The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War

by Ann Gomer Sunahara

The Politics of Racism: The Uprooting of Japanese Canadians During the Second World War, by Ann Gomer Sunahara, is the first book to fully document the politics behind the 1942 expulsion order that saw 20,000 Japanese Canadians evicted from their homes in British Columbia and sent inland to work camps, detention centres and farms in Alberta and Manitoba. The book details the relationship between racism and political expediency, and shows how political parties and the affairs of the nation were controlled by a small group of politicians who scapegoated minorities to hang on to power. Most alarmingly, The Politics of Racism shows how easily Canadians allowed themselves to be manipulated by a political process that used fear and war hysteria in a very cynical and calculated way.

Since the 1981 version of The Politics of Racism (POR1981) was published, it has undergone two further editions: an HTML version in 2000 (POR2000) with an additional afterword about Redress, available on this site; and an e-book edition (POR2020) with an additional photo essay by the author.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really detailed look at the political decisions surrounding Japanese Canadian incarceration.

[Terrance Kutney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a directed readings course on WWII Japanese-Canadian internment. It showed up as a citation in another book I was reading, so I ended up adding this to the list. It gives a strong analysis, with the central thesis being that the Japanese-Canadian internment was racially motivated, implemented by politicians against the best judgement of police, military and diplomatic officials. It covers 1941-1947. I would only recommend this book to someone with specific interest in the WWII internment.