The horrors of racial segregation during World War II have always seemed to be distant to many Canadians and looked down upon, yet Canada was home to several xenophobic laws and acts that were a violation of many rights and freedoms. One of the cruelest instances was the Japanese Canadian Internment. At the time, the government justified the internment by claiming the Japanese Canadians were a threat to their national security, but the evidence today suggests that it had nothing to do with safety. The government made illogical decisions in response to the mass panic and agitation in British Columbia. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King reacted passively to these decisions to increase his political popularity. Racial prejudice against …show more content…
and led the federal government to make irrational decisions. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, the threat of a Japanese invasion on Canadian soil became frightening to many individuals, especially British Columbians (“Japanese Internment”). This eventually led to various attacks on the Japanese population, which included riots in Japantown and biased newspapers (Figure 1). The political cartoon published by the Vancouver Sun plays on the fears of British Columbians by suggesting that all Japanese Canadians are hiding their loyalty to Imperial Japan by pretending to assimilate into society. Several of other newspapers published similar articles and cartoons, which ultimately induced fear into the population. This fear eventually transformed into violence as stores and homes of the Japanese were vandalized during the midst of protests (Yancey, 68; Sahara, 6). Under the circumstances, Ian Mackenzie, a federal cabinet minister from B.C., pressured the government to intern the Japanese by using the violence to his advantage rather than physical evidence of espionage (Bailey; Elander). He knew that the government had to agree to his request or the entire province would be submerged in chaos. The government eventually succumbed to the pressure and allowed for the internment of all Japanese Canadians. However, this was an irrational decision as there was proof of no Japanese spies or disloyalty. The …show more content…
The Prime Minister during WWII, William Mackenzie King, faced extreme pressures from those who opposed and supported the internment of the Japanese Canadians. He clearly disliked the idea of an internment as his top military generals advised against it, but the uproar in B.C. made him reconsider implementing the internment. He quickly realized that the internment would help him politically and disregarded the injustices that he would be committing. During the federal election in 1940, the Liberal Party dominated across Canada, winning 178 of the 245 available seats (“19th Parliament”). However, the party struggled in the west, particularly in B.C. where many of the ridings were won by a small margin (Figure #3). Even though the Liberals lost the riding in Yukon, the popular vote there was higher than the one in B.C. making it the province with the lowest Liberal popular vote. With a popular vote of only 37.4% in B.C. (compared to the 51.4% average), King saw the opportunity to increase his popularity and decided to allow the internment of the Japanese Canadians (Hickman, 81). The internment would also solve all of King’s problems in B.C. with the least amount of repercussions, as there were more people for internment than against it. As Fredrick Mead, the assistant minister of the RCMP, highlighted in a report to the federal government, most of the problems will come from
The tendency to racially discriminate and victimise against certain minorities or a specific nationality was a long-lasting sting of racism which was a part of Canadian history. The discrimination by Canadians directed towards Japanese-Canadians during WWII was a significant historical event that needs to be addressed. After the Pearl Harbour attacks in Hawaii by the Japanese navy, 24,000 Japanese-Canadians were placed in internment camps, where they were stripped of their identity and freedom of rights based upon their racial origin. In the aftermath of the internment, many Japanese-Canadian natives were left without life savings, as all of their belongings were confiscated and never given back. This internment of the Japanese-Canadians occurred
Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.
In the year 1957, Canada elected its first Prime minister without English or French root, John Diefenbaker. While growing up in the city of Toronto, because of his German name, he was often teased. [1] He grew up as an outcast, and so he was able to relate to the discrimination and inequality many of the minorities in Canada felt. This essay will attempt to answer the question: To what extent did Prime Minister John Diefenbaker help promote equality to the minority communities. . The minorities in this time period were the women, aboriginals, and immigrants. During his time as the Prime Minister, he was able to help protect the rights of this group because many of their rights were being abused by the society. Diefenbaker also helped the minorities to stand up for themselves and other groups. Diefenbaker was able to bring positive change to the minority communities by making an official Bill of Rights and appointing people of discriminated groups to the parliament while other members did not.
This caused the Japanese to become a scapegoat of America’s fear and anger. The Issei and Nisei who once moved to this country to find new opportunities and jobs were now stripped of their homes and businesses and were forced to live in poor living conditions (DISCovering). Although many Americans believed that Japanese American internment was justified because it was used to protect us from attacks by Japanese Americans, it was very unlikely that they were ever going to attack us in the first place. For example, in Dr. Seuss’ political cartoon, many Japanese Americans are lined up to get TNT and waiting for a signal from Japan to attack (Seuss).
What were the Japanese internment camps some might ask. The camps were caused by the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1942 by Japan. President Roosevelt signed a form to send all the Japanese into internment camps.(1) All the Japanese living along the coast were moved to other states like California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The camps were located away from Japan and isolated so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese but the US were trying to be cautious. Many even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.(2)
Japanese Internment Camps Ten weeks after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) singed an Executive Order of 9066 that authorized the removal of any people from military areas “as deemed necessary or desirable”(FDR). The west coast was home of majority of Japanese Americans was considered as military areas. More than 100,000 Japanese Americans was sent and were relocated to the internment camps that were built by the United States. Of the Japanese that were interned, 62 percent were Nisei (American born, second generation) or Sansei (third-generation Japanese) the rest of them were Issai Japanese immigrants. Americans of Japanese ancestry were far the most widely affected.
The use of the atomic bomb against Japan was completely justified in both cause and impact. An intense weapon was necessary to force a quick Japanese surrender. The bomb saved thousands upon thousands of American and Japanese lives that would have been lost if the war continued or an invasion occurred. The bomb was the only way to end the suffering of the millions who were being held captive by the Japanese oppressor. The weapon of mass destruction also sent a powerful message to the shaky Soviet allies. The choice to use the atomic bomb was justified because it compelled a Japanese surrender, saved countless lives, served as retribution for the sufferings of many people, and acted as an anti-Soviet deterrent.
World War Two had a significant impact on Canadian history as the Canadian government revoked many rights and changed the lives of Japanese-Canadians that were interred. Between 1941 and 1945, over 21,000 Japanese-Canadians (in which over two thirds were born in Canada) were limited of their rights and freedom and were forced into internment camps "for their own good". The Japanese-Canadians were considered as enemy aliens by the Canadian government the day after Japan bombed Pearl Harbour. They lost many rights along with it and their property was confiscated as well even though the Canadian government promised that they would receive their property back after the war was over. While the Japanese-Canadians were living in the internment camps, they were forced to suffer from the harsh nature and living conditions of the camps. Also, after all those these years of internment, the end result was that the Japanese-Canadians were given the freedom to move and were given a formal apology from the government in 1988. Not only did the internment of Japanese-Canadians tear families apart and scar the lives of many innocent civilians, but it also made the Canadian government open their eyes and realize how they were treating different ethnicities even though Canada was supposedly a free country.
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
Japanese internment camps are an important part of American history. They represented and showed much of the change that happened around World War II. Although many people may say that races other than African-Americans were not that discriminated against, that was not the case. The Japanese-American People lost their homes, livelihood, and were separated from their families. More people should know about this event so as to learn from it and let something similar never to repeat it. Japanese internment camps should be an event all new American’s learn about because of its importance in World War II, the influence racism had on the camps, and for being one of the biggest violations of civil rights in American history
FYI (This is a biased written paper written if one were to defend Japanese Internment)
In 1942 Roosevelt signed the Executive order 9066 which forced all Japanese-Americans to evacuate the West Coast. They were forced out no matter their loyalty or their citizenship. These Japanese-Americans were sent to Internment camps which were located in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. There were ten camps all-together and 120,000 people filled them (2009). The immigrants were deprived of their traditional respect when their children who were American-born were indorsed authority positions within the camps. In 1945 Japanese-American citizens with undisrupted loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until 1946 was the last camp closed.
The horrors of racial profiling during World War II had always seemed to be distant to many Canadians, yet Canada was home to several xenophobic policies that were a violation of many rights and freedoms. One of the cruelest instances of this was the Japanese Canadian internment. At the time, the government justified the internment by claiming that the Japanese Canadians were a threat to their national defense, but evidence suggests that it had nothing to do with security. The government made illogical decisions in response to the mass panic and agitation in British Columbia. To aggravate the situation, Prime Minister William Mackenzie King reacted passively to these decisions, as it was not in his best interests to be involved. Moreover,
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was filled with panic. Along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes, and businesses, this feeling was especially great. During the time preceding World War II, there were approximately 112,000 persons of Japanese descent living in California, Arizona, and coastal Oregon and Washington. These immigrants traveled to American hoping to be free, acquire jobs, and for some a chance to start a new life. Some immigrants worked in mines, others helped to develop the United States Railroad, many were fishermen, farmers, and some agricultural laborers.
Harold Cardinal made a bold statement in his book, The Unjust Society, in 1969 about the history of Canada’s relationship with Aboriginal peoples. His entire book is, in fact, a jab at Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s idea of ‘the just society’. Pierre Elliott Trudeau made great assumptions about First Nations people by declaring that Aboriginal people should be happy about no longer being described as Indian. His goal was to rid Canada of Indians by assimilating them into the Canadian framework. Considered by many as a progressive policy, Trudeau’s white paper demonstrates just how accurate the following statement made by Harold Cardinal at the beginning of his book is : “The history of Canada’s Indians is a shameful chronicle of the white man’s disinterest,