World War II was a time of deliberate hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. Japanese-Americans were persecuted due to the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had attacked the United States on December 7th, 1941 at the naval base, Pearl Harbor. This hatred toward the group was due to newspapers creating a scare for the American people, as well as the government restricting the rights of Japanese-Americans. The Japanese-Americans were mistreated during World War II for no other reason than being different. These men, women, and children were loathed by the American public for looking like the people of the Japanese army that had attacked the United States. These people were only hated by association, even though many had come to the United States to create a better life for their family.
America was built on a notion of freedom, justice, and equality, thus inviting people from all different parts of the world to pursue success while still retaining their background. However, despite what this nation was truly supposed to stand for, there were grim periods in which it did not truly uphold its core values. During World War II, in which the relationship between the U.S. and Japan was at its worst, many Japanese- Americans faced discrimination and injustice. Americans claimed that this needed to be done as a national emergency and for the peace of the nation. From the sources “War Message” by Franklin D. Roosevelt and “Desert Exile” by Yoshiko Uchida we can piece together the events that lead to the discrimination of Japanese
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.
The internment of the Japanese Americans during World War II was one of the most notorious human rights violations of the 20th century. The bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war against Japan may have sparked the internment of Japanese Americans, though the same reasoning was not enough to intern German Americans or Italian Americans. The internment of Japanese Americans stemmed from a buildup of anti-Asian sentiments among the White majority of America prior to World War II, specifically from the populations of Washington State and California. The political and social treatment of Japanese Americans prior to World War II led to the internment of Japanese Americans and resembles the current treatment of Muslim Americans today.
Internment Camps
During the growth of America many Japanese people immigrated to Hawaii and mainland America as did many other immigrants to gain/earn a better life/living. Many of these immigrants helped in wars and worked in factories to help the economy grow and to help America when it is suffering. The United States decided to stay neutral in many wars including World War II. It wasn't until Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
This topic of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II is
interesting because U.S government was in a predicament, they were not sure if Japanese
American citizens should be trusted or not. They chose not to trust them and put the
Japanese Americans into internment camps. The Japanese shouldn’t have been put into
the camps because it was unconstitutional. Their rights were being violated without the
government having a reasonable excuse.
Like all issues involving race or war, the question of whether or not it was legal and
ethical to make Japanese Americans move to relocation camps in early WWII is a difficult
and sort of a controversial problem.
Weglyn, Michi. Years of Infamy The Untold Story of America’s Concentration Camps. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1976. Print.
Forced to relocate into internment camps, Japanese-Americans were feared and considered the enemy. With anti-Japanese prejudice existing for years (prior to WWII), the military actions of Japan, erupted the hostility
US History, . "Japanese American Internment." US History Online Textbook. USHistory. Web. 22 Nov 2013. .
Prejudice against Japanese and Japanese Americans was most prominent in the western states, more specifically California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Nevada. These also happen to be the states most populated by people of Japanese descent. The disproportion can be seen in a poll taken in December of 1942 by the American Institute of Public Opinion. When asked “Do you think the Japanese who were moved inland from the Pacific Coast should be allowed to return to the Pacific Coast when the war is over?” Seventeen percent nationally said they “Would allow none to return,” whether they were citizens or not. In the western states, nearly twice as many felt this way, an astonishing 31 percent (Merrick 207). This data does not show, however, whether the inlanders were less prejudiced or merely wanted to send the Japanese back to the West. It seems the war was an excuse to lock these people away for a while. Discrimination existed long before the war began with a swift attack on Pearl Harbor. Interestingly, Hawaii had few racial problems, despite being at the site of the devastation.