Japanese Internment Essay

Imagine being forced out of your home, your business, and your community, all because of your ethnicity. This was the reality for Japanese Americans during World War II. Throughout the duration of the United States’ entry into World War II, Japanese Americans were unfairly treated and sent to internment camps by the United States. Some argue that it may have been due to concerns about national security threats or economic issues including land and business ownership. However, none of these were the main reason. The most significant motivation for Japanese Internment was the United States’ social and racial attitudes towards the Japanese and Japanese Americans.

Japanese and Japanese Americans were interned because Americans believed they were

This belief was shown early on. The passing of the Immigration Act of 1924 prevented Japanese people and other Asian ethnicities from migrating to the United States, simply based on race. This was because of homogeneity, or wanting to keep the entire population “American”. This is an example of how racial prejudice may result in discriminatory laws. The United States’ opposition to Japan during World War II only escalated this. This viewpoint was used to support the denial of Japanese American citizenship, which left them as subordinates, and ultimately resulted in their imprisonment during World War II. In addition, they were removed from their living areas because of the belief they could not fit into society and deemed “unassimilable.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 that authorized military commanders to exclude civilians from military areas. Lieutenant General John Dewitt mandated Japanese people to leave for race-based reasons even though the President did not specifically say Japanese people (National). The discriminatory sentiments toward this community are shown because this was carried out with the assumption that they could not integrate into American society. Lieutenant Dewitt additionally announced curfews that only applied to Japanese citizens (National). This instance only further highlights the hatred towards Japanese citizens held by Dewitt

For instance, people who showed no hate towards Japanese people were heavily influenced by the attack and increased their discrimination towards them. After Pearl Harbor, hatred towards all Japanese people by Americans increased (Oi). The propensity of certain people to condemn entire populations based on the behavior of a small number of people ultimately did harm to the Japanese in the future. Many Americans started stereotyping Japanese people after the attacks and only escalated discrimination. Americans started stereotyping all Japanese people as inscrutable and labeled them as outsiders. For instance, some Americans believed that every Japanese person had bad intentions and would bring harm to the United States. This type of stereotyping and labeling of an entire group of people eventually led to the internment of Japanese Americans. The US even turned to violating the rights of Japanese people in order to try and make amends for Pearl Harbor. The United States government violated human rights by interning Japanese and Japanese Americans, including the fifth amendment, which clearly stated that no person should be deprived of life, liberty, or property (The National). All interned Japanese people faced violations such as being taken away by force without trial and being treated poorly at the camps. This is