Japanese American Internment
By Executive Order 9066 issued during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established Japanese American internment camps. People of Japanese descent, including citizens of the United States of America, were incarcerated in isolated camps by the U.S. government between 1942 and 1945. During the war that followed the Pearl Harbor attack, Japanese Americans were incarcerated as a reaction to national security concerns. This was one of the most atrocious violations of civil rights during the 20th century.
Approximately 120,000 Japanese families were forced to relocate and be incarcerated in concentration camps in the country's western interior during World War II. A majority of these internees were American citizens.
Facilities in the Internment Camps
It's common knowledge that this event was called the Japanese American internment, but the government operated several camps to hold them. There were two main types of facilities, the WCCA Assembly Centers and WRA Relocation Centers, referred to (but unofficially) as internment camps because they were both run by the military. Scholars have advocated referring to concentration camps and the prisoners as incarcerated in place of such euphemisms.
In terms of size and public presence, the WCCA and WRA facilities ranked top. To organize and assemble internees, temporary assembly centres were first set up at horse racing tracks, fairgrounds, and other large public gathering places before transporting them by truck, bus, or train to WRA Relocation Centers. WRA Relocation Centers housed refugees who were relocated from the exclusion zone after Japanese Americans in 1942 or were unable to relocate elsewhere within the United States.
WCCA Civilian Assembly Centers: In order to expel all Japanese Americans from the West Coast, Executive Order 9066 was issued; however, there were no facilities completed to accommodate the displaced Japanese Americans. When the voluntary evacuation program failed to result in many families leaving the exclusion zone, the military implemented a mandatory evacuation program. In April 1942, the Western Defense Command established the Wartime Civil Control Administration that took responsibility for the forced removal of Japanese Americans to concentration camps.
WRA Relocation Centers: In the United States, the War Relocation Authority (WRA) relocated and detained refugees. President Roosevelt created the WRA by Executive Order 9102 on March 18, 1942. The WRA officially ceased to exist on June 30, 1946. WRA was established under the direction of Milton S. Eisenhower, then a USDA official.
Location of the Internment
The majority of Japanese American internment camps were located within western U.S. states. Manzanar underwent its first operation in California in 1942. Between 1942 and 1945, ten different camps were opened in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas, housing approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans.
Internment Camps Conditions
In the camps, conditions were not good. The internees lived in uninsulated barracks and furnished with the bare necessities of life, including cots and coal stoves. There wasn't enough hot water for the residents to bathe and use the laundries in most cases. A barbed-wire fence surrounded the camps, and guards patrolled them with guns. If anyone tried to leave, they were ordered to shoot. Generally, the camps ran humanely, despite a few isolated incidents of the internees being shot and killed and numerous examples of suffering that could have been prevented.
In the camps, people attempted to create a sense of community. The internees were permitted to live together in family groups, and they set up schools, a church, a farm, and a newspaper. Children played sports and were involved in many other activities. Nevertheless, Japanese Americans were subjected to an atmosphere of tension, suspicion, and despair for as long as three years during the internment.
Types of Camps
The camps were divided into three types:
Civilian Assembly Centres: During the interwar period, Japanese Americans were relocated to civilian assembly centres, often near horse races, after being evicted from their communities.
Internment Camps: Over time, most Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps or Relocation Centers.
Detention camps: Throughout the war, Nikkei were confined to detention camps, including those considered disruptive and those who the government thought was of special interest. Following their closure, the US military turned most of the Assembly Centers into military training camps.
Conclusion
Thus, we can conclude that it was undoubtedly an unfair historical incident for the American Japanese people living on the West Coast. During World War 2, these people were forced to move into the camps which led to property losses and loss of lives as well. It all happened after the Pearl harbour Attack and most of the Americans also supported this Internment. Japanese had to leave their heritage properties, work, agricultural land as well as established lives and still also faced injustice after it.
FAQs on The Story Behind Japanese American Internment
1. What was the Japanese American internment during World War II?
The Japanese American internment was the forced relocation and incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom were American citizens, from the Pacific Coast into concentration camps in the interior of the United States. This mass incarceration was initiated by the U.S. government shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and lasted until 1946.
2. What was Executive Order 9066 and what role did it play in the internment?
Executive Order 9066 was a presidential executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. It granted the Secretary of War the authority to designate certain areas as military zones, from which any or all persons could be excluded. This order was the legal basis used to remove and intern Japanese Americans from the West Coast, under the claim of military necessity, without any charges or trials.
3. What were the primary reasons given for the internment of Japanese Americans?
The primary reasons cited by the U.S. government for the internment were to prevent espionage and sabotage on the West Coast. However, historical analysis has concluded that the decision was driven by a combination of factors, including:
- Racial prejudice against people of Japanese descent.
- Wartime hysteria following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- A failure of political leadership to protect the civil liberties of its citizens.
4. What were the living conditions like in the Japanese American internment camps?
Living conditions in the ten major internment camps were harsh and inadequate. Families were housed in tar-paper-covered barracks with little privacy. The camps were often located in desolate, remote areas with extreme weather. Key aspects of life included:
- Overcrowded housing: Families often shared single, small rooms.
- Poor sanitation: Communal latrines and bathing facilities were common.
- Inadequate services: Schools and medical facilities were under-resourced and makeshift, with a severe lack of books, desks, and trained professionals for the population's needs.
- Constant surveillance: The camps were enclosed by barbed wire fences and monitored by armed guards.
5. How was the internment of Japanese Americans legally challenged?
The constitutionality of the internment was challenged in several key Supreme Court cases. In the landmark case of Korematsu v. United States (1944), the Supreme Court controversially upheld the government's exclusion order, ruling that the need to protect against espionage outweighed the individual rights of Japanese Americans. However, in another case, Ex parte Endo (1944), the court ruled that the government could not continue to detain a citizen who was conceded to be loyal to the United States. This ruling helped pave the way for the eventual closure of the camps.
6. What were the long-term economic and social impacts on the Japanese Americans who were interned?
The internment had devastating long-term consequences. Economically, internees lost their homes, farms, businesses, and personal savings, which were often sold for a fraction of their value or abandoned. The estimated economic loss was in the billions of dollars in today's currency. Socially, the experience caused significant psychological trauma, loss of community, and a disruption of family life that affected generations.
7. When and how did the Japanese American internment end?
The process of ending the internment began in late 1944. On December 17, 1944, the Roosevelt administration issued Public Proclamation No. 21, which rescinded the exclusion orders and allowed Japanese Americans to begin returning to the West Coast starting January 2, 1945. The last internment camp, Tule Lake, closed in March 1946. The release was prompted by the Ex parte Endo Supreme Court ruling and the changing tide of the war.
8. Why did the U.S. government formally apologize and provide reparations for the internment?
Decades later, the U.S. government formally acknowledged the injustice of the internment. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed by President Ronald Reagan, issued a formal apology on behalf of the nation. The act also authorized a payment of $20,000 in reparations to each living survivor. This action was a result of a federal commission which concluded that the internment was not a military necessity but a "grave injustice" based on racial prejudice and wartime hysteria.
9. What are the most important lessons to learn from the story of Japanese American internment?
The history of Japanese American internment offers several critical lessons for today. It serves as a powerful reminder of how civil liberties can be compromised during times of fear and crisis. Key takeaways include the importance of:
- Protecting the rights of minority groups against racial prejudice.
- Questioning government actions, especially those justified by broad claims of national security.
- Recognizing that citizenship should not be conditional on ancestry or ethnicity.
