Lies, Injustice, and the Un-American Way: The Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II

Lies, Injustice, and the Un-American Way: The Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II

During a time of unrest, hundreds of thousands of people were unfairly imprisoned by their own country. They committed no wrong, but were instead victims of vicious racism. They were denied their most basic rights, and lost virtually everything after their imprisonment ended. Japanese-Americans during World War II were unfairly imprisoned in concentration camps. Despite this, Japanese-Americans persevered and retained their sense of identity as Americans. This unfair treatment began before they entered into the camps.

            Since their arrival in America, the Japanese had been discriminated against. As a whole, the U.S. was a very intolerant country during the 20^th Century. They were the victims of many anti-Asian campaigns, including the “Anti-Japanese Crusade” in 1920. One Albert Johnson, a former newspaper editor, now serving as a senator, was known for inciting anti-Japanese sentiments [Tacoma Daily Ledger]. He would end up serving on the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization [Doug Blair]. Millar Freeman, president of Seattle’s Anti-Japanese League, was brought in to find anti-Japanese witnesses for the Committee’s investigation [Committee on Immigration and Naturalization 230]. The Japanese were often blamed for stealing jobs away from Americans, as well. In the wake of the assault on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese legislation was given a major stimulus.

One of those pieces of legislature was the Executive Order 9066. After it was passed, over 110,000 Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes. Two-thirds of them were American citizens, and over half of them were children. Stunningly, General DeWitt’s Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast claimed that “[t]he very fact that no sabotage or espionage has taken place to date is disturbing and confirming indication that such action will take place.”  The Justice Department actually found the evacuation unnecessary and unconstitutional, but didn’t really care about the act, and helped finish it [Internment: Overview].

After Executive Order 9066 was passed, the forced evacuation of Japanese-Americans began. The victims were given as little as a 48 hour warning to prepare for incarceration. They were only allowed to take what they could carry. They were given identification tags for themselves and their few possessions. They had to try to dispose of all other possessions and property before being taken away. They were not allowed to bring pets. As a group, Japanese-American losses are estimated to be in the billions [The Camps Experience: Overview].

The internees would have no idea of those losses for quite some time however; as they were then kept in internment for an average of three years. The facilities they had been placed in were only temporary; often merely tar paper covered frames. Many of these barracks lacked plumbing and cooking facilities. Showers and bathrooms were shared, and unpartitioned. Whole families lived in rooms less than twenty feet by twenty feet [Legacies]. The camps were surrounded by military police, and enclosed in barbed wire. Many of these camps were out in the midst of deserts [Dissent During Crisis in America]. All in all, these places were less than hospitable.

These squalid camp conditions were far from the forefront of the minds of the internees, however. They tended to focus on the many rights that they had been denied, to their utmost surprise. They were denied the right to freedom of religion, being forced to practice Christianity while in the camps. They were denied the right to gather whenever they wanted, and to even speak the way they wanted. They lost freedom of press, receiving news that was heavily censored. They were never formally accused of a crime, never addressed an accuser, and never had any legal counsel. Those things alone are the basis for the loss of many, many rights. Ultimately, they were denied equal protection under the law.

The sheer number of rights that were denied led to a government initiation into the matter. This report brings many details to light, and sheds greater light on others. It mentions how the Supreme Court and Congress were both unaware of the unconstitutionality of the act, yet allowed it to pass and be enacted. They mention that there never was a single act of espionage, sabotage, or fifth column activity committed by the Japanese in America. A re-affirmation of the fact that no mass exclusion was made against those of German or Italian ethnicity is present as well. People who gave statements for the report called the internment ‘an inhuman mistake,’ ‘unnecessarily cruel,’ and ‘a personal injustice’ among many other things.

Incredibly, despite the prejudice and inhumanity they were treated with, the Japanese demonstrated incredibly endurance. Through hard work, and determination, they were able to bring a semblance of home to the camps. Personal Justice Denied mentions how the Japanese often brought America with them into the camps, since they considered themselves American. They learned to shoot marbles, and hared celebrity heroes with the rest of the country. At their best, ignoring the underlying emotional traumas and neuroses, they were like other American communities… but with barbed wires and armed guards. When the option came, there were many who chose to enlist in the military.

Enlistment was one way to leave. Another was to properly answer ‘loyalty’ questions on a quiz-like pamphlet given to the internees. These questions involved denouncing citizenship to either Japan or America, as well as their feelings towards the American government. They proved highly divisive. For the first generation Japanese immigrants, it’d make them stateless persons, as they were outlawed from becoming citizens of the U.S. There was a small group of Japanese who answered completely in the negative, resulting in them being placed in Tule Lake, a special camp. For the most part, the Japanese didn’t answer completely in the affirmative, nor did they answer “no, and no.” Those who did answer completely in the negative stated it was their only way to show their anger and feelings of betrayal towards a country that had stripped them of their rights, while claiming to be a land of liberty. Those who answered somewhere in the middle did so because they honestly could not claim full support of a country that had brutalized their rights as its inhabitants. In the end, the ‘no-no’s’ were a stunningly small minority (less than 6%) [Angus Macbeth].

            Those who did leave internment through enlisting with the military formed the 442^nd Infantry regiment. This regiment would be unequaled by any other group it’s size during WWII. Their tremendous bravery and determination would earn them more awards than any other infantry regiment has ever held, as well as the nickname ‘The Purple Heart Battalion,’ because of the heavy losses they sustained. The 442^nd was integral to the rescue of the “Lost Battalion.” For the rest of the war, they would be the most determined and successful fighters in whatever advance they were participating in, regardless of casualties [100^th Battalion, 422^nd Infantry].

            The 442^nd was able to accomplish amazing things. And yet, they weren’t the only Japanese who wanted to fight. There were many Japanese interned who wished to join the battle, but were excluded for one reason: they wished for their people to be given back their constitutional rights. These enlistees were denied.

            Despite intense prejudice, war-time hysteria, and blatant racism that resulted in a loss of virtually every single right they had been promised as Americans, the Japanese were determined to prove their loyalty. They humbly bore their crucifix of race. Decades later, their children and grand-children would begin a movement known as the “Redress Movement.” They wanted their loss of rights to be recognized. Through endurance, and many of the same traits that allowed their parents and grandparents to succeed in the internment camps, they were successful. Several Presidents acknowledged the mistake that had been made. Then-President George W. Bush stated, “In remembering, it is important to come to grips with the past. No nation can fully understand itself . . . if it does not look with clear eyes at all the glories and disgraces of the past. We in the United States acknowledge such an injustice in our history. The internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry was a great injustice, and it will never be repeated [Pearl Harbor Remembered].” Are we still looking back at our disgraces with clear eyes, or are we focusing only on our glories?

Works Cited

The Tacoma Daily Ledger.  July 2, 1920.  Pg 4. Print. 12 Feb. 2013

Doug Blair. “The 1920 Anti-Japanese Crusade and Congressional Hearings.” Washington Departments. Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.  http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/Japanese_restriction.htm

United States.  Congress.  House.  Committee on Immigration and Naturalization.  Percentage Plans for Restriction of Immigration, House of Representatives, Sixty-sixth Congress, first session.  Washington.  Govt. Print. Off., 1920: Pg 230. 12 Feb. 2013

“Internment: Overview.” National Asian American Telecommunications Association. Exploring the Japanese American Internment, 2002. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://caamedia.org/jainternment/ww2/index.html  

“The Camps Experience: Overview.” National Asian American Telecommunications Association. Exploring the Japanese American Internment, 2002. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://caamedia.org/jainternment/camps/index.html  

“Legacies.” Smithsonian Institution. Letters from the Japanese American Internment, 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/japanese_internment/home_away.html

“Dissent During Crisis in America.” UCI Libraries. The War Within, 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.lib.uci.edu/about/publications/exhibits/warwithin/index.php?page=section_6

“A Summary of Constitutional Rights Violated.” A Lesson in American History. The Japanese Experience, Curriculum and Resource Guide, 2009. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.jacl.org/edu/SummaryofConstitutionalRightsViolated.pdf

Angus Macbeth. “Personal Justice Denied.” Congress. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, 1982. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/personal_justice_denied/chap3.htm

“100^th Battalion, 442^nd Infantry.” Global Security. Military, 2012. 12 Feb. 2013. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/100-442in.htm

George W. Bush. “Pearl Harbor Remembered.” 8 December, 1991. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/08/us/pearl-harbor-remembered-excerpts-of-bush-speech-at-ceremony.html