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