Japanese Internment In The US

In 1942, two months after the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, requiring all Japanese Americans, or Nisei, to evacuate the west coast (Ikeda, Tom, and Ellen Kuwana. "Sites of Shame, Background." Densho.org.) This order resulted in the movement of 120,000 people to ten internment camps across the United States (Steven, Heather , Glen Burnie High, and Anne Arundel County Public Schools Umbc.edu). In fact, over two thirds of the relocated Japanese were actually American citizens (Tom Ikeda and Ellen Kuwana, Densho.org)! Under stress and persuaded by generals who were racist towards the Japanese, President Roosevelt displaced many Americans solely because they were suspected to be spies

Their basic liberties and Constitutional rights were stripped (Denn, Benjamin. "Japanese-American Rights in Regard to Internment”, iamanamerican.weebly.com ). For instance, any Japanese suspected of espionage were arrested and detained without a trial, clearly violating due process and the seventh amendment of the United States constitution(Denn, Benjamin, iamanamerican.weebly.com ). In addition, their homes were raided by the FBI, and many of their possessions were confiscated, therefore violating the fourth amendment(Denn, Benjamin, iamanamerican.weebly.com ). Their Religion, Shintoism, was suppressed, conditions in the camps were horrible, Japanese Americans were denied the right to vote, and could not even speak (Denn, Benjamin, iamanamerican.weebly.com ). These are clear violations of the first, fifteenth, and eighth amendments of the United States constitution. When Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps, they were never given a trial and were automatically viewed as guilty traitors. In addition, Japanese internees were forced to take a loyalty test, and if a person replied “no” to any of the questions, they were taken to Tule Lake, a maximum security camp (Denn, Benjamin, iamanamerican.weebly.com ). Again, this is a clear violation of the first amendment of the United States constitution, as they were mistreated and suppressed, because and opinion was expressed. One may argue that the Supreme Court, in 1944, stated that the need of American safety outweighed the individual rights of the Japanese( Steven, High, Anne Arundel County Public schools, umbc.edu). This absurd ruling was not helping American citizens, but rather hurting our country’s people, as Japanese Americans were being held captive. To further prove this point, President Jimmy Carter appointed a committee in 1980 to study Japanese