Hawaii Before The Attack

Relations between the United States and Japan, strained in the 1930s over Japan's foreign policy in China and the resulting failure of Roosevelt to invoke the neutrality act, only worsened in 1940 and 1941. In July 1940, the American government placed an embargo on all scrap iron, steel, high-octane gasoline, and aviation lubrication oil going to Japan. On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, making them allies. On January 7, 1941, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew in Tokyo warned his superiors, "There is a lot of talk around town to the effect that the Japanese, in case of a break with the U.S., are planning to go all out in a surprise mass attack at Pearl Harbor. I rather guess that the boys in Hawaii are not precisely asleep." Though it's clear now that America was on a path toward war with Japan throughout the 1940s, no one really expected any attack east of the Philippines. Hawaii, not yet a state, was to Americans a dreamy paradise in 1941.

Hawaiian Sunset, soft shadows falling,

The hush of twilight, and lovely you.

Hawaiian Sunset, I hear it calling,

and in the sunset I'll come to you.

Sammy Kaye. March 1941

On December 7, 1941, 350 Japanese planes launched in two waves from six aircraft carriers attacked the American navy and army facilities on Oahu, killing 2,400 Americans and forcing America into a war.

Reaction to the Attack

Song titles and lyrics about the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into the War were often vicious and full of themes of violence. Intense competition among sheet music and record producers in Manhattan's Tin Pan Alley meant that songs were written and rushed into production days or even hours after the attack. These songs thus captured the raw anger, humiliation, and feelings of betrayal that most Americans felt about Pearl Harbor. The attack also made it socially acceptable to express these emotions in ways that took on not just connotations of nationalism and patriotism, but also of race.

It's fairly well known now that most Americans did not know what "Pearl Harbor" was before December 7, 1941. After December 7, everyone knew, and the place was quickly immortalized in the battle cry, "Remember Pearl Harbor!" Within days songs appeared invoking the name. An advertisement in the December 17 issue of the show business journal Variety proclaimed, "America Will Never Forget...WE'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR...

Most Pearl Harbor-inspired songs are dark, violent, and often overtly racist. America had been taken by surprise at Pearl Harbor. Worse, the Japanese had not conducted themselves in accordance with Western notions of "fair play". Negotiations in Washington were ongoing. Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, and special envoy Saburo Kurusu had arrived at Secretary of State Cordell Hull's office an hour after the attack began with a letter officially breaking off negotiations.The late delivery of the letter to Secretary Hull, the "sneak attack," and the delay of a formal declaration of war until the evening of December 7 made the Americans feel they had been stabbed in the back.

One of the most referenced terms to describe Japanese was the term "yellow." While this is undoubtedly a reference to the "cowardly" act of a sneak attack, it also seems clear that use of the word is part of the common race caricature of Japanese seen throughout the war.Perhaps the most frequently used rhyme in the anti-Japanese songs of WWII is that of rhyming "Jap" with "sap." The word sap has somewhat fallen out of use today, but it refers to someone who is a dupe, who is gullible and can easily be convinced to do the bidding of others.

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  1. From analyzing document one, what does it tell you about Carson Robinson? Explain by using evidence?
  2. What questions do you have about document one?
  3. Does document two help you in anyway in making sense of document one? Explain by using evidence.
  4. What do you notice about document three? How does the document further help in backing up your analysis from document three?

Remember Pearl Harbor

Performed by Carson Robison A-Side

Recorded December 1941

Written by Frank Luther

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Remember Pearl Harbor, when you sight down the barrel of your gun

Remember Pearl Harbor, never stop, 'til you drop every one

Give'em bomb for bomb, give'em shell for shell

Kill a hundred rats for every boy that fell

Remember Pearl Harbor, wipe the Jap from the map, give'em hell

Dawn on a Sunday morning

Dawn on the wide blue sea

A warrior isle of sunshine

Lay so peacefully

Then from the sky without warning

The vultures swarmed to attack

Hiding behind their "peace talk"

They stabbed our boys in the back

Remember how we used to call them our "little brown brothers?"

What a laugh that turned out to be

Well, we can all thank God that we're not related

To that yellow scum of the sea

They talked of peace, and of friendship

We found out just what all that talk was worth

All right, they've asked for it, and now they're going to get it

We'll blow every one of them right off of the face of the Earth

  1. Who do you think the artist is talking to? Provide evidence.
  2. What is the tone of the song? Provide evidence.
  3. What phrase does the artist repeat? What is the purpose of this?
  4. What is Robinson referring to when he states “Dawn on a Sunday morningDawn on the wide blue sea

A warrior isle of sunshineLay so peacefully”

  1. What words does Robinson use to describe how he perceives Japan? Why does he use these words?

6. How does this song answer the question of How was it possible for Japanese Americans to be stripped of their “ life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness during World War Two?