...The Internment of Japanese-American Citizens World War II was a time of conscious hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. After Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, suspicion and racial tensions were unfortunately raised towards those of Japanese descent. On February 19, 1492, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of the Japanese within the United States. A few courageous Japanese citizens spoke against this order; an example was the Korematsu v. United States case. The Japanese were affected emotionally, physically, and mentally by the harsh conditions of the camps. Even after the internment camps were shut down, the Japanese suffered losses and uncontrollable...
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...The creation of history is an ongoing process we all participate in. According to Kristine Kuramitsu, Internment and Identity in Japanese American Art, “an ethnic community is never a monolithic entity but a group that is, by definition, connected by some set of memories and experiences.” Collective memories have shaped our identity; some people protest others choose to agree with version illustrated and perceived which best defines their relative existence. However, “with this personal identification with a community subgroup comes the threat of isolation” (Kuramitsu). The more an individual begins to recognize their heritage and embrace their origin, Gayatri Spivak, “Acting Bits/Identity Talk”, Critical Inquiry would assert, “history slouches in one’s origins, ready to comfort and kill.” The consequences of history offer to narratives, peace and equality or secondly protest and pain. In America which operates on the principle of Democracy, people and citizens believe in fundamental rights as intuitively recognizable. These provisions are grounded in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. During World War II these rights were quickly destroyed. Internment camp prisoner Henry Sugimoto and War Relocation Authority photographer Dorothea Lange’s; uncensored artwork and photography lifted the veil capturing the plight and destitute existence Japanese Americans citizens endured as a result of Executive Order 9066, issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt...
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...The ethnic group that I chose are Asian (Asian descent) The first settlement that is recorded is of Filipinos migrating to America in 1763. They came to America by escaping the imprisonment aboard Spanish galleons. When they escaped the Spanish galleons they fled into the bayous of Louisiana. As stated in the Ancestors in the Americas: Asian America history timeline, In the 1830s Chinese were "sugar masters" working in Hawaii. There were also Chinese sailors and peddlers in New York. Ancestors in the Americas: Asian America History Timeline, as retrieved from http://www.cetel.org/timeline.html A resource from one of the largest, up to date survey, which is the American Religious Identification surveys shows that not one religion can claim the majority for the Asian American Community. It shows a 27% of Asian Americans follow Eastern Religions such as Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Sikh. This report also shows that 17% of the Asian Community is Catholic. This percentage has declined from 27% in 1990. The Asian Nation website states, “Chinese Americans are the oldest and largest ethnic group of Asian ancestry in the United States. They have endured a long history of migration and settlement that dates back to the late 1840s…”, Lai, E., Arguelles, D. (2012) The New Face of Asian Pacific America: retrieved from http://www.asian-nation.org/chinese.shtml. Most Chinese immigrants arrived in the United States as contract labor. First in Hawaii for plantation followed by mining...
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...WWII: Japanese - American Internment War truly brings out the worst in mankind. Inhumane actions, even from the most sophisticated, shrewd leaders often occur during times of war. A relatively recent example of this was when leaders and politicians from the United States of America crafted Executive order 9066, which was later signed by President Roosevelt on the 19th of February, 1942, forcing approximately one-hundred and twenty thousand Japanese - Americans living on the West coast to leave their homes and become accustomed to the idea of living in an internment camp (Heather, Arundel). The internment of Japanese men, women, and children was not justified because internment was solely based on suspicions mostly caused by racism against Asians, because civil and human rights of these people were ignored, and because internment destroyed the lives of many of these people. This paper will look at how racism and paranoia were instrumental in the spread of suspicion, how civil and human rights of Japanese - Americans before and during internment were ignored, and what effect internment had on the lives of these people. The internment of Japanese - Americans living on the West Coast was solely based on unsubstantiated suspicions and paranoia mostly caused by racism. Japanese - Americans were never fully assimilated into society, which is why racism against the group had already existed for forty years before the bombing of Pearl Harbor (Takei). Many believed that the Japanese were...
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...1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. This order allowed the United States military to section off parts of the US as military areas. In these areas they were trying to exclude specific groups of people from them. The group they were trying to exclude were the Japanese-Americans because they were believed to be acting as spies and sending signals to enemy submarines. The order requested that many Japanese-Americans leave their homes and business. However, many were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in internment camps during World War II. Frank Korematsu, a US-born man of Japanese descent, knowingly resisted the order to be relocated. Korematsu was later arrested and convicted for remaining in a “Military Area.” His case went to the Supreme Court where it was decided that exclusion orders based on Executive Order 9066 were in fact constitutional. Therefore, his conviction was upheld. Issue: Does Congress and the Executive possess the power to exclude persons of racial minority groups from a areas in the United States? Rule: The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Korematsu for violating the exclusion order forcing all persons of Japanese ancestry from designated military areas. The strict scrutiny test was applied here and the court found that the government's actions were valid. Application of Rule: This order was ruled constitutional because it was a priority to protect the country in a time of warfare rather than the...
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...1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. This order allowed the United States military to section off parts of the US as military areas. In these areas they were trying to exclude specific groups of people from them. The group they were trying to exclude were the Japanese-Americans because they were believed to be acting as spies and sending signals to enemy submarines. The order requested that many Japanese-Americans leave their homes and business. However, many were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in internment camps during World War II. Frank Korematsu, a US-born man of Japanese descent, knowingly resisted the order to be relocated. Korematsu was later arrested and convicted for remaining in a “Military Area.” His case went to the Supreme Court where it was decided that exclusion orders based on Executive Order 9066 were in fact constitutional. Therefore, his conviction was upheld. Issue: Does Congress and the Executive possess the power to exclude persons of racial minority groups from a areas in the United States? Rule: The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Korematsu for violating the exclusion order forcing all persons of Japanese ancestry from designated military areas. The strict scrutiny test was applied here and the court found that the government's actions were valid. Application of Rule: This order was ruled constitutional because it was a priority to protect the country in a time of warfare rather than the...
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...World War II: The Internment of Japanese-American Citizens American History 129 History 129 Professor 22 April 2005 On December 7, 1941, the United States of America suffered from an unanticipated attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that this day would live in infamy. This attack brought forth an array of drastic changes for the lives of Japanese-American citizens that were currently living in the United States at the time. Officials in Washington became highly involved in deciphering a plan to prevent further espionage, and sabotage from happening. After the attack many Americans had strong anti-Japanese attitudes (NARA). This brought the Executive Order 9066 into full effect. Two months following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt decided to instate the Executive Order 9066 into full effect. Executive Order 9066 was the starting point for the internment of Japanese-American citizens living inside of the United States. Officials feared that Japan had plans of further invading the homeland. Officials believed that Japanese-American citizens would side with Japan, and aid them rather than the United States. Order 9066 would bring the fear of invasion to a since of security. This order had to power to have the ability to relocate all people of the Japanese decent on the western coast to the Midwestern states, and it did exactly that. This order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, and two-thirds...
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...wave of panic spread across the whole country, but struck specifically hard on the West Coast. A fear almost resembling paranoia became evident in the following months. Any descendant of Japanese ancestry had to suffer the effects of this fear. In 1941 there were approximately 110,000 Japanese-Americans living in the United States, most of whom were concentrated on the West Coast. Even though 71,484 were Nisei, or American born citizens, they were subject to hostile and adverse treatment (Ropp). Opposition was openly directed at the Japanese by the press. California’s Governor Olsen and Attorney General Earl Warren fixed their attention on removing Japanese-Americans from all civil service posts, and revoking their state issued licenses from practicing medicine and law. In accordance with this, insurance companies canceled policies and markets and restaurants refused their services and displayed malicious signs such as: “We poison rate and Japs! Japs Shaved; not responsible for accidents. (Miller 311)” Extreme pressure began to grow for major evacuation. This pressure came from many different factions. Politicians, business and economic interests, and anti-Oriental organizations such as the American Legion were outspokenly in favor or resettlement. All were convinced that every Japanese-American, whether U. S. citizen or not, had the ability and/or desire to participate in espionage and sabotage for the “Empire” in case of invasion (McWilliams). In view of this public...
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...Writ of Habeas Corpus: A Right or Not? Shelly Shelton POL 201 American National Government Instructor: Amy Lyons August 4, 2014 The words war, terrorism, and death strike fear, anger, and pain in to the hearts of many. We want to retaliate against those who have caused us to feel this way. To somehow make them pay for the wrongs they have committed against us. In order to do this we kill, capture and or detain them. This is a fact of war, even an undeclared one. When these persons are taken prisoner do they lose their right to fair treatment, trial by constitutional standards and civilized means of interrogation? To answer these questions and others let us look at our history as well as review how our courts have viewed cases and situations that have arisen from actual war and the war on terrorism. Looking at the history of the United States it can be seen that the framers of the Constitution took civil liberties and civil rights into consideration when writing the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Article I Section 9 of the Constitution states “The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” This writ is issued to determine if a person has been afforded due process of the law and to prevent unlawful imprisonment. It literally means “you should have the body.” (Unknown, 2013). The writ has been mentioned as early as the fourteenth century in England. The English people lived...
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...Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet vs. American Pastime During World War II in 1940’s, the United States was at war with Japan. President Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order requiring those people who were Japanese descendants to move West Coast. The United States were afraid of Japanese Americans spying for Japan. The living conditions of Japanese American internment camps were very challenging for them because of the housing, food and the daily experiences that the Japanese went through. Nowadays, there are some books and movies that demonstrate what life was like to be living life in an internment camp. For example, the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet written by Jamie Ford and the movie American Pastime by Desmond Nakano show how difficult was to live an internment camp, how was the father and son relationship between the main characters and how people were maltreating the Japanese just because of their ethnicity. In American Pastime there is a typical American family who just happen to be Japanese heritage. They were sent to an internment camp and were forced to move out form their home to be relocated in an internment camp in topaz, Utah. The life of the Nomuras family had a radical change, just like the Okabes family in the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. They were in the same situation like the nomuras. They have adapt themselves to sleep in small rooms cells or barracks and have meals three times a day in mess halls were portions...
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...American society in the 1940’s, by using pathos to hook you in and demonstrate the strength and perseverance of many Asian-Americans during WWII. Ford goes back and forth between the present (late 1980’s) and when Henry was 12 years old (the 1940's). This form of writing helped show the main characters struggle with racism throughout his whole life. Henry Lee is a Chinese American growing up in Seattle Washington in the 1940’s. He lived in Chinatown but was the only Chinese person at his school. This made his day to day difficult. What made it worse was the evacuation of Japanese to internment camps. In fear of being separated from his family, his father made sure everyone would know that he is Chinese. “...his father pinned a button to his shirt that read, “I am Chinese”.” (Ford, 12) Henry wore this button every single day. His world was changed for the better when a new girl joined Rainer...
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...In 1942, the United States had war with japan. The U.S Army are moved to downward away from Japanese West Coast.The U.Sarmy are desert camp in the middle of American desert up in 1945.The U.S government said was it could not tell who might be loyal to Japan.Their none of immigrants from Japan or their children,who were in American citizens were ever proven to be dangerous to America during World War II. In one day,Ken father look around the camp and he thogh they had something to do this camp.In the camp we weren’t fun,and the camp was in the middle of nowhere and no matter what we do.ken dad began walking over the dry, like cracked dirt.Ken start as a question hi father(1).His Father said,`American is at war with Japan,and the government thinks that Japanses Americans can’t trusted and this is why we here in this camp.’(1) One day ken mom and dad came to his school ,and get out off school.They move to a place where they had to live in horse stalls than move to the camp.The camp was so hard and the day time and so cold at night.They need to stay in line to eat to use bathroom.They live in small place with no wall called barracks.They can’t even sleep at night because kids were cry at night.They don’t have no job at camp.People were just...
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...Uncover the history hidden in WWII. The Internment and Concentration Camps happened in WWII. The Nazi camps were started, because of all people Hitler judged. The japanese camps were started because of Pearl Harbor. The camps are not the same, because they had different purposes, people, and were the people were treated different. Nazi concentration camps and Japanese internment camps are not the same, because they had many different purposes. The Nazi camps were used to hold all who were against Hitler and people he judged, also they were used to build for the war. In the Holocaust Documentary the camps each had their own jobs such as making ammunition, clothing, weapons and etc. Japanese camps were used to house Japanese Americans during the war. George Takai said that the people from the camp were surrounded by tanks, three levels of barbed wire, and soldiers pointing in not out. The comparison of the camps are different the Japanese American camps were built out of fear and the Nazi camps were built for the war. Then later the killing of millions of Jewish people. The people were killed by gas chambers, acid showers, and even burned to death. The Nazi camps were built for war and killing not housing. The Japanese camps were built for housing not killing....
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...identity changes. Before the attack from the Japanese at Pearl Harbor life for the Wakatsuki family was pleasant and peaceful. In 1941 the family had been living in Ocean Park because of George Ko’s, “papa”, line of work. Papa was a licensed fisherman who had two boats on Terminal Island’s port that he was captain of. The Wakatsuki family was the only Japanese family living in Ocean Park. Since Jeanne was so young at the time, she identified more as American than Japanese. She did not have much interaction with Japanese people other than her family. Papa would threaten the young children with, “I’m going to sell you to the Chinaman” to get them to act right. This taught them that being Oriental was a bad thing, which created a great...
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...During World War II the American government put all Japanese Americans on the west coast into internment camps. The reason they gave for this was that they were worried the Japanese Americans would act as spies or saboteurs for the Japanese government, so the government’s solution was to lock them up to prevent them from doing so. However, according to the documents the real reason for the internment of the Japanese Americans was because of their race. In Document C, an excerpt from an editorial published in 1942 in the NAACP’s official magazine, they talk about how although the Germans and the Italians on the east coast are “dangers… the American government has not taken any such high-handed action” against them like they did with the Japanese....
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