Japanese Internment, Japanese-American Citizens, World War 2

Yumin Li
ENGL 201
Gary Olson
11/29/17
Japanese internment
Introduction
Japanese internment refers to the relocation of Japanese- American citizens and their descendants from their home into the war relocation camps during the World War II. The move, considered by some as the most noticeable disregard for civil rights in the history of the U.S., was caused by Japan bombed the Pearl Harbor in 1941. The sneak attack by Japanese on unwary citizens created a fear of future attacks on America, which unsettled the government. However, despite the collection of intelligence and multiple investigations, no persuadable evidence linked any of the Japanese-Americans to the attack. Therefore, driving out innocent Americans from their homes to camps out of fears and unfounded allegations pushed by racist tendencies was unjustified and brought significant physical and mental trauma as well as property loss to Japanese people during the World War II.
What caused Japanese internment
The day Japan decided an attack on Pearl Harbor; it became the beginning of a change in the lives of Japanese-Americans. The military strike of December 7, 1941, by the Japanese Imperial Navy at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, was to warn the United States about interfering with the Japanese military operations in U.K, the Netherlands and South Asia. However, instead of it serving its intended purpose, it launched the American government into the Second World War
The internment of American of Japanese heritage a few months later was due to various reasons. According to the National Archives, the attack increased fears about national security, especially on the West Coast where about two hundred thousand Japanese-Americans resided in 1941. Security forces believed that these inhabitants of Hawaii aided in the attack on Pearl Harbor and were equivalent to a security threat: if Japan decided to attack again, they would support their home country again (National Archives). The security forces after that led many investigations of all Japanese-American citizens to isolate those who had loyalty to their home country. However, the investigations turned up no suspects (National Archives).
Several institutions raised concerns over the loyalty of Japanese-Americans, concerns fueled by racial prejudice to increase fear. For instance, various media outlets encouraged American citizens caused paranoia by claiming that these people were spying on the American government for their mother country and that other attacks were imminent. As a result, there was a common disagreement by the population, pushing the government to act (National Archives).
President Roosevelt gave into pressure from security forces and popular opinion that indicted the Japanese-American population. The heavy influence of the racist General John De Witt and Secretary Henry Stimson, who believed all Japanese could become terrorists, as it was in their blood greatly influenced the president’s decision. Consequently, he signed into law executive order 9066 of 1942, which recommended the relocation of all Japanese-Americans into concentration camps in the inner parts of the country. The order saw the forceful transfer of one hundred and twenty thousand people of Japanese origin, half of whom were American citizens and the other children (Executive Order 9066). The internment camps’ locations were in California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming among other regions. Several communities’ notice boards all over the states where these people lived carried notices warning of their removal while summoning them for registration (Jardins 1).
Challenges faced by Japanese Americans after the attack
The Japanese-Americans suffered numerous difficulties after the 1941 attack. First, according to John Davenport, they experienced legal and social discrimination, mainly from white farmers who resented the competition they brought into the agriculture industry. Though the Japanese-Americans’ land was significantly smaller than what other farmers in the country had, their success in farming was intimidating and caused jealousy (34-35). In an attempt to have them detained, the government spread unsubstantiated rumors of a plot among the Japanese-Americans to sabotage the war by collaborating with their indigenous country Japan to carry out another attack. The rumors created negative feelings among other citizens who began isolating and suspecting them.
Second, the Japanese Americans had to struggle with fears by everyone who felt that they were gaining more influence on the West Coast and their population was likely to swell more than that of the whites. The citizens founded these ...