The Japanese American Committee for Democracy (JACD, ja, 日米民主委員会, ''Nichibei Minshu Iinkai'') was an organization during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The Committee was founded in New York in 1940 as the Committee for Democratic Treatment for Japanese Residents in Eastern States. Its first leader was

Issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

Reverend Alfred Akamatsu. Following World War II, the committee received its ultimate title and began organizing public demonstrations of Japanese American loyalty. These demonstrations included

war bond War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...

rallies, blood drives, and art exhibitions. A number of its members also volunteered for the Foreign Language Division of the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

as translators or writers. JACD originally had a mixed Issei-

Nisei is a Japanese-language term used in countries in North America and South America to specify the ethnically Japanese children born in the new country to Japanese-born immigrants (who are called ). The are considered the second generation, ...

membership and limited its activities to New York City. However, by the mid-1940s, the JACD had transformed itself into a mass Nisei-based organization that urged political action nationwide. By the end of 1944, all Issei board members were asked to resign. JACD reached out to the Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance and endorsed the repeal of the

Chinese Exclusion Act The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...

. In 1944 the JACD joined the Communist-sponsored

National Negro Congress The National Negro Congress (NNC) (1936–ca. 1946) was an American organization formed in 1936 at Howard University as a broadly based organization with the goal of fighting for Black liberation; it was the successor to the League of Struggle for N ...

in a fall rally to support the reelection of

President Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. Despite the organization's apparent focus, its information discussed a variety of topics. The newsletter promoted rallies, cultural and political events and reported on issues such as "Nisei in the Army" and democracy in

postwar Japan Post-occupation Japan is the period in postwar Japanese history which started when the Allied occupation of Japan ended in 1952 and lasted to the end of the Showa era in 1989. Despite the massive devastation it suffered in the Second World War, ...

. The newsletter also contained JACD business sections such as "Membership Meetings," "Community News," and editorials.Japanese American Committee For Democracy News Letter
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Support for internment

The JACD newsletter stated that most Japanese Americans were loyal, but indicated that the organization remained concerned about the possibility of

Fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

ists. Yoshitaka Takagi, JACD secretary, denounced the internment protesters during the war. Galen Fisher, of the Committee on National Security and Fair Play, resigned from JACD's advisory board because he disagreed with its "fundamental policy of accepting the evacuation without reservation or right to criticism."

References

External links

Japanese American Committee for Democracy
From Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project * {{Authority control Japanese-American history Organizations established in 1940 1940 establishments in New York City Organizations based in New York (state) Japanese Resistance

History

Support for internment

See also

References

Further reading

External links