It may well have been racism, but it may also have had something to do with the fact that Japan directly attacked and killed people on United States territory, whereas Germany never did.
Most of us today barely even acknowledge that Pearl Harbor happened anymore, but don't ever underestimate the amount of outrage it stirred up within America at the time it actually happened.
I agree that it is true that Germany did NOT directly attack the United States, it should be pointed out that many German Americans were convicted of espionage and sabatoage against the United States.
For example the book Personal Justice Denied on page 288 points out that there was the German-American League, Deutschamerikanische Volksbund or otherwise was also known as the Bund, that was headed by Fritz Kuhn, and CLAIMED to have a membership of MORE than 200,000. It was engaged in pro-Nazi demonstrations AGAINST the President Roosevelt Administration.
And in Hitler's Undercover War: The Nazi Espionage Invasion of the U.S.A. by William B. Breuer it points out on pages 43-44, page 168, and page 201 that NUMEROUS members of the above Bund organization was recruited by German agents to GATHER intelligence information in the United States!
On pages 321-324 of his book, Mr. Breuer provides a listing of the German Americans, Germans and other American citizens who were convicted of spying for Germany during World War II.
However, the book Personal Justice Denied points out on page 193 the above facts and information did NOT stop the Selective Service from allowing German Americans to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces to fight against the Germans, while Japanese Americans had to go through loyalty verification to determine if they should be ALLOWED to enlist.
If it is logical to intern Japanese Americans, then I afraid that German Americans should also been interned since the U.S. Government was well aware that they were involved in espionage.
I mean you can also go to the FBI’s own website and it states the case of the Duquesne Spy Ring. On January 2, 1942, 33 members of a Nazi spy ring headed by Frederick Duquesne in New York were sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison.
Here are SOME of the names of the spies and also the espionage activities they were convicted for:
-Paul Bante, German American, was preparing a fuse bomb for sabotage.
-Franz Stigler, German American, sought to recruit amateur radio operators in the U.S. as channels of communication to German radio stations.
-Felix Jahnke, German American, had a radio set built so he could use it to transmit radio messages to Germany.
-Hartwig Kleiss, German American, obtained details on the construction and performance of new speedboats being developed by the United States Navy.
-Carl Reuper, German American, obtained photographs for Germany relating to U.S. national defense materials and construction that he obtained from his employment.