I had two uncles, both Marines, both seriously wounded, one on Okinawa, the other on Iwo Jima. Until their last breath, they hated anything to do with Japanese people or culture. Interestingly, both also harbored very bad feelings about the American Red Cross who they claimed, that while in long-term recovery in various hospitals, constantly shook them down for goods that were supposed to be free. Stuff like writing paper, cigarettes, treats. Neither of their children were ever allowed to participate in the RC donation drives that were common in the schools in the 50s-70s.
Were these people bigots. No question. As far as my uncles, it wasn't limited to the Japanese either. As far as that went, the whole country used racism as a weapon during the war against the Japanese. Japanese people were often shown as Monkeys, with buck teeth and Coke bottle glasses, on the propaganda posters. What the government did with innocent Japanese American citizens was heartbreaking, and based on race.
We know the National policy was racist, because neither the Germans nor the Italians were not depicted as sub-humans. Of course, they did make a lot of fun of the German leaders, but depicted them as tyrants and idiots instead of inferior human beings.
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