Thin Wood Walls

Thin Wood Walls warns about the dangers of racism and xenophobia. Bigotry upends the lives of the Hanada family. The Hanadas are among tens of thousands of other incarcerated Japanese Americans; Patneaude presents them as an example of many people’s experiences.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, signs of xenophobia immediately present in the United States. Suddenly, neighbors who have always been friendly start glaring at the Hanadas, even spitting at them. At school, white kids avoid Joe and some are outright aggressive. Mike faces similar challenges. These reactions reveal two important problems permeating white American society. If white Americans are so quick to judge and villainize their Japanese friends and neighbors, then it is likely that they had always had dormant racist attitudes toward the Japanese. The second problem is the scapegoat effect. In fearing for their lives and the well-being of their country, white Americans search for something or someone to blame. It is easy for them to turn against their Japanese American peers. Japanese Americans are easy to identify, and their minority status in America makes them an easy target for scapegoating.

The media fuels the xenophobic attitudes of Joe’s classmates and neighbors. Newspapers, meant to be unbiased pillars of a functioning democracy, draw attention to ludicrous and exaggerated stories of Japanese spies on the West coast. They take their cues from the government, who take advantage of xenophobia to target the Japanese American community. Patneaude depicts sensationalist political headlines and the relationship between unchecked bigotry and the public. Oppression of Japanese Americans begins in small but significant ways. First, the Hanadas’ home is searched for “contraband,” including their radio, which all American households have. Then, their bank accounts are frozen, and their employers let them go. Then, a curfew is enforced only for Japanese Americans. This gives racist white Americans the impression that their racism is not bad. Rather, they are told it’s a protective measure against the supposed threat of Japanese individuals in America.

The situation quickly escalates. The President signs Executive Order 9066. This does not state that Japanese Americans should be targeted, but gives military authority over civilian movement. The government uses this Order to forcibly remove Japanese Americans from their homes and into internment camps. These camps are prisons, with conditions akin to those in Nazi concentration camps in Europe, but without the goal of mass extinction. Incarcerating Japanese Americans is a flagrant violation of their rights, and they have no choice but to obey. They lose their homes and all their belongings; even if and when they do get released, they have nothing to return to.

The systematic dehumanization of Japanese Americans started before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Racism and xenophobia have always been part of the Japanese American experience. Legally, it is easy for the American government to target Japanese Americans over German or Italian Americans—there are already laws in place that treat Japanese immigrants as second-class and unworthy of American security. Laws and quotas inspired by the Chinese Exclusion Act made it impossible for Japanese immigrants to own land or apply for citizenship.

Patneaude demonstrates how murmurings of racism turn into intensely oppressive and undemocratic abuse. Through Joe and his family, he encourages readers to learn from history’s mistakes.