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Pacific War As A Race War

            The Pacific theater of World War II was one unique and interesting progression and a stark contrast from the events taking place in the European theater of war. The war in the Pacific did not start out as a race war at all nor did its continuation necessarily qualify it as a race war. The United States went to war against Japan in an act of self-preservation and not on racist ideology. On the defeated side, the war from the Japanese perspective was viewed as a race war and the country's racism was of extreme prominence in its war effort and was largely influenced on racial theory. The war itself was not racist however it was the means and the way in which the war continued was based on race. Its inception on the Japanese side was largely racist and it was the racist tendencies in the majority of the American public and the overwhelming majority in the Japanese public that led to the war in the Pacific to evolve into a race war. The psychological aspect was an even larger component in the minds of the people of Japan and the United States. It created a schema in the minds of the public that distorted their perceptions and fueled a war based on racism and hatred thus supporting the various leaders who were blatantly racist in their remarks. The overall racist tendencies that manifested themselves during the course of the war were triggered by having an enemy that was largely of a different race compared with the majority of the population of the United States being of European descent. It provided an easy enemy and target for racism by propaganda. It further enraged the racism that already existed within the United States to another level. It became a major component on both sides where race influenced the way the war was handled in multiple dimensions. .
             Racial theory in Japan was an impetus for the war in the Pacific. The Japanese often referred themselves as shido minzoku, or leading race.


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