The Japanese Internment
Throughout history, Canada has relatively been a supporter of multiculturalism. In the past Canada has had very few racial conflict, although there has been one incident which has had quite a controversial effect about human rights violations and discrimination. This thorn in Canada's side is the Japanese Internment which took place during the second world war.
The Japanese Internment took place between the years of 1941 and 1949. At the time most of the Japanese population was concentrated in British Columbia, on the West Coast of Canada. The Japanese first immigrated to Canada to work on the rail road in 1900. By 1921 the Japanese population numbered nearly 16000 people and had possessed nearly half of the fishing licenses in British Columbia. In 1941 23000 Japanese were living throughout Canada.
On December 7 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After the attack there government took all Japanese owned boats, radios, and cameras. After the public pressured the government, and they took action and the government moved all Japanese from a 100 mile wide security strip along the B.C. coast. Later the government gave a further statement that declared that all people of Japanese origin were considered aliens until the end of World War II.
In the first year of the war the 21000 Japanese who were affected by the war regulations, were sent to various provinces across Canada. The government assured the provinces that the Japanese would stay in agriculture and would be removed after the war, at the provinces request.
The remaining 12000 Japanese were taken to Interior Housing Centers in the middle of B.C. These housing centers consisted of four abandoned mining towns and two completely new communities. During the internment the Canadian Government claimed all the Japanese's land and possessions and sold them for a factor of the original cost. The government called this land claim's.
After the internment and the war, the Prime Minister at the time Makenzie King started to deport Japanese back to Japan. 4000 Japanese Canadians were deported before Makenzie King canceled the deportation order in 1947. In many peoples opinion the cancellation orders were 7 years too late.
There are many arguments which have arisen in Canada because of the Japanese Internment. Many positions have been stated as well as many different points of view. One of the major arguments is the factor of segregation and discrimination that were implied during the internment.
The diminishment of valuables by the Canadian government including land, property, and fishing boats following the false assurance of the valuables being returned immediately after the war, left Japanese-Canadians completely abandoned. Mary Haraga, one of many children that experienced such harsh conditions during the time of the internment, was extremely devastated over the policies that families underwent and recalled “[m]y parents believed the government when it said that their...possessions would be held ‘in trust’. They did not imagine that once they were incarcerated, what they had taken a lifetime to build would all be sold or auctioned off.” The confiscated possessions were sold off to property managers without the owner’s permission, and they promised that the possessions would be taken care of and would be immediately returned after the war, however, these possessions were sold off in an act of an auction. The fact that there was a need for the Canadian government to seize all of their property, itself shows how terribly they were treated and cared about. Likewise, if the Canadian government was suspecting Japanese-Canadians of being spies and reporting back to Japan for the war, the need to seize their property would be irrelevant and just another excuse to confiscate all of their property and torment them, which left them distraught. For this reason, the Canadian
This again shows the traumatic effects of residential schools and of cultural, psychological, and emotional upheaval caused by the intolerance and mistreatment of Aboriginals in Canada. Settlers not only displaced Aboriginal people from their land and their homes, but they also experienced emotional trauma and cultural displacement.
...work else where especially during the boom in Upper Canada, living off as little as possible so they could provide for their families back home. This additional income and fewer amount of mouths to feed was a great benefit of having larger families back in the day. This was only up until the depression when out-migration became static as the islanders children began to return home with the lack of jobs across Canada. Population drastically increased throughout the thirties as more and more children returned home. This brought joy but also hardship as well to the families as they were forced to rely on only income generated from the harvest they could procure. To this day, the islands population continues to increase as more people flock to the province for its lust landscapes and sandy red beaches.
The period of 1914 to 1939, Canada’s immigration policy got very unfair. Changes were made to the Immigration Act in 1914 that allowed the rejection of anyone from any race that was deemed unsuitable for Canada’s requirements. Also, in that same year, the Komagata Maru came to the coast of Vancouver. It was a ship that carried many from Punjab, India. The ship wasn’t allowed to dock and passengers weren’t allowed to disembark off the ship. The ship hadn’t sailed directly to B.C. from India so only 24 passengers were allowed to disembark; most of them were doctors or Canadian citizens already. Another act to keep out unwanted immigrants from Canada was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1923. This act came into effect on July 1st, 1923. It banned all Chinese immigrants from entering Canada, except merchants, diplomats and foreign students. Before the Chinese Exclusion Act was put into place, the Chinese had to pay a head tax of $500 just to get into the country. The numbers of Japanese immigrants were also restricted. The Canadian government restricted only 150 Japanese immigrants to come to Canada in a year. In 1925, the government relaxed restrictions on immigrants coming from many countrie...
The Japanese Canadians in Canada were devastated by Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbour and fearful of what it would mean for themselves. Some 3,600 Japanese had become naturalised Canadians before 1923 when nationality made it very difficult for Japanese to obtain it. One of the first decisions made by the government gave the Royal Canadian Navy the power to impound any vessels that belonged to Japanese Canadians and assemble them at special ports along the coast where they were moored to the shore. The government explained the impounding of the Japanese boats as a defensive measure.
According to the text book the definition of polygamy is “a family system in which one person has more than one spouse, usually one man to multiple women”. In class we talked about how this is illegal and Mrs. Barlow from the article also comment on how she had to hide this part of her life and that doesn’t seem right. It also is weird to me to see someone confess that partook in such a religion, knowing it created ten to do illegal things. We talked about it in class but it wasn’t real in my head until I saw this story. Another connection to class is the topic of women rights and how Mrs. Barlow felt she lost
It was December 8th, 1941, the day after the attack in Pearl Harbour, that the Canadian government imposed the War Measures Act which changed the lives of more than 21000 Japanese Canadians forever (Paolini). The War Measures Act allowed the government to impose certain conditions on the population in times of crisis. This gave the government the power to intern the Japanese-Canadians during World War Two. These Japanese-Canadians were first tar...
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
Inevitably, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, that began World War II, Japanese-Americans were frowned upon and stereotyped because of their descent. However, Japanese immigrants contributed to economic expansion of the United States. Whites resented the Japanese immigrants, but reaped economic profit from the Japanese-American residents’ discipline and hard work. Japanese-Americans of this time seem to be attacked; however, they choose to uphold their disconnection with the rest of the Americans. Many Japanese felt they had superiority over Americans, creating tension and disconnection.
The creation of the Residential Schools is now looked upon to be a regretful part of Canada’s past. The objective: to assimilate and to isolate First Nations and Aboriginal children so that they could be educated and integrated into Canadian society. However, under the image of morality, present day society views this assimilation as a deliberate form of cultural genocide. From the first school built in 1830 to the last one closed in 1996, Residential Schools were mandatory for First Nations or Aboriginal children and it was illegal for such children to attend any other educational institution. If there was any disobedience on the part of the parents, there would be monetary fines or in the worst case scenario, trouble with Indian Affairs.
The government’s goal of the Residential School System was to remove and isolate the children from their families and their culture in order to assimilate the Indigenous race to the dominant new Canadian culture. What the citizens did not know about was the
Canada's immigration policies changed many times after the end of WWII. Before WWII the immigration policies were "picky" on the people who wanted to come to Canada, but after, it was fair and equal to everyone. Canada's immigration policies changed drastically from being discriminative to being fair and equal to everyone, every country and race after WWII. This act to eliminating discrimination was successful because of; the introduction of the Point System, the introduction of New Immigration acts/policies, and finally the changes made in accepting Refugees. These action completely changed the immigration policies.
Polygamy is defined as “a marriage that includes more than two partners.” There are different types of polygamy, these include: polygyny, where a man has multiple wives, polyandry, in which a woman has multiple husbands, and group marriage, where a family consists of multiple husbands and wives. Of these different types of polygamy, polygyny is definitely the most popular of the three. In America, the practice of any form of polygamy is illegal and due to this law, many adherents of the lifestyle stay hidden ("What is Polygamy?"). Polygamy became an issue in the United States in the year 1852 when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the LDS Church, made it so that plural marriage became a part of its religious doctrine. However, due to the storm of controversy that followed this movement, in 1890 the Mormon Church officially abandoned the practice. The Mormon’s who disagreed with the movement broke away from the Mormon Church and became known as Fundamentalist Mormons. Although the practice was almost unheard of in regions such as the Midwest, Northeast and South, in the Western portion of the United States, polygyny marriage is still prevalent. Those who are found to be practicing the belief are fined and sometimes are forced to split up with the rest of their families. For this reason many remain in the dark about their lifestyle, considering the severity of the consequences ("History of Fundamentalist Mormons"). However, recently many families have come out of hiding and proclaimed to the world that they are a practicing polygamist family, raising the question: is it right for the government to tell people who they can and cannot marry?
Discrimination is described as the unjust treatment of others, especially due to race, sex, or age. In the narratives “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, both writers use their works to shine a light on discrimination in the United States, though in different ways. Anzaldua’s focus relies mostly on the pride of her fellow Chicanos, whereas, Hurston has more of an individualistic, soulful message. Anzaldua grew up along the Mexican-American border where she struggled with her identity as she was torn between the standards of both Mexican and American societies. Hurston did not face significant racial differences until “the very day she become colored” (Hurston 1). Hurston’s
Polygamy is becoming a part of the question, Is this is an alternative lifestyle that should be allowed? There are television shows and criminal cases about polygamy ( Kiesbye). Some common tv shows about polygamy are Sister Wives and Big Love. Since this is a new upcoming type of marriage the tv shows are showing all the good parts about polygamy ,or “fluffing” it up, rather than show any negatives aspects about it. There are multiple things associated with polygamy not just the side where all the family members are happy. There is a darker side to polygamy that the media has not been showng. Polygamy is deleterious to marriage and society because women are treated horribly unequally and horribly during marriage, children are abused, and