Japanese-American Internment: The Impure Motives of Californians

America’s recent ban on immigration and the President’s proposed Muslim registry are reminiscent of the way in which Americans treated Japanese-Americans in the early 20th century, particularly with the internment camps. In light of such recent events, it is necessary to analyze history while considering current-day events to avoid the repetition of America’s shameful past. The public backlash against the Japanese-American forced evacuation and internment was limited at best, often due to differing priorities for segments of the population or a lack of willingness to take action. While most whites did not speak out, some with decent public influence did but refrained from taking action; other minority groups, in acts of self-preservation,

Faced with the local investigators who insist on uncovering their Asian origins, Japanese Americans exercise their ability to give evasive responses in order to equally “insist on their racial citizenship as Americans” (ibid.: 414). Questions of where the Japanese American belongs can be answered by the said Japanese American with a location familiar and native to the national community, such as San Diego, California. Such tactics are less subtle than the previously mentioned methods of other migrants, and although the Japanese American example shows that it is possible to actively contest foreignization, it is still not a guarantee of avoiding racialized exclusion from the national community. At the risk of possible social impropriety, such descendants of Japanese migrants take the “‘educate’ those who are apparently ignorant or misinformed” (ibid.: 416). Not only is the method of stonewalling queries with evasive answers dangerous due to possible social offence, but such a method also only takes into account the individual, not collective, representations of belonging within the

The Japanese prosperity was seen as a threat to the white population. By 1913 labor unions fearing that the Japanese workers were gaining organisational strength, put pressure on California legislators. In 1924, the Federal Government passed various Anti-Japanese legislation. 6

According to the novel Farewell to Manzanar, “I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all” (158). After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, the government saw all Japanese-Americans as enemies even though most, if not all of them, had done nothing wrong. They were taken from their homes and send to awful internment camps where they were treated as prisoners. The Japanese-Americans stayed in the camps four years, just because of where they come from. During this time Americans completely turned against the Japanese people living in their country and bombarded the news with anti-Japanese propaganda which showed how much racial discrimination there was, even back in the 1940s. While Farewell to Manzanar explores this concept, there are many questions in which the reader is left with. First, the Japanese-American Internment was fueled by more than war time panic, which reveals the question: what role did prejudice play in the Japanese-American Relocation? Then, there is the question: what modern day connections can you make with this time in American history? Lastly, this story leaves the reader with the question: do you think something like this could happen today? Farewell to Manzanar gives a glimpse of the lives of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s and

Another historical event that shows the prejudice that was so rampant against Japanese Americans and all minorities is recorded in an article entitled "20,000 for Arizona" which is it self racial biased. "Twenty thousand alien and Japanese citizens will be moved to the Colorado River Indian Reservation at Parker, Ariz., in the first extensive relocation..." ("20,000" 21). Not only does the simple fact that these people are

Throughout history of not only the United States but also the world, racism has played a huge role in the treatment of other humans. A dark mark in United States history, the Japanese Relocation during WWII is a prime example of this racism coming into play. Whether or not this event was necessary or even justified, however, is a constant question for historians even nowadays. The Japanese relocation of the 1920’s unnecessary and unjustified because it’s main causes: selfish economic plots by farmers, unrealistic military measures, and blatant racism.

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

Interestingly, State and Federal courts still had the authority to deport Chinese resident aliens. President Chester Arthur passed it on May 6, 1882. Such a devastating act was a culmination of hatred towards Chinese people that had been brewing since the California Gold Rush. During the California Gold Rush, Chinese people had an affinity for striking gold. Jealousy from white miners pushed them towards cities like San Francisco where they started businesses (Yuning Wu).

The Japanese-American placement in internment camps was wrong and unconstitutional. The Japanese-American people had been living in the United States without question until the uprise of racial prejudice brought on by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many Japanese-Americans had been born in America and lived an American life, integrated into American schools, speaking with American accents, and enjoying American culture. But, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Japanese were suddenly seen as threats that needed to be controlled. Without any consent, these Japanese-Americans were placed in internment camps with poor conditions and treated as if they were ticking time bombs themselves.

The Japanese-American internment did not have a logical reason for its doing. “There is no Japanese “problem” on the coast,” (Munson, 3). Munson states there is no problem on the West Coast with the Japanese. As a “rebuttal”, Lt. Gen. DeWitt states in a government report that ”it is better to have had this protection and not to have needed it than to have needed it and not to have had it,” (DeWitt, 1). DeWitt proposes the argument that America did it out of fear of another attack by the Japanese. However,

Japanese Americans during World War II were displaced from their homes and placed in concentration camps (Takaki, 147). “In the War, we are now engaged in racial affinities are not severed by immigrations” (Takaki, 148). Furthermore, Japanese Americans were not citizens due to the exclusion of Asian people

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)

How the United States and Japan integrated “previously despised populations into their nations in unprecedented ways, while at the same time denouncing racial discrimination and even considering these peoples as part of the national populations and, as such, deserving of life, welfare, and happiness” (Fujitani

In 1849, an inundation of Chinese immigrants came to the United States to take part in the California gold rush. Relations between the Chinese and Americans started off neutral, but soon conflicts arose. White workers saw Chinese as a threat to their status and tried to solve this issue by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act; this severely limited the number of Chinese allowed to immigrate into the country at the time. Although this compromise satisfied the white protests, it only lead to more conflicts with how the Chinese were treated during immigration. These conflicts would not be resolved for another 61 years.

The Japanese colonization of Korea made Koreans an easy target of exploitation. Since Japan was in a great need of cheap labor, Korean workers were recruited during 1920s. In this essay, I am going to discuss the significance of institutional racial discrimination targeted towards Korean workers in interwar Japan as a tool of alienation and exploitation.