The Internment Of Japanese Americans During WWII

Franklin Roosevelt's speech to Congress, asking for permission to declare war on Japan, shows the resentment and despair of the American people. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, many Americans felt a lot of resentment against Japan, and the Japanese. Much of this resentment arose because Japan gave the United States a false hope of peace between the two countries. Also, from the evidence, it appeared that the attack was premeditated. Because of the distance between Japan and Hawaii, it was found that the attack had been planned days, possibly weeks beforehand (Roosevelt, 170).

The general United States population became prejudice towards all Japanese after the Pearl Harbor bombing on December 7, 1941. It is no wonder that Americans felt strong prejudice towards the Japanese people during this time. They felt that their country had been invaded in the workplace by taking the white peoples’ jobs and now has been attacked militarily. The media did not help calm this prejudice. The “press and radio slanted the news with a Hearst columnist urging that ‘the Japanese Americans in California should be under armed guard to the last man and woman…and to hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over” (Brown).

As a result of Japan’s forces, others had to pay for something that they did not even do. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States and Britain declared war on Japan, which caused a nationwide prejudice against all Japanese-Americans, which caused President Roosevelt to sign the Executive Order 9066and send Americans to internment camps, then after all of this the U.S. bombs Japan, ending the war and eventually congress rescinds the Executive Order 9066. After 18 months of planning, Japanese forces finally decided to take action. Their goal was to cripple the U.S. fleet so they could attack and capture the Philippines and Indo-China. Their goal for attacking and capturing the Philippines and Indo-China is to secure raw materials needed to maintain its position as a global military and economic power.

In this way, Pearl Harbor raises other disturbing memories, those of the internment. Like the recent explosions on the East Coast, the bombing of Pearl Harbor on 12-7, shattered our feeling of national security. How could this have happened? Ordinary individuals, prominent journalists, and government officials soon started pointing the finger at the Japanese in America. Viewing these "Orientals" as incurably foreign, speaking foreign languages, perpetuating foreign cultures, practicing foreign religions (Shinto, Buddhism), American society could not distinguish between the Empire of Japan and Americans of Japanese descent.

It is said that the main reasons for the imprisonment of these oriental citizens were the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the fear for “national security”, and in the end it resulted in a case of “mass hysteria”(jarda.edu). The history of the United States was forever changed by the imprisonment of the Japanese Americans. It opened up a whole new type of prejudice and racism for America. Although it is hardly thought about now days, the disenfranchisement of these citizens can never be forgotten. The United States needs to always remember that they took away innocent civilians’ property, businesses, homes, finances, possessions, and even some lives.

Laws were passed to keep people of Japanese descent from becoming citizens or becoming property owners. Their entire lives were modeled by anti-Japanese laws in the early 1900’s it got so bad that they could not even marry in the U.S. unless it was to another person of Japanese descent. So by the time WWII came around the anti-Japanese agenda had a large following. Perl Harbor was just the push it needed to gain backing my Politicians publicly and it spread like wildfire. The Japanese came to this country for a better life and were discriminated against the entire time.

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.

Previous to the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7th 1941, tensions had been forming between the USA and Japan in the pacific. The US had cut of most supplies to Japan with the fear of Japanese expansion. The conflict that had been escalating between Japan and China since 1937 had the US treating Japan with great cautiousness. They had been monitoring Japanese Americans in anticipation of a surprise attack. However the attack on Pearl Harbour still shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche.

Ndubuisi Benjamin Harbor AAST 201 4/23/14 JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT Introduction The whole issue involved with the unfair treatment of Japanese Americans in the internment camps by the Americans, started not so long after Japanese warplanes bombed the Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt, the chief of staff at that time signed an Executive Order 9066 which entailed the detainment of anyone who had any descendant from Japan. Contradictory to all evidences presented by the intelligence agencies, first generation Japanese Americans were the easy prey used by the government to show they had total control of the situation. Using several primary documents and secondary sources, the forced imprisonment and harsh mistreatment of Japanese Americans in internment camps would be examined. Since there was a huge influx of Japanese Americans in the West Coast, there was anger and fear that they might take over the U.S [Yellow Peril].

Racism in California Before, during, and after World War Two, Californians showed an attitude of bigotry and racism towards non-European immigrants in their midst. These citizens, who initially deemed the Japanese innocuous, became outraged at their presence when Japan showed their military strength in their defeat of Russia in 1905. As a response, over 60 labor unions joined together to form the Oriental Exclusion League, while other organizations focused on ruining the Japanese, such as the Anti-Jap Laundry League. These organizations per... ... middle of paper ... ..., Baron Shimpei. “The Anti-Japanese Question in California.” The American Academy of Political and Social Science 94 (1921): 104-10.