Japanese

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Japanese Internment Camps A Misguided Step
Towards Winning The War By Jonathan Ning,
Laura Paule, Kathleen OConnell
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In the beginning of the USs participation in
World War II, the government commenced the
internment of Japanese Americans in order to
prevent possible sabotage from spies.
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The government felt that this was a necessary
step in order to protect the American people.
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Although the government felt they were helping to
ensure victory, they were really violating civil
liberties and due process of law.
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Their actions were in protest to Japans
unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor. Their attempt
to protect the American people was indirectly the
result of an existing prejudice towards Japanese
Americans.
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The anti-Japanese sentiment started even before
Pearl Harbor. It began with Japanese immigration
in the 1890s and early 1900s, which white
Americans called the Yellow Flood.
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During this era, over 100,000 Japanese
immigrants entered the US.
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The white Americans saw the Japanese as economic
competition for land and jobs, especially during
the Great Depression. These circumstances created
a strong and enduring resentment of Japanese
immigrants and their descendents.
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Of all the races ineligible to sic
citizenship, the Japanese are the least
assimilable and the most dangerous to the
country. They come for the purpose of
colonizing and establishing here the proud Yamato
race. They never cease to be Japanese.
-Valentine S. McClatchy, A wealthy California
Newspaper owner testifying to Congress.
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After the the unprovoked bombing of Pearl Harbor,
the resentment towards the Japanese grew and
evolved into an unfounded suspicion of treachery
based more on racism than actual evidence.
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Curtis Munson, a State Department employee who
was sent to investigate the loyalty of the
Japanese on the West coast, stated in his report
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For the most part the local Japanese are loyal
to the United States We do not believe that
they would be at the least any more disloyal than
any other racial group in the United States with
whom we went to war.-Curtis Munson
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Despite the findings of Munson and the FBI, the
government placed restrictions on Japanese
Americans and their movements. Later they passed
Executive Order 9066 which allowed the military
to evacuate anyone they felt was necessary and
intern them in designated areas.
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Lieutenant General John L. De Witt was the chief
of the Western Defense Command, and as chief he
was concerned with the enemy aliens in his
area. Influenced by his superiors and his own
personal bias, he was given power and even
encouraged to relocate those he saw fit, most of
them being of Japanese descent.
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A Jap is a Jap. They are a dangerous element
There is no way to determine their loyalty It
makes no difference whether he is an American
theoretically he is still a Japanese, and you
cant change him by giving him a piece of
paper.- General De Witt,speaking to a
congressional committee.
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The vast majority of Japanese Americans were, in
fact, loyal to the US and tried to show their
loyalty despite the discrimination and unfair
legal restrictions and evacuation.
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"I pledge to assume my duties and obligations
as a citizen, cheerfully and without any
reservations whatsoever, in the hope that I may
become a better American in a greater America.
- Japanese American Citizens League Pledge
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Although the government and the American people
were suspicious of Japanese Americans and acted
on these suspicions, no Japanese American was
ever convicted of treason in support of Japan
during World War II.
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Though Japanese internment was justified to us
on the grounds that the Japanese were potentially
disloyal, the record does not disclose a single
case of Japanese disloyalty.-Henry Steele
CommagerWriter for Harpers Magazine
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Not only was the military doubtful of the loyalty
of Japanese Americans, they also singled out the
Japanese Americans for relocation to the
internment camps.
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The military restrictions and incarceration of
enemy aliens was not equally applied. The
restrictions fell much harder on those of
Japanese descent than those of Italian or German
descent, even though the US was at war with
Germany and Italy as well as Japan.
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The incarceration of enemy aliens and the
seizure of their property without justification
violated due process of law. It singled out
Japanese Americans for their ancestry and
deprived them of equal protection under the law
as stated in the Constitution.
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Section One, Article Fourteen of the Constitution
of the United States All persons born or
naturalized in the United States are citizens
of the United States and of the States wherein
they reside.
No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge their privileges and immunities
nor deprive life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law nor deny to an person the
equal protection of the laws.
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All of these aforementioned pieces of evidence
contributed to the wrongful and unnecessary
mistreatment of Japanese citizens during World
War II.
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The American governments actions towards
Japanese Americans were rooted in a desire to
protect the American people as a whole. Their
good intentions were corrupted by existing
prejudices and the pressures of the War.
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Their actions are somewhat understandable,
considering the fear of having the war so close
to home and the hysteria generated by that fear.
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This war hysteria, coupled with the governments
and the peoples strong desire for a sense of
control over the situation, resulted in the
injustice perpetrated upon innocent American
citizens.
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America acted rashly and its actions were not
logical or supported by evidence. Also, the
focused hostility towards Japanese Americans
illustrates a strong underlying racism as a cause
of the erroneous deeds of the US government
during World War II.
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This violation of civil rights is an example of
taking a stand gone astray.
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Credits

• Quotations, Textual Information and Images
• Korematsu v. United States Japanese-American
  Internment Camps by Karen Alonso
• Americas Concentration Camps by Allan R.
  Bosworth
• Concentration Camps USA Japanese Americans and
  WWII by Roger Daniels
• Behind Barbed Wire, The Imprisonment of Japanese
  Americans During World War II by Daniel S. Davis
• Behind Barbed Wire, The Story of
  Japanese-American Internment During World War II
  by Lila Perl
• Internment of Japanese Americans During World
  War II
• galegroup.com
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum
• Oracle Thinkquest Online Library
• College of Behavioral and Social Science