Japanese Internment in the U.S.
Sophia Shashurin
Mr. Henderson
U.S. History
March 20, 2023 Living as a Japanese-American in the 1940s became jeopardized, with countless acts of threats and discrimination included in everyday life. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, many Japanese-Americans lived as farmers, making money off of crops and their land, but after Pearl Harbor, numerous families were faced with poverty, as well as selling all land and property to be forced into internment camps set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Families had to sell their belongings for quick cash, all due to the suspicion of remaining loyal to a country they fled. In the process of losing their lives, they were also seen as aliens rather than human beings. The main focus is how the lives of Japanese-Americans changed after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as well as how other citizens of the U.S. viewed them.
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Many individuals came to America for a better chance at life, for themselves or their families. Even though most Japanese-American citizens worked as farmers, and provided food and great resources for other American citizens, Japanese-Americans were always seen as inferior to the rest of America’s white population. After the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 as well as $20,000 paid to each individual who was incarcerated, Japanese Americans still had to live with the cultural baggage of being a minority in the U.S. during this period. Generations of Japanese-Americans will still experience racism and prejudice against their own culture and identity for not fitting into the standards of an American citizen. Japanese-Americans were not killed in the internment camps without proper reasoning, but their memories will pass on to future generations as time passes