japanese internment
1942-1945
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, American society developed an anti-Japanese paranoia built on fear that Japanese-Americans would spy for the Japanese government, posing a national security risk in case of an invasion on the mainland. In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ordered all citizens of Japanese descent to be relocated into internment camps. Over 127,000 citizens were relocated to these internment camps, even those of Japanese descent who fought in World War 1. They were forced to sell their homes and many of their belongings, not being sure that they would be there when they returned. Life in the camps wasn’t ideal. Most of the houses were simple tarpaper barracks. The internees had to eat in a communal mess hall, and had very few luxuries. Some internees played baseball in their free time in order to try and maintain a normal lifestyle in such abnormal conditions. One of the few internees to speak up, Fred T. Korematsu, brought the legality of Executive Order 9066 to Supreme Court. However, the case ruled in favor of the US, claiming that the interment was a “wartime necessity”. Only after Japanese surrender were internees allowed to return home, although many had no home to go to. In 1988, Congress attempted to apologize for these events buy giving each surviving intern $20,000.
The significance of this event to the US is enormous. For one, it remains a dark mark on our otherwise civil and culturally equal history. It also shows what war can do to people, scaring people into making irrational and immoral decisions. This remains one of the largest atrocities in American history, and the memories and images of the arid climate and prison-like conditions still remain in the thoughts of many Americans, of Japanese ancestry or not.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, American society developed an anti-Japanese paranoia built on fear that Japanese-Americans would spy for the Japanese government, posing a national security risk in case of an invasion on the mainland. In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which ordered all citizens of Japanese descent to be relocated into internment camps. Over 127,000 citizens were relocated to these internment camps, even those of Japanese descent who fought in World War 1. They were forced to sell their homes and many of their belongings, not being sure that they would be there when they returned. Life in the camps wasn’t ideal. Most of the houses were simple tarpaper barracks. The internees had to eat in a communal mess hall, and had very few luxuries. Some internees played baseball in their free time in order to try and maintain a normal lifestyle in such abnormal conditions. One of the few internees to speak up, Fred T. Korematsu, brought the legality of Executive Order 9066 to Supreme Court. However, the case ruled in favor of the US, claiming that the interment was a “wartime necessity”. Only after Japanese surrender were internees allowed to return home, although many had no home to go to. In 1988, Congress attempted to apologize for these events buy giving each surviving intern $20,000.
The significance of this event to the US is enormous. For one, it remains a dark mark on our otherwise civil and culturally equal history. It also shows what war can do to people, scaring people into making irrational and immoral decisions. This remains one of the largest atrocities in American history, and the memories and images of the arid climate and prison-like conditions still remain in the thoughts of many Americans, of Japanese ancestry or not.