Japanese-American Internment
It all began on December 7th, 1941. It’s the day that will forever be remembered in United States History. On this day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. After that attack, many things changed. Citizens began committing acts of violence and racism on people of Japanese descent. Even on those who had been born in the United States. The government didn’t protect them, but encouraged the idea that they should be removed from what were considered military areas. Those military areas ended up being California and most of Washington and Oregon. FDR fell to bad advice and opinions when he issued Executive Order 9066. It gave the government legal power to relocate any person of Japanese descent.
FDR backed up this action by saying it was for the Japanese American’s own protection. Even though it did put them out of harms way of things such as both physical and verbal attacks, it wasn’t for their protection. They only had about a week to get rid of everything they could before they were moved to a temporary settlement while their relocations camps were being built. They could only bring what they could carry and everyone was forced to go. Even WWI veterans. They met at locations such as fairgrounds or race tracks. They stayed there for months until they were moved out to a desolate location where the camps had been built. They couldn’t grow food there because the seasons and soil wouldn’t let them. They did, however, rebuild their own little society. People worked and children went to school. Life at the camp became routine soon enough. There were guard towers and barbed wires to keep people out but they were all pointed inwards.
There was no privacy in the camps either since public locations served the peoples’ “private needs”. Although they were being treated like trash, many Japanese Americans enlisted to fight WWII. More than 300,000 enlisted to form the Japanese-American 42nd Regiment. Many people actually questioned the constitutionality of the actions that the United States was taking. One man even took it to court. Japanese-American Fred Korematsu took his case to the Supreme Court. There, the Supreme Court justified their actions by saying it was a wartime necessity. Once the war was over in 1945, people were allowed to return to the homes they once lived in but many decided not to and actually couldn’t because there was still a lot of hate towards Japanese Americans. Many of them went in search of new places to call their home since they wouldn't be accepted back where they came from. Some did go back to their old towns but the majority didn't. These camps weren’t as bad as the death camps that Hitler had set up in Germany but it was still a dark time in American History.
FDR backed up this action by saying it was for the Japanese American’s own protection. Even though it did put them out of harms way of things such as both physical and verbal attacks, it wasn’t for their protection. They only had about a week to get rid of everything they could before they were moved to a temporary settlement while their relocations camps were being built. They could only bring what they could carry and everyone was forced to go. Even WWI veterans. They met at locations such as fairgrounds or race tracks. They stayed there for months until they were moved out to a desolate location where the camps had been built. They couldn’t grow food there because the seasons and soil wouldn’t let them. They did, however, rebuild their own little society. People worked and children went to school. Life at the camp became routine soon enough. There were guard towers and barbed wires to keep people out but they were all pointed inwards.
There was no privacy in the camps either since public locations served the peoples’ “private needs”. Although they were being treated like trash, many Japanese Americans enlisted to fight WWII. More than 300,000 enlisted to form the Japanese-American 42nd Regiment. Many people actually questioned the constitutionality of the actions that the United States was taking. One man even took it to court. Japanese-American Fred Korematsu took his case to the Supreme Court. There, the Supreme Court justified their actions by saying it was a wartime necessity. Once the war was over in 1945, people were allowed to return to the homes they once lived in but many decided not to and actually couldn’t because there was still a lot of hate towards Japanese Americans. Many of them went in search of new places to call their home since they wouldn't be accepted back where they came from. Some did go back to their old towns but the majority didn't. These camps weren’t as bad as the death camps that Hitler had set up in Germany but it was still a dark time in American History.
A sign that would have been common in towns during WWII telling the Japanese to keep going because they weren't wanted there.