No-No Boy Themes & Characters

No-No Boy Themes and Characters

Details of Executive Order 9066 help place Okada's book in its historical context. The executive order, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, resulted in the internment of over one hundred thousand Japanese Americans in prison camps throughout the United States. The title No-No Boy refers to two questions the U.S. government required all internees to answer in order to secure their release: "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?" and "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attacks by foreign or domestic forces, and foreswear any form of allegiance to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power, or organization?" Those who answered "yes" to both questions were released and enlisted in the U.S. armed forces. Those who answered "no"...
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