Korean Comfort Women

During WWII, Korean women and girls (as well as women of other South East Asian countries) were forced to work in rape camps set up by the Japanese army. After their traumatic experiences, few spoke out against the atrocities committed against them. A woman's worth depended on how pure she was. Women who had sexual experience before marriage were generally undesirable. The Comfort Women's experiences of forced sexual labor inappropriately undermined their worth and status. Women were ashamed to speak out against their aggressors, fearful of what their family and peers would think of them.
Rape has always been in a problem during wartime, but this horrific crime is usually overlooked. Women and young girls of an enemy country were considered the "spoils" of war. Such a crime is far from outdated, nor does it seem to be any more under control than it was during the War in the Philippines. One in six women will be raped in their lifetime, and only six percent of rapists will ever be incarcerated. It is nearly impossible to keep count of every victim of rape overseas. Rape is not just "unfortunate", it is despicable and dehumanizing. There is absolutely no justification for rape, nor will there ever be.
The government and officials of Japan repeatedly denied forcing sexual labor on women of enemy countries, even with all the complaints by Korean women. The Japanese claimed that the women came willingly, and no crime of rape ever went unpunished by the Japanese military. Any soldier that committed rape was allegedly court-martialed. But this cannot be true, for the testimonies of Comfort Women reveal identical trends of their horrible and degrading treatment. Even veteran Japanese soldiers admitted to using Comfort Women, claiming they were "necessary for consolation in wartime".

The Four Freedoms

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s visions of essential human freedoms were the freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. “Freedom from want” meant freedom from economic want. The phrase originally meant an end to barriers to international trade, but later became a promise of protection of America’s standard of living after the war. Roosevelt wanted to make this principle universal, promising it to everyone in the world. Roosevelt was criticized as a socialist for promoting such a liberal economic idea.
During the Depression and World War II, the world seemed complicated and out of control. Franklin Roosevelt’s last vision, “freedom from fear”, was an answer to people’s continuous worries about the outcome of the Great Depression and the Second World War. “Freedom from fear” was a promise of peace, and an end to physical aggression between countries. It called for a reduction in armaments to the point that no one country will harm another. But the Cold War would soon prove that “the arms race” between countries was inevitable.
When Germany invaded, attacked, and occupied much of Europe, Europeans and Americans lived in constant fear. Europeans lived in fear of physical aggression, and Americans lived in fear of greater economic downfall. Roosevelt succeeded in his campaign for “freedom from want” by mobilizing for war and selling weapons.
The new weapons of WWI frightened many, and the German’s annihilation of Europe disturbed not only Europeans, but also the rest of the world. Roosevelt called for an end to the collective armaments to ensure the safety of residents of the United States. He also universalized this principle by stating that the armaments race could be ended “anywhere in the world”.

Alain Locke on The New Negro

In The New Negro, Alain Locke stresses the importance of African American attitudes and self-expression. He states that the day of “aunties”, “uncles”, and “mammies” is gone. Locke means that the Negro is no longer just Southern. Locke wants to alleviate the Southern stereotypes that bound blacks to the notion of slavery. He also talks of the liberation of the Harlem Renaissance: a time of cultural expression and the establishment of African American values. Locke notes that Manhattan has been a place for blacks to dissolve African stereotypes and find different members of their own race, with whom they can interact with and strengthen their community. Before blacks were bound together as a race solely by a “common condition” (slavery), but now since there is a great mixture of African Americans in Manhattan, they can find unity and be bound by “sentiment and experience”.