Japanese Internment Essay

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Ndubuisi Benjamin Harbor AAST 201 4/23/14 JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT Introduction The whole issue involved with the unfair treatment of Japanese Americans in the internment camps by the Americans, started not so long after Japanese warplanes bombed the Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt, the chief of staff at that time signed an Executive Order 9066 which entailed the detainment of anyone who had any descendant from Japan. Contradictory to all evidences presented by the intelligence agencies, first generation Japanese Americans were the easy prey used by the government to show they had total control of the situation. Using several primary documents and secondary sources, the forced imprisonment and harsh mistreatment of Japanese Americans in internment camps would be examined. Since there was a huge influx of Japanese Americans in the West Coast, there was anger and fear that they might take over the U.S [Yellow Peril]. The imminence of the World War II solidified the motive to be afraid of the Japanese Americans and created cause for the U.S government to lead them to internment. Surprisingly even though Americans boasted about democracy, most of the Nikkei placed in internment were American citizens by law and had no right to be incarcerated. After 30 years, President Ford, the current chief of staff reversed Executive Order 9066. He stated that it was wrong to detain Nikkei as they were loyal to America. A public apology and a payment of $20,000 were made out to Nikkei. This gesture solidifies the wrongdoing of Nikkei by the U.s government. The same conclusion could be drawn from a close look inside of the internment camps. From my research on the issue at hand, I propose a thesis stating that the incarceration of the Japan... ... middle of paper ... ...ts were violated by the federal government during World War II.” From this, one can conclude that the United States admitted to making a mistake in their treatment of the Japanese Americans and how irrational one can behave when one does not understand and is afraid of the unknown. From my research on this paper, I can boldly say that the Americans were biasedly prejudice against the Japanese Americans based on my analysis on Racism, Gender Roles and Economic losses during the internment. Cite References 1. Kikimura’s - Through Harsh Winter. 2. Maeda’s - Rethinking the Asian American Movement. 3. Kaz T Tanemura’s Interview. 4. George Hanada’s Interview. 5. Bernadette Suda Horiuchi’s Interview. 6. George Yoshida’s Interview. 7. Tad Sato’s Interview. 8. Mollie Nakasaki’s Interview. 9. Chikuzo Norton’s Interview. 10. Questionnaire of Loyalty for Japanese Americans.

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