Pros And Cons Of The Evacuation Of Japanese Canadians

The “received version” of the evacuation of Japanese Canadians correctly states that there was no credible threat to North American security during the Second World War (Granatstein and Johnson, 117). Since there existed no credible threat, the internment of Japanese Canadians can in no way be justified. As had been the case before the beginning of the Second World War, Japanese Canadians were the victims of anti-Asian racism.

Granatstein and Johnson argued that there existed a credible threat to the security of North America. In early 1942, there were substantiated reports from Malaya and Hong Kong that local Japanese “planted explosives at military installations, docks and ships, and sniped at troops, as well as providing information to the invaders” (Granatstein and Johnson, 116). The authors then point to an article ran 2 January 1942 in the Vancouver Sun. “We may expect Japanese civilians to do all in their power to assist the attacker” (Granatstein and Johnson, 116). The brutality displayed by Japanese forces towards captured Allied servicemen and civilians is mentioned it seems to aid in justifying

This is what the authors of this article would have you believe. On 23 February 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled Santa Barbara, California; later were reports of submarines shelling points in Oregon (Granatstein and Johnson, 118). In early June, Japan launched an attack on the Aleutian Islands. The intent was to draw out American fleet, destroy it, and prepare for an attack on the continental North America. Ultimately the plan failed, along with Japanese imperial ambitions, after the American victory at the Battle of Midway. Finally, the authors note that Japanese living in North America had direct orders from their consulates to collaborate and assist Japan by spying (Granatstein and Johnson,