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Japanese Internment Camps Essay

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The internment of the Japanese during WWII was a direct effect of racism towards Japanese people. The Japanese had been facing discrimination from the time that they began immigrating into the United States being accused of stealing jobs and land. However, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and relocation of Japanese Americans allowed for the racism to show. During 1942, Japanese people along the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington were uprooted from their homes, farms, and jobs to be placed in internment camps in the Midwest, away from the Pacific Ocean. The location of the internment camps the Japanese were placed in was an environmental decision, choosing deserts far away from any cities and sign of life. This decision changed the way …show more content…

The locations of the camps were chosen due to their isolation from society and far position from the coasts. Since the relocated were from the vibrant cities and landscapes of the west coast, moving to the barren dusty environments of camps such as Manzanar and Topaz was a move to break their spirit, “Yoshiko Uchida associated exile and uprooting with the desert” (2). The WRA wanted to give the interned the least amount possible to work with and this included their environment, with dusty dry soil that had no life, boiling hot summers, and freezing winters. They had to make do with what they had and were given little to improve their conditions. They had to finish building their barracks and had to repair their camps as they continuously fell apart throughout their time …show more content…

They did this through gardening, and using their landscapes to create victory gardens, to feed the camps. Many times, the Japanese were allowed to go outside of the camps to work on other people’s farms and get jobs. To combat the isolating feeling of these internment camps, the people turned to nature for an escape. In Manzanar they would sneak out of camp to go fishing, forming what is now known as the Manzanar fishing club. They formed different types of clubs that both broke rules and gave the interned hope for their futures. This gave them a sense of normalcy that could not be achieved without nature. The barren landscapes did not offer much for the people there, the soil was not good to support many different types of vegetables. One thing that many Japanese Americans continued when they were interned was gardening. “In the two decades preceding World War II, Japanese Americans made up 70 to 80 percent of all gardeners in the Southern California region” (163). This allowed for them to transform their environment into something positive and something they could call theirs. The gardens in the camps further proved the environmental knowledge that the Japanese had coming into the camps, they were able to manipulate the soil and make things grow in an environment

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Over the course of years spent there, they became rather used to the conditions they lived in. They were fed appropriately, given a place to sleep, and treated humanely as possible. They were also given the opportunity of an education through a variety of academics brought to the camp. When the wartime was over and the Japanese were allowed back into everyday life, they weren’t treated as humans. They were looked down upon and treated as if they didn’t serve a purpose as every other citizen does.

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These camps were like jails because they were forced to work

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They made it through to tell their tales and now because of their fight for their rights, America as a whole could come together stronger than it was before. America has made many mistakes, the internment camps being one of the many. Without the mistakes though, we would never learn. The Japanese had stayed faithful and true to America and with it came great achievement of a stronger nation. After the war, the military started enrolling Japanese-American citizens in the army.

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Agriculture was the number one employment for many Japanese immigrants. In the Pacific Coast, more Issei Japanese managed farming. When Pearl Harbor was attack by Japan, many Japanese Americans were criticized and under suspiciousness by the American government. All Japanese Americans were immediately subjected to search of personal property if under suspicious. Many Japanese American were willing to abide the government without hesitation as the Japanese believed it was a way to show their dedication as a Japanese American.

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All the rights and freedom that the United States provides was taken away from them. They were given a list as to what the were allowed to bring; somewhat like a list you were given before going to church camp. However, this camp was not an enjoyable one. The pets they had were killed or given away because they listened to what their government told them to do. The unamed mother gave the cat to the neighbors which symbolizes what the Japanese did when they were sent to Internment Camps.

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Then they would also steal canned foods like canned tomatoes and more. Then they would also map out the area around them, like the camp and the land. So they can know how to get around without getting caught. In some ways, the Japanese-American internees were dehumanized by the Americans during the war. Were like when they were sent to camps.

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What did Japanese Americans do in these camps for three years? Plenty of things. In Oregon, internees had to produce much of their food on the surrounding farmland. Also in Oregon, relocation centers had their own hospitals, warehouses, and post offices.

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Japanese Internment camps were a terrible addition to American history. They were built for the sole purpose to keep Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans away from the public due to fear of Pearl Harbor happening once again. The living conditions in the camps were brutal. Camps lasted for a few years, and prisoners were finally released, but to live a life full of trauma.

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In 1942 the President Roosevelt gives the permission and order to the authorities to relocated Japanese Americans to internment camps. (Eisenhower) likewise, moved into different island caused Japanese Americans under a lots of devastated, because upon arriving in the camp they lived in under difficult conditions, the food was bad, and barracks have crack and knothole, where the dust blows through. The life of Japanese American was difficult, ironically, Milton stated that the reason the commander General of the West Defense should move to island was to help “limited evacuation was a solution to only part of the problem.” In case of unpredictably the Japanese invasion going on, so therefore, all Japanese in the coastal area should moves inland. However, Japanese American worry about the uncertain future and fear what might bring in to life.

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