Pearl Harbor: The Wrongful Internment Of Japanese Americans

In 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor caused a whirlwind of fear on the west coast that led to the hasty and wrongful internment of Japanese American Citizens. The Japanese-Americans suffered in these camps. This historical event is important for new citizens to learn because it shows several things- how mass panic can lead to badly thought out decisions, the impact such a decision has on families, culture and politics, and how a country recovers from it's mistakes.

To understand Japanese internment, the atmosphere and events surrounding the situation must be explained. In 1941, the American government had wanted to stay out of WWII. Then, in 1941, the Japanese unexpectedly bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in the midst of export negotiations. America

This, combined with the fact that the Japanese were not spread throughout the country and were a quiet, non-aggressive people led to the panic-induced brutal mistreatment.

Internment notices went up in May of 1942. They stated that all Japanese and Japanese Americans would be removed from the West Coast within weeks. They were forced to sell their nonessential property at a loss and were taken to camps, called "relocation centers". These camps were located in California and states bordering California. It is important to note that over half of these detained Japanese were Nisei, American-born citizens.

The internment camps were hastily and poorly built, offering poor protection from the dust storms and elements. Families lived in small shacks and single people lived in large bunkhouses. In "Farewell to Manzanar", one Nisei recalls toilets without partitions. Due to these conditions, sickness spread

There were guards, curfews, and barbed wire. People were herded like cattle. They were regulated so strictly there were rules about when a prisoner could wear a hat and when they needed to have their porch light on.

One Japanese-American citizen, in a letter to Delegate Samuel L. King, shows obvious confusion as to why he has been detained. He lists everything he has done for the country, trying to prove the life he led as a quiet store owner to be true and without suspicion. Even throughout this detainment, he, like many other Japanese-American citizens, showed unwavering faith in their country. This was also proven to be true when Japanese-American men enlisted in the all-Nisei 442nd Regiment to show their loyalty to the country. This regiment later became the most decorated in American history.

The internment impacted politics greatly. One notable way was the 1944 case Korematsu vs. United States, in which the government ruled that the removal and internment of these residents were legal. This was a landmark case because it showed that fear was still running rampant 2 years