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Running head: DOING WHATS RIGHT? Doing Whats Right? July 27, 2009 Doing Whats Right? Introduction During the World War II more than 100, 000 Japanese Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps, consisting of very poorly constructed barracks and were surrounded by sentry posts, barbed wire and armed guards.
It is a historical fact that most of them were in fact the citizens of the United States. Thesis: Although the U. S. government claimed that the American Japanese Internment Camps that were seen in the 1940 s were the best way to eliminate a potential threat to national security, this horrific event by no means can be justified because these relocation camps were quite similar to those of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leaders and this U. S.
governments action was an illegal, discriminative and racist action as well as wholesale abrogation of civil rights. The American Japanese Internment Camps The American Japanese Internment Camps (also known as War Relocation Camps) were seen in 1942. During that time approximately 100, 000 - 120, 000 Japanese Americans and Japanese nationals were relocated by force to these housing facilities. This forcible relocation and internment was authorized by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the well-known Executive Order 9066 (February 19, 1942) (Hirasaki National Resource Center: Resources).
Under this Executive Order local military commanders were allowed to designate military areas in capacity of the exclusion zones, from which any or all individuals may be excluded (Stanley, 1994). This order was adopted to exclude individuals of Japanese ancestry from the entire Pacific coast (including most of Washington, Oregon, California with the exception of those in the American Japanese Internment Camps). The U. S.
government claimed that this was undertaken as a preventive measure to eliminate threat to the countrys national security. In the vast majority of cases people were sent to these war relocation camps not because they were found guilty and had been tried but simply because their parents, they or their ancestors had Japanese origin and, therefore, according to the U. S. government they constituted a serious threat to the national security (Japanese-American Internment). These Japanese Americans could be identified easily because of their racial belonging.
Yet, although the government considered they were doing whats right, there were no similar actions, for example, in relation to Italian Americans or to German Americans despite the U. S. nation was fighting against them during the war. Japanese Americans and people of Japanese origin had to leave their homes, businesses and sometimes even families because the U. S. government was taking these people and often was holding them for years without any trial.
Issei (Japanese) and Nisei (Japanese Americans) were sent to assembly centers and then were relocated to internment camps (Japanese-American Internment Camps). It should be, however, mentioned that not all Japanese were sent to the American Japanese Internment Camps. Ironically, the area with the largest Japanese population (e. g. , Hawaii where Japanese Americans made up approximately 35 % of the population) remained almost untouched as these Japanese Americans were allowed to remain in their homes (unless they were suspected of sabotage or espionage) (World War Two Japanese Internment Camps in the USA). To a certain extent, this can be explained by the fact that the territory of Hawaii was more racially tolerant and the military had greater control of Hawaii. According to the statistics, only 2, 000 out of 158, 000 ethnic Japanese in Hawaii were incarcerated during the World War II (Tateishi, 1984).
The most striking fact is that Japanese Americans were not the only people who were incarcerated during World War II. Often enough people of different races were treated as Japanese because of the name change. For example, Estelle Ishigo, who was a Caucasian woman who married Japanese man, and was sent with him to Heart Mountain Relocation Camp. In addition, during World War II there were other relocation camps where Japanese Latin Americans, Italian Americans and German Americans were also held. Trying to eliminate the threat to national security, the U.
S. government urged other countries to round up enemy aliens who could be potentially dangerous. 10 Pacific-facing countries agreed to the U. S. governments request and send Japanese and people of Japanese descent to the United States for incarceration (Japanese-American Internment). Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that despite war events and potential threat to national security the United States government by no means could justify creation and maintenance of these concentration camps created specifically for the Japanese American incarceration because it was a discriminative action and an abrogation of civil rights. Although the United States government inspired the thought that such actions were deemed necessary and moral, these relocation camps were quite similar to those of the Nazi leaders because these camps were the places where people were incarcerated not because they were tried and accused of crimes they indeed committed but merely because of their ethnic origin.
References Hirasaki National Resource Center: Resources. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 27, 2009, from web Japanese-American Internment. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 27, 2009, from web Japanese-American Internment Camps. (n. d. ).
Retrieved July 27, 2009, from web Stanley, J. (1994). I am an American: a true story of Japanese internment. New York: Crown Publishers. Tateishi, J. (1984). And justice for all: an oral history of the Japanese American detention camps. New York: Random House.
World War Two Japanese Internment Camps in the USA. (n. d. ). Retrieved July 27, 2009, from web
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