Little Rock Nine Case Study

How would you feel if one day you were told to leave your whole life behind to live in captivity just because people halfway across the world did something wrong? This horror story was all too true for the thousands of Japanese Americans alive during World War II. Almost overnight, thousands of proud Japanese Americans living on the west coast were forced to leave their homes and give up the life they knew. The United States government was not justified in the creation of Japanese internment camps because it stripped law-abiding American citizens of their rights out of unjustified fear. Furthermore, the United States should do more to compensate the families of those impacted by internment because the recompense provided initially was minimal and should be considered an affront to the memory of the victims.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a decision that would change the lives of Japanese-Americans on February 19, 1942, two months following the Japanese bombings on Pearl Harbor. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the internment of over 110,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident immigrants from Japan1. Meaning that Japanese-Americans, regardless of their U.S. citizenship, were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses and then proceed to move to remote war relocation and internment camps run by the U.S. Government.

Due to the increasing fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast, Lt. General John L. Dewitt recommended that all people of Japanese descent living in America be removed to the interior of the country. In the article “An American Tragedy: The Internment of Japanese-Americans During World War II” by Norman Y. Mineta, former US Secretary of Transportation, Dewitt backed up his suggestion with rumors that “ethnic Japanese on the West Coast were signaling Japanese ships out in the Pacific ocean” and they “had stockpiled numerous rounds of ammunition and weapons” (Mineta 161). In order to combat this threat in case of enemy invasion, the camps would detain the Japanese Americans so they cannot aid the enemy. The warped logic used to imprison 110,000 people purely based on ethnic background was convincing enough to the American people that they didn’t even question

Among all of the other countries, one had the courage to bomb the United States of America. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor because of the threat the Navy had on the U.S. After that, America feared another attack or even worse, an invasion from Japan in the West Coast. In order to prepare for an invasion America decided to relocate all of the Japanese-Americans, mainly in the West Coast because they were the most threat. Many people debated whether relocating was the right thing to do. The internment of Japanese-Americans was justified because of the security in the Pacific Coast, fear of another attack, and because it was a military necessity.

The internment of Japanese-Americans was justified because there were Japanese suspects. Between ten internment camps in Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas, about 250-300 people in each camp were suspects under surveillance. Only around 50-60 people were actually considered dangerous. “It is easy to get on the suspect list, merely a speech in favor of Japan being sufficient to land one there” (Munson 2). Clearly, America was taking extreme precautions. If they would have let one of them leave, they could have rebelled. This is a main reason why Japanese suspects had to be taken away to keep the United States population safe. “It will be hard for them to get near anything to blow up if it is guarded” (Munson 2).

On the date of Feb 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order. This executive order forced all Japanese American citizens, regardless of their loyalty to the country. It forced them to evacuate their homes and not just the Japanese Americans in a particular part of the country all Japanese Americans would be put into internment camps. At one point in time all of the camps combined held 120,000 Japanese Americans. This was all cause due to the fact that the Japanese Military at the time bombed Pearl Harbor an American Naval base in Hawaii. All of the camps closed by June in 1946. And in 1988 congress awarded restitution payments to each survivor of the Japanese internment camp.

“The truth was, at this point Papa did not know which way to turn. In the government 's eyes a free man now, he sat, like those black slaves you hear about who, when they got word of their freedom at the end of the Civil War, just did not know where else to go or what else to do and ended up back on the plantation, rooted there out of habit or lethargy or fear” (Farewell to Manzanar, ----). Papa was just one victim of injustice. After the Japanese dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1947, all Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps. President Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, ordering that all people of Japanese ethnicity because the government viewed them as a threat to national security. Jeanne Wakatsuki

December 7, 1941, Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. Moments after, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war against the Axis Powers, joining in on World War II. On February 12, 1942, the Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which called for the internment of all Japanese Americans. Although the American population were insecure about their safety and American businessmen feared the Japanese invading the American economy, the main reason for the issuance of Executive Order 9066 was the racial discrimination against the Japanese.

Franklin Roosevelt used poor judgement when he ordered Executive Order 9066 because of the racism behind this executive order. A man named Fred Korematsu, a Japanese American citizen, felt that his internment went against the United States Constitution. The Fourteenth

In 1944, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion orders. The Court limited its decision to the validity of the exclusion orders, adding, "The provisions of other orders requiring persons of Japanese ancestry to report to assembly centers and providing for the detention of such persons in assembly and relocation centers were separate, and their validity is not in issue in this proceeding." The United States Census Bureau assisted the internment efforts by providing confidential neighborhood information on Japanese Americans. The Bureau 's role was denied for decades, but was finally proven in

One detail to support the claim in “Forgetting the Constitution” is, “But they are of Japanese descent and United States is at war with Japan” (Hakim). This detail supports the claim because it tells the audience that United States was at war with Japan. War broke the trust of the two countries, and trust big cause of Executive Order 9066 because a big reason they were put into camps was because people suspected them as spies for Japan. Another detail to support the claim in “Forgetting the Constitution” is “A racist law prevents Japanese from becoming citizens” (Hakim). This detail supports the claim because it tells us that the government was against the Japanese Americans, just like the citizens. Without the protection from the laws, it would be easier for the congress to decide on passing Executive Order 9066. This is how political causal factors is the most important factor that led up to Executive Order

Civil rights means everyone should be treated equally no matter their race or color. Many people fought for civil rights, and it is an important part of American history. Everyday black people struggled to get an education. Civil rights made it possible for black people to go to school. Little Rock Nine changed the course of U.S. history. Little Rock Nine has made a big impact in the world, and without them things wouldn’t be the same today.

The Fourth Amendment declares “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The two main points being the “lack of probable cause” and the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”. It should be noted that due to the hastiness of the relocation, many Japanese-Americans made ill-prepared financial decisions that led to an unnecessary loss of money, possessions, and land, in which some of it that was lost is now valued to be worth millions of dollars. While the government claimed there was evidence of some Japanese-American involvement in espionage, there was no concrete accusation put forth. In, addition some Japanese-Americans left their families behind in the internment camps to go and fight in the US armed forces during World War II. The U.S. Army’s 100th Battalion, 442nd Infantry which consisted exclusively of Japanese-American fought in France, Italy, and Germany from 1943 to 1945 and by the end of the war became the most decorated combat unit of its size in Army

Between 1861 and 1940, approximately 275,000 Japanese immigrated to Hawaii and the mainland United States, the majority arriving between 1898 and 1924, when quotas were adopted that ended Asian immigration. Many worked in Hawaiian sugarcane fields as contract laborers. After their contracts expired, a small number remained and opened up shops. Other Japanese immigrants settled on the West Coast of mainland United States, cultivating marginal farmlands and fruit orchards, fishing, and operating small businesses. Their efforts yielded impressive results. Japanese Americans controlled less than 4 percent of California’s farmland in 1940, but they produced more than 10 percent of the total value of the state’s farm resources.

The United States entered into World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066, forcing the removal of 110,000 Japanese to detention centers. The incarceration caused a deep trauma for many Japanese Americans, exposing them to harassment, danger, and violence. They were taken away from their freedom of speech, choice, and association. Japanese Americans were discriminated, an American racial/ethnic subject to be negotiated, and often looked down to because they were neither black or white. The incarceration was an advantage for Japanese American women because it decreased women’s domestic duties, give them a higher job position, and higher education.