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The case of reparation
The case of reparation
The case of reparation
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McKenna MorrisseyThomas EdgeMarch 2, 2016Reparations for Japanese AmericansWith all the information I was given I do believe that Japanese Americans should becompensated for the way they were treated. I understand this opens a lot of problems forAmerica. America has wronged so many races and still do. I believe that American having toface consequences for what they did. America should be forced to pay anyone that wemistreated. I feel that reparations can be the start of potentially making things better. In DavidMuras article “No-no Boys” said, “110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated, and did notget trails or any just treatment.” This information shows that America wronged so manyJapanese Americans. Americans tried to hide the extent of how they treated the Japanese.
You may think that the Constitution is your security - it is nothing but a piece of paper. You may think that the statutes are your security - they are nothing but words in a book. You may think that elaborate mechanism of government is your security - it is nothing at all, unless you have sound and uncorrupted public opinion to give life to your Constitution, to give vitality to your statutes, to make efficient your government machinery. (Brown)
"A More Perfect Union: ..." is organized as a chronology of events centering around one basic theme: the confinement of Japanese-Americans to "concentration camps" during WWII. I believe the message being conveyed to the public is one of a major apology to these Japanese-Americans and their descendants for the great injustices forced upon them. In addition, the museum attempts to warn the overall public that since such a violation of the constitution has proven possible in the past, we cannot blindly rely on the fabric of our constitution to prevent such injustices from occurring again. We must proceed with caution in matters of civil liberties and work towards achieving a "more perfect union".
No one would ever think that an apology and a meager amount of money would be sufficient enough to pay back for taking away freedom and rights for several years. Apparently, it appears as Canadian government did. During World War II, Japanese immigrants and Japanese Canadians were denied of their rights as humans and Canadian citizens, and were forced to live in internment camps (Baldwin, 2011). Although the Canadian government has realized its wrong doings to Japanese Canadians and has made attempts for reparation, the formal apologies and compensations made by the Canadian government are not adequate to atone for all the financial, social, and psychological damages that Anti-Japanese policies have caused during World War II.
A simple definition of nationalism is an “extreme feeling of patriotism in which a country believes to hold a degree of superiority over other countries”. In an ideal world, superiority and inferiority are terms that shouldn’t exist and every country should hold a mutual equal status. Unfortunately however, we do not live in such an idealized world and so for some countries to be ahead of others in economic, political and socio fields is apparent. Initially, the idea of superiority has negative connotations, however with regards to nationalism, this is not always the case and as proven throughout history, nationalism has helped achieve positive outcomes.
FYI (This is a biased written paper written if one were to defend Japanese Internment)
Twenty years after the First World War, humanity was, yet again, plagued with more hostility. September 1st, 1939 marked the start of World War II, this time, with new players on the board. Waves of fear and paranoia rippled throughout the United States, shaking its’ very foundation of liberty and justice for all. The waves powerfully crashed onto a single ethnic group, the Japanese-Americans, who had their rights and respect pulled away from them. They were seen as traitors and enemies in their own country, and were thrown into prison camps because of it. This event marks one of the absolute lowest points in United States history and has changed the course of the country as a whole.
Imagine you’re young, and alone. If your family was taken from you and suffered horribly for your freedom, would you want to be repaid in some form? In the article “The Case for Reparations” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses a great deal of information about reparations, and if they should be given. Reparations are when a person or people make amends for the wrong they have done. Ta-Nehisi believes that from two hundred years of slavery, ninety years of Jim Crow laws, sixty years of separate but equal, and thirty five years of racist housing policy, that America is shackled. Only if we face the compounding moral debt can America be free. Until we face the reality of what happened together, we will always be bound by the lies that have been told.
As Americans, we all have civil rights. After the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, these rights were taken away from the Japanese Americans. They were forced to leave their daily lives (job, house, and friends). These Japanese Americans on the mainland were put into concentration camps and left there for 4 years. During World War II, The Japanese-Americans were withheld from their rights and were forced to leave their homes and relocate to internment camps. During this time, America did not uphold their responsibilities, as the Japanese-Americans were not treated equally.
Even now, almost eighty years after the war, Japanese-Americans still receive criticism for what their ancestors did during that time. Most restaurants and stores put up signs that read things like “No Japs Allowed!” or “We Don’t Want Any Japs Back Here-EVER!” After World War II in the year 1948, President Truman signed the Japanese-American Claims Act. This act was a way to compensate Japanese Americans for their economic losses due to their forced evacuation. "Although some $38 million was to be paid out through provisions of the act, it would be largely ineffective even on the limited scope in which it operated."
The problem with Japanese American treatment during World War II was harsh and cruel but was approved of at the time. The japanese descendants were taken from their homes and businesses because the government had passed a law that said the Japanese Americans had to move inland to safe camps that were ready for them. The truth was that the government and the military was scared of the Japanese Americans going to fight with the japanese. Some may of wanted to go peacefully but others did not want to leave everything behind, there were protests from the Japanese Americans, that are listed in multiple documents, in which they wanted to stay by the coast. The government had made it sound as if the movement was like a wonderful vacation where everything was taken care of and the living conditions were amazing but the conditions were actually rough and cruel but everyone thought the government was treating them kindly.
When forced to relocate, Japanese Americans were not guaranteed the protection of their property, as a result, they were forced to sell much of their possessions at low prices. One postwar study estimates that Japanese Americans lost $347 million from loss of income and property. Forced relocation was carried out thoroughly, to an absurd degree, almost akin to Jim Crow laws. People who were a little as 1/16th Japanese or previously unaware of their Japanese heritage were subjected to “evacuation.” Even Japanese American infants were not spared, being taken from both foster homes and orphanages.
Throughout America’s history, there have been numerous incidents of unnecessary incrimination of certain races, perhaps most evidently the internment of Japanese-Americans between World War I and World War II. Not only did public opinions shift towards illogical discrimination of the foreigners, degrading propaganda, discriminating laws, and segregation/separation began taking over the nation. Mainly due to the idea of national safety, irrational fear of the Japanese quickly arose and the government saw internment as a reasonable response, which only led to the Americans feeling superior to the so-called “inferior creatures.” During the gap between the World Wars, the American population took drastic measures in order to make it clear that they are superior to the Japanese and the United States truly is their country.
...ican and Japanese Americans communities have both filed many lawsuits for reparations but to no avail. Japanese Americans worked to educate the community about the injustices and inhumanities suffered by the Japanese during World War II. The African American community held conferences and symposiums to bring awareness to the issue on college campuses. Public awareness brought attention to the injustices suffered by Japanese and African Americans at the hand of the United States Government. The fight for reparation in both the Japanese and African American community should help to open dialogue regarding reparations in the United States.
I’m sorry for all the Japanese-Americans, each and every one of them, for having to go through that unfair and unjust punishment. I was told by all that we were doing the right thing and it just rubbed off on me and I started to believe them. So when I saw someone who looked like he might be thinking about escaping I would tell him to scram and to not even think about escaping, but then they would give me that look of both sadness and despair. At first, I would ignore them and tell myself I was doing the right thing and they were “criminals”, but after a while I started to second guess myself. I then realized that they probably were as good of a person as me and just as loyal to the U.S. maybe even better.
...he squatter camps of the city which they are living. Moreover slums are also the source of all kinds of social evils such as drugs and prostitution because of the lowest security.