How Did President Roosevelt's Impact On Japanese Americans

“Most of the 110,000 persons removed for reasons of national security were school-age children, infants, and young adults not yet of voting age.”(Years of Infamy, Michi Weglyn: (www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/ ) Roosevelt made the decision that truly hurt the Japanese leaving them to wonder. However, that didn’t stop President Roosevelt’s decision on what he wanted. Japanese ancestors lived on the West surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Families were broken up into a section, which Roosevelt better yet called it concentration camps. Many families had already sold their farms and lands to others. Spending years living in that environment not knowing if you may not have a home when or if you return. August 18, 1941 in a letter to President Roosevelt, Representative John Dingell of Michigan suggests incarcerating 10,000 Hawaiian Japanese Americans as hostages to ensure "good behavior" on the part of

Japan.( http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/timeline.html) Some Japanese Americans died in the camps due to medical care and the emotional stress they encountered by being in that environment.

Several were killed by military guards posted for resisting order of their command. Their cultural and economic growth was ruined within a blink of an eye. They were only allowed to bring one luggage to wherever they were going and leave the rest behind for someone else to sell or take over. I was one of the many children interned at Heart Mountain camp in September 1942. After being interned first at Santa Anita racetrack — yes, the horse racing track in Arcadia —-I was removed by train to Heart Mountain. I still remember the soldiers with fixed bayonets standing between each car to discourage prisoners from moving from car to car. (Debra

Rosenberg)

The Japanese evacuated the West Coast and the majority that they could have taken with them was what they could carry on their backs. Many had to sell their things at short notice but if they were lucky they got 2 weeks or even a certain amount of days. Abandoned farms, stores (etc.) was left behind when they left. 120,000 children and adults were searched with no test to tell if they were the part of the problem. With little time they had a week to close businesses, pull their children out of school before attending the camp.(www.gilderman.org/history-by-era/world-ii/essays/from-citizen-enemy-tragedy-Japanese-internment ). Places were overcrowded, families started to separate even mothers. Roosevelt and his team took action over what they had thought but not what they had evidence for it. Japanese homes were different from the average home that will live in today. These families were housed with no privacy, and the weather was cold. They even had to use small areas for laundry, washing and even eating. These people got fed three times a day, their meals were served in long messy halls, and even bells would ring to let them know their time to eat like a high school. Food portions were small, food starchy, and dull (Kent). “There is no milk for anyone over 5 years of age… No meat at all until the 12th day when very small portions were served… Anyone doing heavy or outdoor work states they are not getting nearly enough to eat and they are hungry all the time, this includes the doctors” (Kent 52). Depending on what time of food they serve some will starve themselves instead of eating what they were ordered to eat. People even had to supply for their toothbrushes, toothpaste and whatever they needed to provide for themselves. Things like this went on in many states such as Heart Mountain, WY, Minidoka, ID, Jerome, AR, and Poston Colorado River, AZ (etc.)

Meanwhile, the camp schools had Medicare, camps newspapers, and even entertainment such as music. Internees also had to pay the government for just working in those camps among those people for 13, 16 or maybe even 19 dollars per month depending on the amount of work done. Activities also took place within this time even though they couldn’t leave off the property the people had dances. The food was rat out an expense of 48 cents per internee and served by fellow internees in a mess hall of 250-300 people. (www.infoplease.com/spot internment1.HTML ) coal was even hard to come by so they slept under as many blankets that were given. 400 maintenance men worked at a range of duties such as: garbage disposal for the city of 15,000; janitors for the approximately 400 public buildings including mess halls, laundries, and washrooms; and a fuel detail that supplied the 7,500 boilers and stoves with coal. (http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/exhibits/ww2/threat/internment.htm) There were 350 cooks to help out meanwhile 45 people prepared the meals. Men began to get sick and some could hardly even stand up or even collapse on the job. The prisoners were supposed to work 8-10 hour days, but often they worked longer (Hale, Edward E.). Goods had to be carried, they had to unload trains, mining, manufacturing and construction. Majority of their work caused many to become sick and began to grow weak and eventually lose their ability to work. Out of the 61,000 men working on it, 13,000 would not survive (Reynolds, Gary K.). Men who were not able to work were let out on their own with no help because with a men that is sick and can’t work what did they need with him.

Years, I mean many years passed before the government finally realized to release Japanese ancestors saying however they were loyal Americans, but the majority remained locked up. Later on through the years the government knew they had made a mistake. (Asako Tokuno)Multiple people, innocent people were guilty of things they didn’t do. Although discrimination of race was common during this time.” I was in that camp for four years. When it got cold the temperature went down to as much as 60 below”. (Japanese Canadian Centennial Project. 1877-1977 the Japanese Canadians a Dream of Riches. Vancouver.Gilchrist Wright, 1978.” I can see that the Chinese had the same difficulties which they were called guilty for crimes they didn’t complete. Eventually, the internment camps were closed and people went out and did their best to build new lives. Living on many Japanese Americans still lived with the fact that they faced racism when they tried to find jobs and new homes.

Now the big answer is will everything stay like this or go back to the way it was. In signing House Bill 442, Reagan said, “We are here to right a grave wrong….It is not for us to pass judgment on those who made mistakes. And yet the interment was just that– a mistake.” The first payments were made to those 80 years and older in October 1990 accompanied with a formal letter of apology. These people suffered, gave their lives away over a rumor or a mistake. An apology could have not been enough for me if I were those people. Today they still live for racism, that feeling, that memory of them being held accountable and having to live in these prison homes somewhat well like jail.