, of Jews For Racial And Economic Justice. Photo: AP/Roberto Borea.

In the months following the Pearl Harbor sneak attack, anger, fear, and racial prejudice contributed to the U.S. government's decision to round up Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast and put them in internment camps. Some observers say they've seen echoes of that intolerance since the terrorist attacks of September, 2001. But the voices of ordinary people recorded after Pearl Harbor, and after 9/11, suggest American racism is not what it used to be.

"And suddenly three fighter planes flew overhead. And I knew what had happened. It was one of the darkest moments in my life. Because those men who were piloting the planes very likely looked like someone like me."
— Senator Daniel Inouye

Short Audio Reactions (Real Audio)
1941: Killing snakes Tom Ritchie, Tucson, Arizona (0:53)
2001: Are you Arabic? Ran Kong, Greensboro, North Carolina (0:51)

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The 'Enemy' Among Us