Japanese Internment

On February 19,1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed executive order 9066 ordering all Japanese Americans to relocate to “relocation camps” in different parts of the country. On May 1, 1942 one of the nine camps for these Japanese Americans would be built on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona. The “camp”, would actually be two seperate camps: Butte and Canal camp, and the “evacuees” as they would be called, came from Fresno County, CA, and the Los Angeles area. This particular camp would be the loosest camp on restrictions for the internees.

In 1942, when US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued “Executive Order 9066,” many Japanese-American families had to leave their homes, jobs, and daily life routines to relocate to internment camps, where conditions were harsh. Shirley Ann Higuchi, writer of “Opinion: Japanese Internment Scar Still Pains Families and Descendants,” published in 2017 in the Mercury News, and she narrates the situation her grandparents, uncles and aunts faced during the relocation, and how they suffered. Higuchi starts building her article by describing the Santa Clara Valley hospital, how it used to belong to her family, and mentions a few details about her family. Secondly, she describes how her family had to leave everything in a short period of time,

The widespread belief that Japanese American citizens were loyal to Japan, where their ancestors lived, resulted in fear of these people. This led President Roosevelt to sign an executive order that would relocate any citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps within the U.S. Many families left much of what they had behind, due to the uncertainty of whether or not they would be able to return to it. While the conditions inside the internment camps were nowhere near able to be compared to those during the Holocaust, they weren’t ideal. However, nothing is ever ideal when concerning racial prejudice. Despite the way that they were treated, the Japanese Americans persevered and in the end learned from their experiences.

After a few months stay in an assembly center, most of the Japanese Americans were moved to the relocation centers located on gloomy barracks mainly in abandoned areas of the West. (Nextext 37) The assembly centers and relocation centers were built and ran by the War Relocation Authority. Pomona Assembly Center was 1 of 18 centers in California and it was the fifth largest with an average population of 4,755 and on June 20, 1942 held a maximum capacity of 5,434 internees. The internees complained that there was lack of a variety of food, the lines to get food were too long, there was a lack of ventilation and the restrooms were located inconveniently. (Feeley 222) Living a closed life led to an intensification of social life; lovemaking, dancing, and singing were uncontrollable activities. The families and internees were held in Pomona from May 7, 1942 to August 24, 1942 for a total of a 110-day stay. By August 24, 1942 5,260 internees were transferred to Heart Mountain War Relocation Center in Wyoming. (Feeley 219) (Nextext 144) Most Japanese Americans cooperated with the War Relocation Authority and military officials rather than resisting removal from the West Coast. (Hayashi 2) In 1943 during the Loyalty Registration, Japanese Americans were questioned regarding which country they would support; five out of every six Japanese Americans promised their obedience to the United States

“On February 19th, 1942 President Roosevelt signed into effect Executive Order 9066: an authorization for military authorities to exclude any and all persons from designated areas of the country as necessary for national defense (Jones, Par. 11).” This was the first strike in a round of racial exclusion that violated the Japanese's rights, abolished their faith in the American government, and interned them in a camp for up to four years. The Japanese internment camps were unethical and completely barbaric because they violated the Japanese's rights as individuals and as citizens of the United States, it was a violation of the justice system as well, they had no evidence to prove any of the Japanese were plotting against the United States,

Race tracks and fairgrounds are a few examples of makeshift temporary camps in Phase 1 (Estes). During Phase 1 permanent camps were being built for Phase 2 of the Japanese Internment. Phase 2 camps were surrounded by barbed wire fences and evacuees lived in barracks. Each block of barracks only had one set of bathrooms, one laundry room, one ironing room, a cafeteria, and a recreation facility (Estes). Also Phase 2 camps tried to make life more normal for Japanese Americans by providing stores, hospitals, and self government to the evacuees (Relocation of Japanese Americans). Stores were the only way to get goods not given to you or that an evacuee brought. Also they were one of the only forms of employment for the Japanese Americans. Also any additional money had to have come from selling their belongings before coming on the trip. Remember that they had to sell their property and belongings for way below their actual value. All jobs paid similar low wages which led to issues for the Japanese Americans. Many of these issues destroyed their Japanese culture (McGrath). One issue was that children were earning as much money as their parents. This led to parents losing control of their children and destroying father son relationships. Another issue was that families no longer shared meal time together as children chose to eat with their friends. This was one of many Japanese traditions that vanished during their time in internment camps. Also

On February 19th 1942, Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066. Under the terms of the order, people of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps. The United States’ justification for this abominable action was that the Japanese American’s may spy for their Homeland. Over 62% of the Japanese that were held in these camps were American Citizens. The United States’ internment of the Japanese was a poor and cowardly method of ‘keeping the peace.’ The United States was not justified in stowing away Japanese Americans into almost concentration camps. This act goes against the basic Bill Of Rights granted to all American citizens, the Fifth Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, racial tensions increased in the United States, especially on the West Coast (Divine 898). The anti-Japanese sentiment led to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which gave military officials the power to limit the civil rights of Japanese Americans (Danzer 802). The order also authorized the forced relocation of all Japanese Americans to concentration camps (Divine 898). These camps were located in desolate deserts and flatlands in the interior of the United States (Sato 67). Two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to relocate were “Nisei”, or native born American citizens (Divine 898).

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, many people were dubious towards many Japanese-Americans and believed they were working with Japan. With this, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, moving several Japanese-Americans into concentration camps, calling it a “military necessity” (Ewers 1). When this happened, many Japanese-Americans lost everything they had owned such as houses, farms, and their rights as American citizens.

Photograph #1 shows a large group of Japanese Americans lining up behind a table, for what appears to be their registration into a Japanese internment camp. Within the group, you can see looks of confusion and distress on most of the adult faces, as well as looks of confusion and crying from the children. Many of the Japanese Americans are carrying few belongings other than the man to the left with one bag in his hand, and the woman in front of him who has an item in her hands; it is implied that after registering their names with the United States government representatives at the table, they will be sent to the internment camps with what they have. With the confusion on their faces as well, it could be assumed that some people did not even know that they could take belongings with them to the camps. It could also be assumed that many in the line are not sure why they have to register in these camps, as they have been living normal American lives up until this point in 1942.

Shortly after the first bombs were dropped on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, the American people’s fear of the Japanese grew dramatically, especially for those Japanese living in America. Almost every Japanese American was seen as a threat to the country. On February 19th, 1942, Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, authorizing the relocation of Japanese Americans to camps further inland. Over 175,000 Japanese Americans were affected in some way by the order, even though more than 70,000 of them were born in the United States and were American citizens. The common perspective of the American people was shown through their use of the expression “A Jap’s a Jap,” virtually destroying the thought that any

Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1946 were an exemplification of discrimination, many Japanese Americans were no longer accepted in their communities after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were perceived as traitors and faced humiliation due to anti-Japanese sentiment causing them to be forced to endure several hardships such as leaving behind their properties to go an imprisoned state, facing inadequate housing conditions, and encountering destitute institutions. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 (Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me). This led president Roosevelt to sign the executive order 9066, which authorized the army to remove any individual that seemed as a potential threat to the nation (“Executive Order 9066”) This order allowed the military to exclude “‘any or all persons from designated areas, including the California coast.”’ (Fremon 31). Many Japanese opposed to leave the Pacific Coast on their own free will (Fremon 24) . Japanese Americans would not be accepted in other areas if they moved either.Idaho’s governor stated, Japanese would be welcomed “only if they were in concentration camps under guard”(Fremon 35). The camps were located in Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California where thousands of Japanese Americans eventually relocated. (“Japanese Americans at Manzanar”) The internment lasted for 3 years and the last camp did not close until 1946. (Lessons Learned: Japanese Internment During WW2)

To be a Japanese immigrant in the early 1900s was difficult but after December 7, 1941 things only got worse. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. “Although conflict had been underway in both Europe and Asia for years, the United States did not formally enter the hostilities until December 8, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt famously declared the attack on Pearl Harbor ‘a day which we live in infamy’ and asked Congress for a declaration of war” (Wu and Izumi). After the attack on Pearl Harbor “race became increasingly associated with loyalty in the United States” (Harth 254). “What Japan had done was blamed on Japanese Americans” (Wu 2). On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Executive Order 9066 granted the secretary of war and his commanders the power “to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded” (Executive Order 9066). “Although the text of Executive Order 9066 did not specifically mention Japanese Americans, it was intended to apply to them exclusively” (G. Robinson and G. Robinson 4).

After the attack on the Pearl Harbor in 1941, a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy air service, United States was thrilled and it provoked World War II. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President FDR ordered all Japanese-Americans regardless of their loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted over 127,000 people of Japanese descent relocate across the country in the Japanese Internment camps. Many of them were American Citizens but their crime was being of Japanese ancestry. They were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs and in some cases family members were separated and put into different internment camps. There were ten internment camps were placed in “California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas”(History.com). However, until the camps were fully build, the Japanese people were held in temporary centers. In addition, almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States and It made no difference that many of them had never even been to Japan. Also, Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes and relocate in the internment camps. Japanese families in internment camps dined together, children were expected to attend school, and adults had the option of working for earning $5 per day. The United States government hoped that the internment camps could make it self-sufficient by farming to produce food.