Making Un-Americans

Abstract

When in January, 1943, the War Department premitted Americans of Japanese ancestry to register for military service, they were asked if they were willing to swear allegiance to the United States and to foswear allegiance to the Japanese Emperor. More than six thousand citizens declared themselves "disloyal" to the United States. Disloyalty to nation was defined by the evacuees as loyalty to family and friends, as protest against deprivation, as security and safety. Disloyalty declarations were most frequent in the relocation centers where social tensions were greatest and were related positively to low levels of prewar acculturation. Causes of the declarations of disloyalty provide important clues for analyzing more serious cases of national disloyalty.