War Without Mercy

            War Without Mercy
             Race played a dominant role in World War II for a variety of reasons.
             Historically, power relationships emerge between the dominant and the
             domineered. This has occurred throughout history, from slavery in Roman
             times to slavery in our own South. It seems there is always a victor and a
             vanquished, and those weaker must bow to those stronger who dominate them.
             In World War II, and added tension was added, and author Dower calls this
             "race hate." We were not just fighting the Japanese, we were fighting the
             "Japs," the "Yellow Bastards" who attacked Pearl Harbor and killed so many
             of our fighting men in a single morning. They were not only the enemy,
             they were despicable because of their color and their race, and we hated
             them all the more for it.
             In Europe, we were fighting the Nazis, the "Krauts," who murdered
             millions of Jews and sought to take over all of Europe. In both cases, the
             threats were quite real, and it is understood why we were fighting a war,
             but it became more than a war, and turned into a racial war because we
             hated and feared the things these foreigners had done, and this is common
             when we fear the vanquisher, and hope not to become the vanquished.
             On the home front, race hate reared its own ugly head in the way we
             treated our own black soldiers, who were not allowed to do many of the jobs
             that whites were allowed to do. We formed all black regiments, and all
             black fighter squadrons, but never mingled the two, thus underlining it was
             not just the enemy we were afraid of, it was anyone with a different color
             skin. Race played a dominant role in World War II because of fear, and
             because of ignorance, but that is not to say it could not happen again.
             Race hate will always be an issue when two dominant nations face off
             against each other; it seems to be human nature....

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War Without Mercy. (2000, January 01). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 21:22, May 19, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/200616.html