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