December 7th, 1941, the Japanese bombed the American naval base, Pearl Harbor. The occurrence of Pearl Harbor had depleted all trust between the two races. America’s response, conducted by President Theodore Roosevelt, lead to the interment of all Japanese-Americans. The first hand account Farewell to Manzanar written by Jeanne Wakatsuki, created a vivid illustration of what life was like being a young interned Japanese-American. In more detail, the struggles they were faced with after Manzanar were far greater ultimatums her and her family begrudgingly had to overcome.
They were previously “special targets of white hostility ” (Pbs 1) and when the bombing happened they were set up to be blamed. Before Japanese Americans could not own land, eat in white restaurants, and some could not become citizens. They were not considered real citizens of the united states and this caused people to believe that they were traitors and untrustworthy. The bombing gave Americans a chance to “ renew their hostility toward their Japanese neighbor. ”(Pbs
What was it like for Japanese Americans in their own homes and what was it like for the 442nd team when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor? In “Wartime Mistakes”, many Japanese Americans were mistaken for Japanese that may have been pretending to live in the United States, so, to many people, they looked like they were the enemy. In “Go For Broke”, the story takes place inside a war and focuses mainly on the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (or the 442nd R.C.T. team). This article is ended with a letter from Frank Hachia to his eighth grade teacher he wrote while he was traveling by sea.
I strongly disagree with the internment of Japanese-Americans because it was unconstitutional, the Japanese-Americans showed loyalty by volunteering to fight in the 442nd combat team, and because of the hypocrisy of the situation. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941 brought the United States into World War II. This brought worry and disgust from American citizens, towards the Japanese Americans and caused the passing of Executive Order 9066. The executive order imprisoned 110,000 of citizens in internment camps.
Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki and her husband James D. Houston, brings the aftermath of the bombing of Pearl Harbor to life through the the reimaging of the hardships and discrimination that Jeanne and her family endured while stationed at Manzanar. After the events of Pearl Harbor, seven year-old Jeanne is evacuated with family to an internment camp in which the family will be forced to adapt to a life in containment. Through the writings of Jeanne herself, readers are able to see Jeanne’s world through her words and experience the hardships and sacrifices that the Wakatsuki family had to go through. Farewell to Manzanar takes the reader on a journey through the eyes of a young American-Japanese girl struggling to be accepted by society.
Though the American Government was afraid that Japanese Americans potential saboteurs, they were not justified for interning them because it was not fair to blame a whole society on a small portion action’s, the families were not provided with the proper care and attention, and the Japanese-American children were faced with racism that they may have not been able to handle. After the Pearl Harbor attack, the whole Japanese-American group now had to face the consequence when they didn’t partake in the crime. In the text, Jeanne states, “To the FBI every radio owner was a
Matsuda’s memoir is based off of her and her family’s experiences in the Japanese-American internment camps. Matsuda reveals what it is like during World War II as a Japanese American, undergoing family life, emotional stress, long term effects of interment, and her patriotism and the sacrifices she had to make being in the internment camps. Everyone living in Western section of the United States; California, Oregon, of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps after the Pearl Harbor bombing including seventeen year old Mary Matsuda Gruenewald and her family. Matsuda and her family had barely any time to pack their bags to stay at the camps. Matsuda and her family faced certain challenges living in the internment camp.
The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them.” Truman wanted these Japanese atrocities to end, for the war to end, and for eventual world peace. He made the decision to drop the bomb in order to save as many of his own as he could, which any good leader would
Because about 3 months before their internment, Japan itself did attack a harbor, destroying ships, ruining a lot of people’s lives, breaking FDR’s heart down. During this internment, Japanese people, except those who lived in Hawaii, treated in a most badly way. There’s an attitude in some Americans that discriminated someone by their races, so then some people hated Japs, because they’re Asians. “Propaganda began to spread that Japanese-American fishing boat “will sow mines across the entrance of our ports…. Japanese farmers … will send their peas and potatoes and squash full of arsenic to the markets.”
David Okita, the author of the poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066,” is a published playwright, poet and novelist. He describes himself as Japanese, American, gay, and Buddhist. Okita’s father was a World War II veteran and his mother was held in confinement for four years at a Japanese-American concentration camp. The World War II plays as a significant theme in the poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066”. At first glance, the poem appears to be about an American girl who has an unstable relationship with her friend Denise.
According to Bedford “during World War II, the United States was more careful about protecting the civil liberties of its citizens…however there was one exceptions, the “relocation centers”. How can there be an exception to human rights? The replacement of Japanese Americans into internment camps was one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties and human rights in American history. To name a few constitutional rights that were violated in this event, the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, law enforcement and FBI searched homes of Japanese Americans without search warrants, seeking any items identified as having alliance to Japan (Bedford). In addition, the right to an indictment or to be informed of the charges, also was violated, “when the FBI came and picked him up…a guy who had followed all the rules, respected authority and was a leader in the company, all of a sudden he was behind bars for no reason as we can see the forced removal and subsequent detention of Japanese Americans without being told of their crime or the charges against them was indeed a violation of their human rights.
Jeanne Wakatsuki, co-author of Farewell to Manzanar, is a Japanese American that was forced into an internment camp in 1941. Wakatsuki was born to two Japanese natives in Inglewood, California in 1934. Her childhood was stable, and she was surrounded by a large family consisting of nine siblings, four brothers and five sisters. When Wakatsuki was seven years old, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt ordered that all Japanese Americans be placed into federal custody. The Wakatsuki family was one of the first Japanese American families to be questioned about the Pearl Harbor tragedy because the federal government believed that all Japanese Americans were in cahoots with the Japanese military.
Internment camps were common in many countries during World War 2, including America. The Japanese-Americans were interned out of fear from Pearl Harbor and, although the conditions weren’t terrible, the aftermath was hard to overcome. Along with the Japanese-Americans, our American soldiers were also interned in Japan, but in harsher conditions and aftermaths. The camps, no matter how unpleasant, were turning points for both internees. While reading Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, these points are obvious.
This decision eventually led to the internment of Japanese citizens against their will. Fear, Panic and bad Counsel Led President franklin D.
Furthermore, Japanese Americans and Jews were held in camps with security. George Takei quotes “Barb wired camps and gun points.” Concentration camps had no way of escaping because all of the guards and high barb wired surrounding them. Although, both events were taking people’s rights away and relocating them because they are a threat, overall Nazi concentration camps and Japanese internment camps are not essentially the same. Nazi concentration camps and Japanese internment camps are not essentially the same by the reason for moving the people, the treatment, and conditions of the camps.