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Imagine seeing your father arrested when he didn’t commit a crime, being called a traitor when you fought in war or living a normal American life and suddenly be forced to live in an ill-treated, crowded internment camp where guns are constantly watching you. These unjust actions happened to Japanese Americans from around 1942-1945 during World War 2, no matter how old or young they were. When President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which announced for all people of Japanese ancestry to be removed from the Pacific coast, the rights and responsibilities of the Japanese Americans changed drastically. These momentous actions had Japanese Americans thinking then about the safety of their families. An anti-Japanese attitude started to spread over the states, caused by the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which threatened the safety of Japanese Americans from others. Many people didn’t want a Japanese person living in their neighborhood because they were afraid that they would still be loyal to their home country and help the Japanese win the war. However, 2/3 of the Japanese Americans living in the states at that time were Nisei, or born in the US, while the rest were issei, or immigrants. To make Japanese Americans feel unwelcome people would vandalize their homes and shops or pick on and bully their children. Both adults and children, riled up from ads and gossip, wanted to do anything to get a Japanese American out of their neighborhood and away from their families and friends. This included sending all of them away to an internment camp. During World War 2, Japanese Americans also had to worry about their health. Whenever they were ordered out of their homes, many people lives too far away from the camps and had to wait at certain... ... middle of paper ... ...S WANTED” written on their walls. However, many were greeted by their waiting friends and neighbors, who were glad to have them back. Even though the Japanese Americans were glad they won the war, they could never ignore the fact of their internment. The executive order 9066 changed the rights and responsibilities of Japanese Americans for years to come. President Roosevelt ‘s order was said to be because he wanted to protect the Japanese Americans but people argued that, in that case, the guns would be pointed outwards not inwards. Now however, Japanese Americans are the sixth largest ethnic group in America at about 1,300,000 people. While there is still some discrimination, most of the hardships they had to face during World War 2 have disappeared. The strenuous rights and responsibilities the Japanese Americans had to face will always be remembered in history.
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