Japanese-American Internment Camps
The period during World War II was no doubt a time of great panic in America. The United States home front was one filled with change and hysteria. Among questions of rationing, a possible war in America, and nuclear warfare, spies and treasonous activity was also one of great concern. In response to this question, politicians and army officials looked for an answer. They looked to find enemies within, and being greatly influenced by the legacy of Pearl Harbor, they looked to the Japanese Americans. They were easily spotted and they looked like the enemy, so Americans found it necessary to label them as the enemy, regardless of their past loyalty to the United States. This was the basis of Japanese-American Internment and just one example of how times of panic and war can cause mass hysteria and prejudice to overshadowed the values of civil liberty and justice.At the time of World War II, people of Japanese ancestry living in the United States were called Nikkei (Tunnell and Chilcoat 2). These Nikkei in the U.S. were either Issei or Nisei. Issei were all Japanese Americans of first-generation immigration, meaning they were born in Japan. Nisei were all Japanese Americans who were born on American soil. At th
Many of these "victories" for the Japanese Americans were only bittersweet, since many !involved in the internment had already passed away (115). Despite the quality of their land, most Nikkei were good farmers and they were able to convert the unwanted soil into a thriving farm. Instead, these highly qualified Nisei individuals were limited to low paying jobs such as a gardener or a store clerk (3). Roosevelt inevitably signed Executive Order 9066, a law "giving the army power to establish restricted military areas and to forcibly remove from their homes people living in those areas" (Cooper 7). But in the 1940's, it was somehow accepted. Then President Roosevelt organized the War Relocation Authority on March 18, 1942. He would later become one of the biggest supporters of evacuating the Japanese (Cooper 6). The government was the center of everything and the President and his men held a great deal of respect. When asked about the constitutionality of relocating the Japanese Americans, McCloy responded, "Why the Constitution is just a scrap of paper to me" (30). Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp. Korematsu's opinions were that he should have been given a trial before he was "imprisoned" and that there was no real military reason to evacuate the Japanese. The proclamation was also written to admit that the government had been wrong to treat its citizens with such disrespect.
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