As the government rallied forces, propaganda undertook a darker tone to contribute to the war effort. In hopes to intensify nationalistic feelings, propaganda posters were published with the purpose to invoke guilt of American citizens. One poster produced by Reynold Brown read “Killing Time Is Killing Men” (Brown). The purpose of the text was to imply that Americans who were not doing anything to contribute to the war effort were to be deemed lazy and killing time. The poster exhibits a man sitting on top of a pile of dead bodies to appeal to citizens to enforce the importance of supporting the war. The dead bodies showed the public how gruesome war was and the cruelty soldiers had to endure, revealing how government authority did what needed
…show more content…
However, their control over the citizens’ thoughts later manifested into something more destructive. Racism towards foreigners, such as the Japanese, was justified due to the incident of Pearl Harbor. Americans believed themselves to be better because they did not think of themselves capable of committing such an act as Pearl Harbor. As resentment towards the Japanese increased, Americans began to see them less as humans and more as monsters. “In wartime, the enemy becomes non-human… Non-humanness permits us to act in a harmful against that enemy and their families and their properties” (Dower). When Americans began to dehumanize the Japanese they saw it as their right to defend enemies of the nation, which supposedly gave them the right to become racist towards the Japanese. Their discontent of co-inhabiting the space land as the Japanese later justified the need for Japanese internment camps, which revealed that influence of the American government was more manipulative than thought before. “... treatment of the Japanese in these posters would stimulate an underlying current of suspicion… even hatred towards Japanese Americans… lead to Executive Order 9066… establish internment camps” (Allison and Gross). American citizens were under the influence of their government and had no other way to see logic besides the one their government offered to them. In spite of the proceeding events taken after World War II, the exploration of supremacy of the American government could be seen in the use of propaganda through censorship, utilization of women, and motivation to aid the war
However, their control over the citizens’ thoughts later manifested into something more destructive. Racism towards foreigners, such as the Japanese, was justified due to the incident of Pearl Harbor. Americans believed themselves to be better because they did not think of themselves capable of committing such an act as Pearl Harbor. As resentment towards the Japanese increased, Americans began to see them less as humans and more as monsters. “In wartime, the enemy becomes non-human… Non-humanness permits us to act in a harmful against that enemy and their families and their properties” (Dower). When Americans began to dehumanize the Japanese they saw it as their right to defend enemies of the nation, which supposedly gave them the right to become racist towards the Japanese. Their discontent of co-inhabiting the space land as the Japanese later justified the need for Japanese internment camps, which revealed that influence of the American government was more manipulative than thought before. “... treatment of the Japanese in these posters would stimulate an underlying current of suspicion… even hatred towards Japanese Americans… lead to Executive Order 9066… establish internment camps” (Allison and Gross). American citizens were under the influence of their government and had no other way to see logic besides the one their government offered to them. In spite of the proceeding events taken after World War II, the exploration of supremacy of the American government could be seen in the use of propaganda through censorship, utilization of women, and motivation to aid the war