Japanese-Americans Confined during World War II

Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor shook the entire nation and caused panic in many citizens that Japan would strike again in the United States. Rumors began to spread around that Japanese Americans were sabotaging the U.S. in support of Japan. Because of this, Japanese Americans faced prejudice even if they were American citizens. In early 1942, the War Department ordered Japanese Americans to evacuate from Hawaii. However, General Emmons, the governor of Hawaii, refused the order because removing the Japanese Americans would destroy the economy and US military operations.

In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed an order requiring people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast to be removed and placed in “relocation centers”, which were essentially prison camps. Approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans were relocated, two-thirds of which were Nisei (of Japanese descent but born in the United States). The US military justified this step as necessary for national security.

Families were forced to sell their homes, businesses, and possessions for low value. The confinement camps were barren and isolated, and children were separated from their parents for most of the day with the exception of breakfast. Life within the barbed-wire fences was both tragic and terrifying. In the end, no specific charges were filed against any Japanese Americans, and no evidence of sabotage was ever found.

Because of the injustice they faced, Japanese Americans fought for a very long time for compensation. In Korematsu v. United States in 1944, the Supreme Court justified the evacuation of Japanese Americans as a “military necessity.”

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) pushed the government for restitution to everyone who faced internment. Finally, in 1990, a $20,000 check was sent to every Japanese American who was confined in a relocation camp.

“We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II.” –President George Bush

National Memorial in Washington, DC

-Mingming C.

Japanese Concentration Camps in America

During World War II, many citizens of the United States were panic-stricken after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This panic turned into fear of the Japanese-Americans, thus leading to the Japanese internment camps.

Early in 1942, the War Department called for a mass evacuation of all Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. However, since Japanese-Americans made up 34% of the population in Hawaii, General Delos Emmons, the military governor of Hawaii, was able to negotiate and turn in only 1% of Hawaii's Japanese-American population. 

On the West Coast, however, only 1% of the population in California was Japanese. Along with prejudice and fear, the fact that the Japanese was only a small minority in the state caused them to be unable to resist internment. 

On February 9, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt, president at that time, signed an order requiring the removal of Japanese-Americans from California, parts of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. He justified this action as necessary for national security. Japanese-Americans were only a short time to pack up their belongings and move to the internment camps. Japanese-Americans who joined the 442nd Regiment were the only ones who were able to avoid the internment. However, their families and friends were all in the camps.

In the end, no specific charges were filed against Japanese-Americans, and no evidence of corruption was ever found. During and after the war, the Japanese-Americans fought for reparations. In 1944, the Supreme Court justified that the government's policy of internment was necessary when deciding on Korematsu v. United States. In 1965, Congress authorized $38 million for the government to spend on compensation for lost property of the Japanese. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill that promised $20,000 to every Japanese American sent to a relocation camp. 

However, the reparations were not enough to pay for the losses of the Japanese since the $20,000 lost value as time went by. The only thing the government can do is prevent the occurrence of another mass internment of a minority group.

- Angela 

Japanese Concentration Camps

During World War II, the War Department implemented the confinement of thousands of Japanese Americans into internment camps. The order was issued in the terrified aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Panicked citizens feared the Japanese would attack the United States, and prejudice against the Japanese increased exponentially. Despite the attacks upon them, Japanese Americans were too small a minority to resist.

The internment of Japanese Americans was mostly racially motivated. There were no specific charges made against the Japanese Americans, nor was there any evidence of disloyalty found. The Japanese were simply declared "un-assimilable" and still loyal to the Emperor of Japan. Many suspected them of spying for Japan and constantly questioned their loyalty. These sentiments were not limited to those who had been to Japan, but directed towards all with a Japanese ancestry.

The entire population of Japanese Americans in Hawaii were removed despite the detrimental effects on the economy. On the West coast, some 110,000 Japanese were forced to relocate to a number of concentration camps. About two-thirds of these were American citizens.

In December of 1944, the Supreme Court ruled the internment of Japanese Americans unconstitutional. Residents were allowed to return home and rebuild their old lives, though many internees lost much of their property in the exclusion process. In 1988, Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which awarded $20,000 in reparations to surviving internees of the camps.

-Grace Mi