During the duration of WWII, over 172,000 Japanese were imprisoned in internment camps, caused by the executive order signed by President Roosevelt in 1942 that allowed for Japanese relocation. This was caused by the Post- Pearl Harbor Hysteria, in which many people in the US believed that Japanese Spies were responsible for the damage created in the attack. The paranoia against the Japanese was especially strong because of their large population on the West Coast. They were held at the camps purely based off their race, and often had no chance to take care of their property and belongings before being forced to leave, leading to their houses being hastily sold at fractions of their true value, or sometimes even the loss of almost all their property, leading to the internees losing hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite the injustice, the act was deemed constitutional in 1944 through the Korematsu vs US case. Adults were able to work in the camps for a meager $5 dollars a day, and children attended schools, but the very basis of the camps was a clear violation of the Constitutionally guaranteed rights given to Americans. In 1988 the US government gave $20,000 to all that had been part of the internment.
Image Source: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/~matsu22k/classweb/index3.html
Great summary of a sad time in American history. Unfortunately, even after Korematsu v. US and the reparation payments, many Japanese could not return to their home towns because the current residents would not let them back in. It's a sad reminder that even after a conflict is "officially" solved by the government, the consequences can remain indefinitely.
ReplyDeletesource: http://www.ushistory.org/us/51e.asp
I was unaware that the US government did give reparations to those who had to suffer the internment camps, even if it was quite late. Since the government did acknowledge that what they had done was unconstitutional, what was their original reasoning that what they were doing was constitutional?
ReplyDeleteThis is a short summary of the reason why the Japanese were held in internment camps and what they did there, but it is very educational in the short amount it beholds. Do you think that the reason for the hysteria was all because of the Pearl Harbor attack and the spies ideology or did this rebound off other American immigrant policies from earlier in the century? Meaning was this just racist because of the Pearl Harbor attack or were Americans just following what their forefathers had done in terms of immigrants and their threat to American society?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very well written, concise, and straight to the point summary. It is very tragic that even after WWII many Japanese natives had to pay permanent consequences that would essentially change their lives.
ReplyDeleteYou were concise but efficient in delivering your information. I think its horrible that they were treated this way just for their race, and find it interesting that we go back on our word as soon as we are paranoid during war.
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