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| 1961 |
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| 1962 |
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| 1963 |
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| 1964a |
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| 1964b |
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| 1964d |
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| 1964e |
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| 1965 |
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| 1966a |
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| 1966b |
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| 1966c |
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| 1966d |
− |
| 1966e |
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| 1967a |
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| 1967b |
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| 1967c |
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| 1968a |
− |
| 1968b |
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| 1968c |
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| 1969a |
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| 1969b |
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| 1969c |
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| 1969d |
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| 1970 |
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| 1971a |
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| 1972 |
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| 1973 |
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| 1974 |
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| 1975 |
− |
| 1976 |
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| 1978a |
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| 1978b |
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| 1980 |
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| 1981a |
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| 1981b |
(609) However, despite the poor treatment
that they received, only a small number of
Japanese Americans gave up their United States
citizenship and returned to Japan after the
war. Most Japanese Americans struggled to
rebuild the lives that had been taken from
them after Pearl Harbor. Looking back over
the hardships that the Japanese Americans
suffered during the war, one Nisei spoke
for many when he said, The freedom we had
always taken for granted -- as most Americans
still do -- began to take on deep meaning
when we had been deprived of it. . . . Life
in the camps was . . . inadequate and morale-killing.
But never . . . did we lose faith in America. |
| 1982a |
|
| 1982b |
(635) What was life like for Japanese Americans
in internment camps? Here is a short description,
written by a Japanese American living in
a camp: "Barbed wire fences with watch
towers and armed guards and searchlights
surround an area a mile square set in the
middle of a swamp. The barracks are merely
bunkrooms. They are built row on row, covered
with black tarpaper, unrelieved by any color
or individuality. There is no privacy. A
family of five has a single room." |
| 1982c |
− |
| 1982d |
|
| 1982e |
|
| 1983a |
− |
| 1983b |
(168) At the end of the war, the Japanese
Americans were released. Most returned to
their homes in West Coast states to pick
up the pieces of their shattered lives, but
some moved on. Prejudice against the Japanese
remained high for several years, but as war
memories faded, it died down. Into the mainstream.
There is encouraging evidence that discrimination
and prejudice against ethnic groups have
declined during the past generation. The
decline is probably due, in large part, to
education. Another factor in the decline
is that most groups are now in the mainstream
of American life. The answer to the question,
"Why can't they be like us?" is
"More and more they are." That
in turn raises two more questions. How did
the immigrant groups enter the mainstream?
And now that most of them have, what is the
future of ethnicity in America? We shall
explore those questions in the next chapter. |
| 1983c |
(444) At the end of the war, the Japanese
Americans were released. Most returned to
their homes in West Coast states to pick
up the pieces of their shattered lives, but
some moved on. Prejudice against the Japanese
remained high for several years, but as war
memories faded, it died down. Into the mainstream.
There is encouraging evidence that discrimination
and prejudice against ethnic groups have
declined during the past generation. The
decline is probably due, in large part, to
education. Another factor in the decline
is that most groups are now in the mainstream
of American life. The answer to the question,
"Why can't they be like us?" is
"More and more they are." That
in turn raises two more questions. How did
the immigrant groups enter the mainstream?
And now that most of them have, what is the
future of ethnicity in America? We shall
explore those questions in the next chapter. |
| 1983d |
− |
| 1984 |
(425-6) Their imprisonment was based not
on suspicion or evidence of treason, but
on ethnic origin -- the fact that they were
of Japanese descent. "It was really
cruel and harsh," recalled Joseph Y.
Kurihara, a citizen and a veteran of the
First World War, "To pack and evacuate
in forty-eight hours was an impossibility.
Seeing mothers completely bewildered with
children crying from want and peddlers taking
advantage and offering prices next to robbery
made me feel like murdering those responsible."
The internees were sent to flood-damaged
lands at Relocation, Arkansas; to the inter-mountain
terrain of Wyoming and the desert of western
Arizona; and to other arid and desolate spots
in the West. Although the names were picturesque
-- Topaz, Utah; Rivers, Arizona; Heart Mountain.
Wyoming; Manzanar, California -- the camps
themselves were bleak and demoralizing. Behind
barbed wire stood tarpapered wooden barracks
where entire families lived in a single room
furnished only with cots, blankets, and a
bare light bulb. Toilets and dining and bathing
facilities were communal; privacy was almost
nonexistent. |
| 1985a |
|
| 1985b |
|
| 1985c |
(249) In 1922, in the case of Ozawa v. United
States, the Supreme Court held that certain
Asians (such as Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans)
could not become naturalized citizens. Thus,
although many of the Japanese immigrants
living in the United States had wanted to
become citizens, the Court had denied them
that right. The government only made exceptions
for Japanese immigrants who had fought in
World War I. Further examples of discrimination
against the Japanese came in 1924, when the
Congress prohibited all Japanese immigration
to the United States. Thus, the government
did not allow Japanese immigrants to become
citizens and prohibited their relatives from
joining them in the United States. Nevertheless,
these Japanese were loyal to their adopted
country. . . . The President issued this
executive order on his own authority, under
the Constitution, as commander-in-chief of
the nation's armed forces. On March 2, General
DeWitt established Military Areas #1 and
#2 in the western part of the United States.
On March 21, Congress passed a law in support
of the President's Executive Order and of
the subsequent actions of General DeWitt.
On March 24, General DeWitt proclaimed a
curfew between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and
6:00 a.m. for all persons of Japanese ancestry
living within Military Area #1, which comprised
the entire Pacific coastal region. On May
9, General DeWitt ordered the exclusion from
Military Area #1 of all persons of Japanese
background. The vast majority of these people
were U.S. citizens born on American soil.
These people had thoroughly American attitudes,
beliefs, and behavior. Most of them would
have felt out of place in Japan. The military
sent the Japanese-Americans to the relocation
centers far from the coastal region. In effect,
this action placed more than 75,000 American
citizens who had broken no laws in jail without
trials. The government did not charge any
of these people with crimes. They could take
with them only what they could carry. |
| 1986a |
− |
| 1986b |
|
| 1986c |
(634) In relocation camps, Japanese Americans
had to live behind barbed wire. Housing was
poor. The people did not understand why they,
as American citizens, were singled out. Americans
of German and Italian backgrounds were not
sent to camps. In 1944, the Supreme Court
ruled that the camps were a necessary wartime
measure. Only when an Allied victory seemed
certain were Japanese Americans allowed to
return to their homes. |
| 1986d |
− |
| 1986e |
− |
| 1986f |
|
| 1987a |
− |
| 1987b |
− |
| 1988 |
(619) Class Activity: Invite people who served
in the armed forces or who worked in factories
during World War II to share their experiences
with the class. Some students might like
to further understand the experiences of
people during the war by interviewing Japanese-Americans
who were placed in relocation camps. Yoshiko
Uchida was a college student when her family
was sent to Topaz, Utah. Like all the camps,
Topaz was isolated. The housing barracks
were quickly and badly built. Summers were
hot and dry, and winters were cold and snowy.
Always the air was full of dust. Yoshiko
worked as a secretary and a teacher until
1943, when she left for graduate school at
Smith College. Her sister Kay also moved
east. After the war, Yoshiko Uchida became
a teacher and a writer. Several of her books
are about Japanese-American life before and
during the war. She writes for all Americans,
she says, "with the hope that through
knowledge of the past, they will never allow
another group of people in America to be
sent into a desert exile again." (T116)
History and . . . Government. As students
saw in this section, the federal government
took control of the economy and forced the
relocation of thousands of American citizens
of Japanese descent. Many of these actions
were violations or usurpations of Constitutional
power. Ask students to recall the Supreme
Court's rejection of the National Recovery
Act and compare that with the economic controls
imposed during the war. Ask students why
the government could take over so much of
American life during the war, when it couldn't
a decade before. Why might Americans agree
to forfeit some of their Constitutional rights
during wartime? Does this mean that the Constitution
can be violated whenever there is a war?
Does the Constitution have any meaning during
a war? How could the Constitution interfere
with the war effort? |
| 1989a |
(634) In relocation camps, Japanese Americans
had to live behind barbed wire. Housing was
poor. The people did not understand why they,
as American citizens, were singled out. Americans
of German and Italian backgrounds were not
sent to camps. In 1944, the Supreme Court
ruled that the camps were a necessary wartime
measure. Only when an Allied victory seemed
certain were Japanese Americans allowed to
return to their homes. [DISCUSSION. Lead
a discussion on how wartime conditions often
bring about curtailment of civil liberties
Have students compare Japanese internment
with suspensions of rights during the Civil
War and treatment of German-Americans in
World War I.] |
| 1989b |
− |
| 1990a |
(674) The nation's Japanese Americans were
detained in the isolated camps for most of
the war. In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld
the forced relocation as a justifiable wartime
measure. Not until 1945, when Allied victory
seemed certain, were these people allowed
to return to their communities to rebuild
their shattered lives. |
| 1990b |
(571) They then were confined in camps, watched
by armed guards, and treated as if they were
dangerous. Not until after the presidential
election of 1944 did the government change
its policy and begin to release these innocent
citizens. . . . In time of war it is harder
than ever for a free nation to preserve its
freedoms. Defending the country becomes a
matter of life and death. Dissenters are
open to the charge of being traitors. This
is a true testing time of democracy. In World
War II, except for the disgraceful treatment
of Japanese Americans, the nation's record
was far better than it had been in World
War I. |
| 1990c |
(666) Understanding Points of View. COMPARING
POINTS OF VIEW. When two people write about
the same event, they may study the same evidence
and look at the same documents, newspapers,
diaries, and letters. Yet they can arrive
at totally different conclusions. How is
that possible? It is possible because each
writer has a point of view. Perhaps the writers
are working in different time periods. Perhaps
they come from different backgrounds. Most
likely they have had different experiences.
They may have different ideas about society
and about which things are most important.
In other words, they weigh evidence differently.
Here are two passages about the relocation
of Japanese Americans during World War II.
The first passage was written by John I.
McCoy in 1942, just after the removal was
completed. McCoy was assistant secretary
of the army, and it was the army that carried
out the removal. I wonder if anyone realizes
the skill, speed and humanity with which
the evacuation of the Japanese has been handled
by the Army on the West Coast? I am struck
with the extreme care that has been taken
to protect the persons and goods and even
the comforts of each individual. Certainly
an organization that can do a humane job
like this and still be a fine fighting organization
is unique -- and American. I hope other countries
that have similar problems will not overlook
how an answer has been found irk this country.
More than 30 years later, two historians,
Leonard Dinnerstein and David M. Reimers,
wrote about the same event this way: The
hasty removal meant considerable hardship
and suffering. Given only Eve days' notice
of the evacuation, those interned could take
only what they could carry; the government
took over and held in storage all other belongings.
In addition to the financial losses the conditions
in the relocation centers were miserable.
At first, the Japanese were placed in temporary
quarters, including a hastily converted race
track, which lacked basic facilities. Eventually,
the government built ten camps, but they
were mostly located in barren desert country;
hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
The surroundings were drab and unattractive,
complete with barbed wire, military police,
and, in some cases, machine guns. One Nisei
intern later wrote of the camp in Arizona,
"I must say this scorching Hell is a
place beyond description and beyond tears."
SKILLS PRACTICE. Compare the writers' points
of view in the two passages. How might McCoy's
position have influenced his point of view?
Dinnerstein and Reimers wrote 30 years later.
How might the passage of three decades have
affected their point of view? |
| 1990d |
(863) Eventually, the government built the
"relocation centers" in remote,
often arid, sections of the West. ''The Japs
live like rats, breed like rats and act like
rats. We don't want them," the governor
of Idaho announced. The camps were primitive
and unattractive. "When I first entered
our room, I became sick to my stomach,"
a Japanese-American woman remembered. "There
were seven beds in the room and no furniture
nor any partitions to separate the males
and the females of the family. I just sat
on the bed, staring at the bare wall."
The government evacuated about 110,000 Japanese. |
| 1990e |
|
| 1991 |
(612) There was little privacy in the camps,
and whole families were made to live in single
rooms. Peter Ota, age 15, was one such Japanese
American who was forced to leave his Los
Angeles home. Together with his 12-year-old
sister and his father, Peter was sent to
a camp in Colorado. His mother was too ill
to go. After a while, Peter was released
occasionally to work on a farm or in a factory.
When Peter's mother died, he went to California,
under military guard, to get her body. "When
they marched me through the train stations,"
Peter recalled, "the people recognized
me as being Oriental. . . . I heard 'dirty
Jap' very distinctly." (629) RETURNING
FROM WAR. "The war changed our whole
Idea of how we wanted to live when we came
back." -- Army veteran, 1945. By the
time of the war crimes trials, Americans
were drifting back to the everyday life that
the war had disrupted. Some would look back
on the war years as a time of adventure and
daring excitement. Others who had lost limbs
or loved ones would feel the heartbreak and
anguish for years to come. But few would
be unmarked by their wartime experience.
For some, the war had revealed a dark side
of human nature. Japanese Americans like
Peter Ota could not shake the bitter memories
from their minds: I think of my father. .
. . After all those years, having worked
his whole life to build a dream -- an American
dream mind you -- having it all taken away.
. . . His [fruit and vegetable] business
was worth more than a hundred thousand. He
sold it for five. . . . He died a very broken
man. |
| 1992a |
− |
| 1992b |
|
| 1992c |
|
| 1992d |
(677) They then were confined in camps, watched
by armed guards, and treated as if they were
dangerous. Not until after the presidential
election of 1944 did the government change
its policy and begin to release these innocent
citizens. . . . In time of war it is harder
than ever for a free nation to preserve its
freedoms. Defending the country becomes a
matter of life and death. Dissenters are
open to the charge of being traitors. This
is a true testing time of democracy. In World
War II, except for the disgraceful treatment
of Japanese Americans, the nation's record
was far better than it had been in World
War I. |
| 1992e |
(677) They then were confined in camps, watched
by armed guards, and treated as if they were
dangerous. Not until after the presidential
election of 1944 did the government change
its policy and begin to release these innocent
citizens. . . . In time of war it is harder
than ever for a free nation to preserve its
freedoms. Defending the country becomes a
matter of life and death. Dissenters are
open to the charge of being traitors. This
is a true testing time of democracy. In World
War II, except for the disgraceful treatment
of Japanese Americans, the nation's record
was far better than it had been in World
War I. (674C) Section I (pages 675-679).
Mobilizing for Defense. FOCUS. To introduce
the lesson, break the class up into small
groups and have the groups list at least
ten significant effects of the war on American
society, based on information found in their
texts. As soon as they have finished, bring
the class back together and have each group
list its answers on the board. Then review
and discuss the lists with the class. |
| 1992f |
(649) One young Japanese American man recalled
the experience: "I remember the pain
of being labeled a 'dirty Jap' and a 'dangerous
enemy.' For me, a Los Angeles teenager of
17, it was a time when my entire value system
was thrown out of kilter.2" [2 From
"Point of View: A Sorry Part of Our
History" by Daniel Kuzuhara, in the
Chicago Tribune, August 26, 1981.] |
| 1992g |
(473-4) UP CLOSE: A Teenager Is Interned.
Fifteen-year-old Peter Ota could not understand
what was happening. He had lived in California
all his life. His father was a businessman
who owned a fruit and vegetable company.
Mr. Ota was also a leader of the Japanese
Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles. For no
apparent reason, the FBI arrested him and
a dozen other people at a wedding reception.
Peter's father was still dressed in his tuxedo
when the FBI agents dragged him off. It was
Sunday December 7, 1941. That morning, Japan
had bombed the American fleet at Pearl Harbor
in Hawaii. The world changed suddenly for
Peter, his family, and 110,000 others of
Japanese descent in the United States. Detention
and separation. For days, the family waited
to hear news of Mr. Ota. Finally, they learned
he was in jail. When they found him, he was
wearing "prisoner's clothing, with a
denim jacket and a number on his back."
Peter's mother said nothing. But tears streamed
down her cheeks when she saw her husband.
The pain was more than she could bear. In
a short time, she contracted tuberculosis.
She entered a sanitarium and died before
the war was over. Mr. Ota was sent away,
too, to an internment camp in Missoula, Montana.
It was one of 10 such inland camps for Japanese
and Japanese Americans. Peter and his 12-year-old
sister were alone. Mail was their only link
to their father. They received reassuring
letters from him. Although heavy black lines
from a censor's pen ran across each page,
Peter could tell from what remained that
their father was all right. In April 1942,
the government sent Peter and his sister
to a detention center in Santa Anita, California,
that had been converted from a race track.
They were allowed to bring a toothbrush,
small personal items, and some clothes --
basically just what they could carry. They
felt lucky because they lived in a boxlike
barracks. The less fortunate were housed
in stables. They slept on mattresses of straw
in stalls meant for horses. A sad reunion.
Five months later. Peter and his sister were
moved again. This time their father joined
them. Nearly a year had passed since Mr.
Ota had been interned. In place of an outgoing,
successful businessman, a resigned, expressionless
figure stood before Peter and his sister.
A single Japanese word popped into Peter's
mind -- gaman. A "very strong word,"
he recalled, "it means to persevere
. . . [to] take what's coming, don't react."
Together at last, Peter, his sister, and
his father were herded onto a crowded train.
Memories of Mrs. Ota occupied their minds.
For days, they rode with the shades drawn
toward an unknown destination. Their new
"home" was another internment camp,
this time in Amache, Colorado. Barbed wire,
watchtowers, and armed guards separated the
Ota family from the rest of the nation. Looking
across the horizon, Peter could see nothing
but flat, barren wasteland. Shortly after
they arrived, the Otas were assigned a room
in a barracks. The 20-foot by 20-foot space
contained a potbellied stove in the corner,
an electric light bulb dangling from the
ceiling, and army cots and blankets. Peter's
sister lived there for the next three-and-a-half
years, until the camp closed. His father
was moved from camp to camp for the remainder
of the war. . . . The postwar years. For
the younger people, there was time to rebuild
their lives after the war. Peter married,
and years later his daughter, a lawyer, worked
on behalf of an organization seeking reparations
for Japanese American internees. Peter's
father, forced to sell his business for a
fraction of its worth, lived the rest of
his life in poverty and died a broken man. |
| 1993a |
|
| 1993b |
− |
| 1994a |
|
| 1994b |
(865) Eventually, the government built the
"relocation centers" in remote,
often arid, sections of the West. "The
Japs live like rats, breed like rats and
act like rats. We don't want them,"
the governor of Idaho announced. The camps
were primitive and unattractive. "When
I first entered our room, I became sick to
my stomach," a Japanese-American woman
remembered. "There were seven beds in
the room and no furniture nor any partitions
to separate the males and the females of
the family. I just sat on the bed, staring
at the bare wall." The government evacuated
about 110,000 Japanese. |
| 1994c |
|
| 1994d |
|
| 1995a |
− |
| 1995b |
|
| 1995c |
− |
| 1996a |
(759) Furthermore, the army had not prepared
the sites to offer basic sanitation, comfort,
or privacy. "We lived in a horse stable,"
remembered one young girl. Eventually, most
Japanese were interned in 10 camps in remote
areas of seven western states. No claim of
humane intent could change the reality: these
were concentration camps. Internees were
held in wire-enclosed compounds by armed
guards. Temporary tar-papered barracks housed
families or small groups in single rooms.
Each room had a few cots, some blankets,
and a single light bulb. That was home. (759-60)
Hirabayashi and Korematsu. Other Japanese
Americans challenged the government through
the legal system. Fred Korematsu in California
and Gordon Hirabayashi in Washington State
were arrested when they refused to report
for relocation. "As an American citizen,
I wanted to uphold the principles of the
Constitution," recalled Hirabayashi.
But in Korematsu v. United States (1944),
the Supreme Court upheld the government's
relocation program as a wartime necessity.
Three justices dissented, criticizing relocation
as the "legalization of racism."
Concentration camps in America did not mirror
the horror of nazi death camps, but they
were built on racism and fear. Worse, they
violated the traditions of civil rights and
liberties for which Americans believed they
were fighting. |
| 1996b |
(527) Life in the Internment Camps. The internees
were sent to flood-damaged lands at Relocation,
Arkansas, to the intermountain terrain of
Wyoming and the desert of western Arizona,
and to other arid and desolate spots in the
West. Although the names were evocative --
Topaz, Utah; Rivers, Arizona; Heart Mountain,
Wyoming; Tule Lake and Manzanar, California
-- the camps were bleak and demoralizing.
Behind barbed wire stood tarpapered wooden
barracks where entire families lived in a
single room furnished only with cots, blankets,
and a bare light bulb. Toilets and dining
and bathing facilities were communal; privacy
was almost nonexistent. (527) The Supreme
Court upheld the government's policy of internment.
In wartime, the Court said in the Hirabayashi
ruling (1943), "Residents having ethnic
affiliations with an invading enemy may be
a greater source of danger than those of
different ancestry." In the Kurematsu
case (1944), the Court approved the removal
of the Nisei from the West Coast. One dissenter,
Justice Frank Murphy, denounced the decision
as the "legalization of racism." |
| 1996c |
(256) (3) ROY YANO. "To pack and evacuate
in forty-eight hours was an impossibility.
I saw mothers completely bewildered with
children crying from want and peddlers taking
advantage and offering prices next to robbery...."
(4) JOE KURIHARA, WORLD WAR I VETERAN. "Colonel
Bendetsen [in charge of the relocation] showed
himself to be a little Hitler. I mentioned
that we had an orphanage with children of
Japanese ancestry and that some of these
children were half Japanese, others one-fourth
or less. I asked which children should we
send.... Bendetsen said: 'I am determined
that if they have one drop of Japanese blood
in them, they must go to camp.'" (5)
FATHER HUGH T. LAVERY, CATHOLIC MARYKNOLL
CENTER, LOS ANGELES. "I was rather disappointed
at the barracks which we evacuees were to
live in. I thought at least each individual
family would be assigned to a separate apartment.
Instead, two or three families were crowded
into a six beam apartment, offering no privacy."
(6) HEART MOUNTAIN REPORTS DIVISION, MAY
1943. (257-8) INTERNMENT CAMPS FOR JAPANESE
AMERICANS: "CHILDREN AWAITING EVACUATION"
(5/8/1942) BY DOROTHEA LANGE (NATIONAL ARCHIVES
#210-G-2C-1559). "Evacuees ate communally,
showered communally, defecated communally.
Again with an eye toward economy, no partitions
had been built between toilets.... In interior
California camps, the hot summer sun beating
down on paper-thin roofs turned living quarters
into sizzling ovens causing the moors [made
of asphalt] to melt." (7) JAPANESE EVACUEE.
"The barbed wire stockade surrounding
the 18,000 people there was like that of
the prison camps of the Germans. There were
the same turrets for the soldiers and the
same machine guns for those who might attempt
to climb the high wiring.... The buildings
were covered with tarred paper over green
and shrinking shiplap-this for the low winter
temperatures of the high elevation of Tule
Lake.....No federal penitentiary so treats
its adult prisoners. Here were the children
and babies as well." (8) CHIEF JUDGE
WILLIAM DENMAN, NINTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS,
8/26/49. Look at the picture above of two
Japanese American children and an elderly
woman who are being deported to an interment
camp in 1942. Answer the following questions:
1. How old do you think these two children
were at the time of this picture? 2. How
old would these two children be if they are
still living today? Imagine you are one of
the children in this picture, who has lived
to be 65 years old. Imagine that you have
had several children and many grandchildren
and you are showing them this picture of
yourself and your sister. What stories would
you tell your grandchildren about your experience
during World War II in the interment camp
and what lessons would you want to teach
them regarding this experience? Write your
conversation with a grandchild below. |
| 1996d |
− |
| 1996e |
(461) Review Questions. MULTIPLE CHOICE.
12. In Korematsu v. United States, the U.
S. Supreme Court ruled that a, the use of
the atomic bomb against the Japanese was
justified. b. the U.S. had to provide financial
compensation to Japanese-Americans sent to
internment camps. c. wartime necessity legitimized
the relocation of Japanese-Americans. d.
the U. S. had violated the rights of Japanese-Americans
by sending them to internment camps. (pp.
759-760). (466-7) PRIMARY SOURCE: Two Views
on the Evacuation of Japanese-Americans.
[From Hearings before the Select Committee
Investigating National Defense Migration.
House of Representatives. Washington, 1942.]
When President Roosevelt issued Executive
Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, he authorized
the evacuation of Japanese-Americans from
the West Coast. Soon after, a Congressional
Committee heard testimony from both California
public officials and representatives of the
Japanese community who both favored and opposed
evacuation. The following excerpts are from
California Attorney-General Earl Warren (later
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) and
from James Omura. EARL WARREN: Unfortunately,
however, many of our people and some of our
authorities . . . are of the opinion that
because we have had no sabotage and no fifth
column activities in this State since the
beginning of the war, that means that none
have been planned for us. But I take the
view that is the most ominous sign in our
whole situation. It convinces me more than
perhaps any other factor that the sabotage
we are to get . . . [is] timed just like
Pearl Harbor. . . . We believe that when
we are dealing with the Caucasian race we
have methods that will test the loyalty of
them, and we believe that we can, in dealing
with the German and Italians, arrive at some
fairly sound conclusions because of our knowledge
of the way they live in the community. .
. . But when we deal with the Japanese we
are in an entirely different field and we
cannot inform any opinion we believe to be
sound. Their method of living, their language,
make for this difficulty. . . . JAMES OMURA:
It is doubtlessly difficult for Caucasian
Americans to properly comprehend and believe
in what we say. Our citizenship has even
been attacked as an evil cloak under which
we expect immunity, for the nefarious purpose
of conspiring to destroy the American way
of life. To us -- who have been born, raised,
and educated in American institutions and
in our system of public schools, knowing
and owing no other allegiance than to the
United States -- such a thought is manifestly
unfair and ambiguous. I would like to ask
the committee: Has the Gestapo come to America?
Have we not risen in righteous anger at Hitler's
mistreatments of the Jews? Then, is it not
incongruous that citizen Americans of Japanese
descent should be similarly mistreated and
persecuted? . . . We cannot understand why
General DeWitt can make exceptions for families
of German and Italian soldiers in the armed
forces of the United States while ignoring
the civil rights of Nisei Americans. Are
we to be condemned merely on the basis of
our racial origin? Is citizenship such a
light and transient thing that which is our
inalienable right in normal times can be
torn from us in times of war? Questions.
1. On what points, if any, do Warren and
Omura agree? 2. What is Warren's proof that
sabotage is imminent? 3. If you were a Japanese-American,
how could you answer that charge? 4. On what
basis do you think Warren makes the claim
that authorities can deal with Germans and
Italians more confidently than with Japanese-Americans?
Do you think he is right? 5. In what ways
do you agree or disagree with Omura's analogy
between Japanese-Americans and European Jews?
6. Based on your reading of the text's discussion
of the Supreme Court decisions on the evacuation,
how did the Court answer Omura's question
about civil rights? How would you answer
that question? 7. Suppose Iran launched a
surprise attack against the United States
in the near future, with terrorists planting
bombs in urban areas across the country.
Would you recommend detaining Iranian Americans?
What if Iran declared war but had only bombed
embassies abroad? Discuss the parallels and
construct other hypothetical situations,
in order to explore what factors contributed
most to the internment of Japanese-Americans
in World War II. |
| 1997a |
|
| 1997b |
(547-8) Life in the Camps. From the relocation
centers, Japanese Americans were moved to
1 of 10 armed and guarded internment camps
located in sparsely settled areas. For example,
Topaz, a camp in Utah, was 4,600 feet (1,402.08
m) above sea level. Here inmates endured
temperatures ranging from 1060 F (41.10 C)
in summer to -30'F (-34.5'C) in winter. They
also lived in a constant whirlwind of dust.
The other camps were similarly barren. Japanese
Americans taken to Heart Mountain, Wyoming,
also suffered from winter temperatures as
low as -30'F (-34.5'C). For those from the
mild California valleys, the camps were tolerable
at best. One camp resident wrote a poem in
the camp newspaper, the Sentinel. Snow upon
the rooftop snow upon the coal; Winter in
Wyoming -- Winter in my soul. One evacuee,
Peter Ota, recalled the camp where he was
interned: It's a desolate, flat, barren area.
The barracks was all there was. There were
no trees, no kind of landscaping. It was
like a prison camp. Coming from our environment,
it was just devastating. -- As told to Studs
Terkel, "The Good War," 1984. This
was no exaggeration. Entire families lived
in a single room in the barracks, sparsely
furnished with cots, makeshift dressers,
and bare lightbulbs. Despite the stark surroundings,
the evacuees created a number of alternative
communities to serve their cultural needs.
The Japanese Americans published newspapers;
started schools, churches, bands, Boy Scout
groups, and softball leagues; built tennis
courts; landscaped flower and vegetable gardens;
and gave trumpet and tap dancing lessons.
They were determined to replenish their lives
with the dignity and the resources that they
and their children would need when the war
ended. Some of the evacuees were released
to work at jobs in the interior of the United
States before the end of the war. They were
allowed to resettle in the East or the Midwest.
Most, however, remained in the camps for
the duration of the war. Judicial Rulings
Support Relocation. The Supreme Court upheld
the wartime policies that deprived Japanese
Americans of their civil rights. In 1943,
in Hirabayashi v. United States, the Court
unanimously decided that a curfew order affecting
only Japanese Americans did not violate their
constitutional rights, Chief Justice Harlan
Fiske Stone wrote: "In time of war residents
having ethnic affiliations with an invading
enemy may be a greater source of danger than
those of a different ancestry:" In December
1944, in Korematsu v. United States, the
Court upheld the order providing for the
relocation of Japanese Americans. It based
its decision largely on the grounds that
the judiciary could not second-guess military
decisions. One of the dissenting justices,
however, termed the decision a "legalization
of racism." Nevertheless, the Court
also ruled that citizens could not be held
in relocation centers once their loyalty
had been established. By then, however, the
camps were being closed down. The United
States recorded both gains and losses in
the areas of civil rights and civil liberties
during the war years. While African Americans
fought hard to win the smallest of victories,
Japanese Americans found themselves regarded
as enemies of the United States and suffered
humiliation and loss of their liberties.
As the war ended, however, all Americans
looked ahead and hoped for prosperity and
justice in a peaceful postwar world. |
| 1998a |
(963) At the assembly centers -- racetracks,
fairgrounds, and similar temporary locations
-- the army had not prepared basic sanitation,
comfort, or privacy. "We lived in a
horse stable," remembered one young
girl. "We filled our cheesecloth with
straw -- for our mattress." The authorities
at least had the decency to keep families
together. Internment camps. Most Japanese
were interned in 10 camps in remote areas
of seven western states. Notions that the
camps might become self-sufficient communities
proved wishful thinking. Even resourceful
farmers could not raise food in arid desert
soil. No claim of humane intent could change
the reality -- these were concentration camps.
Internees were held in wire-enclosed compounds
by armed guards. Temporary tarpapered barracks
housed families or small groups in single
rooms. Each room had a few cots, some blankets,
and a single light bulb. That was home. (964)
Korematsu and Hirabayashi. Other Japanese
Americans challenged the government through
the legal system. Fred Korematsu in California
and Gordon Hirabayashi in Washington State
were arrested when they refused to report
for relocation. "As an American citizen,
I wanted to uphold the principles of the
Constitution," recalled Hirabayashi.
But the Supreme Court let stand military
policies aimed specifically at Japanese Americans.
The majority opinion stated that "residents
having ethnic affiliations with an invading
enemy may be a greater source of danger than
those of different ancestry," even though
the army had never demonstrated that any
danger existed. And in Korematsu v. United
States (1944), the Court upheld the government's
relocation program as a wartime necessity.
Three justices dissented, criticizing relocation
as the "legalization of racism. Concentration
camps in America did not perpetuate the horror
of Nazi death camps, but they were built
on racism and fear. Worse, they violated
the traditions of civil rights and liberties
for which Americans believed they were fighting. |
| 1998b |
− |
| 1998c |
(887) Eventually, the government built the
"relocation centers" in remote,
often arid, sections of the West. "The
Japs live like rats, breed like rats, and
act like rats. We don't want them,"
the governor of Idaho announced. The camps
were primitive and unattractive. ''When I
first entered our room, I became sick to
my stomach," a Japanese American woman
remembered. "There were seven beds in
the room and no furniture nor any partitions
to separate the males and the females of
the family. I just sat on the bed, staring
at the bare wall." The government evacuated
about 110,000 Japanese. |
| 1999a |
− |
| 1999b |
(764) Furthermore, many army sites did not
offer basic sanitation, comfort, or privacy!
"We lived in a horse stable," remembered
one young girl. Eventually, most Japanese
were interned in 10 camps in remote areas
of seven western states. No claim of humane
intent could change the reality: these were
concentration camps. Internees were held
in wire-enclosed compounds by armed guards.
Tar-papered barracks housed families or small
groups in single rooms. Each room had a few
cots, some blankets, and a single light bulb.
That was home. (765) Hirabayashi and Korematsu.
Other Japanese Americans challenged the government
through the legal system. Fred Korematsu
in California and Gordon Hirabayashi in Washington
State were arrested when they refused to
report for relocation. "As an American
citizen, I wanted to uphold the principles
of the Constitution," recalled Hirabayashi.
But in Korematsu v. United States (1944),
the Supreme Court upheld the government's
relocation program as a wartime necessity.
Three justices dissented, criticizing relocation
as the "legalization of racism."
Concentration camps in America did not mirror
the horror of Nazi death camps, but they
were built on racism and fear. Worse, they
violated the traditions of civil rights and
liberties for which Americans believed they
were fighting. |
| 1999c |
(836) Tags with numbers were issued to every
family to tie to luggage and coats -- no
names, only numbers. "From then on,"
wrote one woman, "we were known as family
#10710." Going to the camp, she had
lost her identity, dignity, and privacy.
In camps, Nisei and Issei were surrounded
by barbed wire and watched over by guards
in towers mounted with machine guns pointing
inward. Photographers were not allowed to
take pictures of the wire or the guard towers.
Families and individuals were assigned to
apartments measuring 20 by 25 feet in long
barracks of plywood covered with tar paper.
On average, eight people were assigned to
each apartment. A cot, a straw-filled mattress,
and three army blankets were furnished to
each person. Between rows of barracks were
communal bathrooms and eating areas. Within
each camp, the internees were expected to
create a community complete with farms, shops,
and small factories. And within a remarkably
short period of time, they did. Making the
desert bloom, the internees at Manzanar by
1944 were producing more than $2 million
worth of agricultural products. |
