Compare And Contrast Sam Mihara And Japanese-America

The Mariam- Webster Dictionary says that freedom is, “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.” Freedom is a basic right of each American citizen; this right was taken from a large group of people in 1942, including a man named Sam Mihara. K. Sam Mihara lived peacefully in San Francisco with many other Japanese-Americans until the Pearl Harbour attack where they were removed from their homes and forced into secluded detention camps. Throughout the war, Japanese- Americans were moved, treated with disrespect, and then pressured into forgiving the government.

The Japanese-Americans were forced into detention camps because the country of Japan was responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbour. In making this decision

Sam Mihara and the Japanese-American Citizens’ League reacted to Executive Order 9066 differently for these reasons as well. For example, Mihara believed that his rights were being violated, while The League believed they were doing the right thing to help their new country. Sam Mihara announced, “I, for one, knew better. A lot of the young people did. We were American citizens, born and raised, and we understood that we had rights”(source E). His defiance shows that because he was younger he was able to find the loopholes in the order. This differs from how The Japanese-American Citizens’ League reacted because of his age and situational understanding. At the same time, a group that was made up of mostly issei, the Japanese-American Citizens’ League, said, “we Americans of Japanese parentage are unified in our desire to aid national defense in any way possible”(source E). Their loyalty is an example that their understanding of the order was less developed than Mihara’s was. These examples show how age and understanding of a topic can cause someone to have a very different reaction than someone

government took responsibility for their poor actions by giving reparations and apologizing. The government had stayed silent for years following the war, but in 1988 President Ronald Reagan broke the silence. He believed that the government had to pay for what they had done, so he,“signed into law the Civil Liberties Act of 1988.[...] Each Japanese American affected by the internment was promised $20,000.” The Act shows that the President was taking responsibility and making an effort to make amends. Another few years later, after working on the promise by finding a place to get the money, President Bill Clinton attempted to make amends. The year was 1993, and President Clinton wrote a thoughtful note apologizing for the mistreatment of the Nisei and Issei, while fulfilling the $20,000 promise to each person who was affected by Executive Order 9066. The Presidents’ dedication to righting the wrong shows that they understood the mistake that was