Psychological Effects Of Japanese Internment Camps

When the Japanese had economic success for along time, also with an American fear of WWII, the Nazis, and a long-standing anti-Asian racism turned into disaster when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona and capsized the U.S.S. Oklahoma. The attack sank or beached a total of twelve ships and damaged nine others. 160 aircraft were destroyed and 150 others damaged. Lobbyists from western states, many representing competing economic interests or nativist groups, pressured Congress and the President to remove people who were Japanese from the west coast, both Issei (immigrants) and Nisei (Japanese Americans). The Japanese were

treated unfairly because of their nationality. Although this is true, others might say that Executive Order 9066 was meant to keep Americans safe, but this argument is misguided it was still EXTREMELY unfair to imprison the Japanese because the Japanese didn’t do anything wrong. The ways that the Japanese were treated unfairly is they had psychological trauma from being in the camp, they were treated very badly because of their skin tone, they were sent to a place that was much worse than a lot of their homes, and the worst part is they were all innocent.
The first way Japanese were treated unfairly was they were treated poorly because of their skin tone. First off, they were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs; in some cases family members were separated and put into different camps. The part of this that is seens especially important is that they didn't even have the guaranteed chance of being in the same camp as the rest of their family! Next , Meet Mary Tsukamoto. She was a Japanese American educator, cultural historian, and Japanese civil rights activist. She wrote a book about her experience in the Internment camps called We the People “We saw all these people behind the fence, looking out, hanging onto the wire, and looking out because they were anxious to know who was coming in. But I will never forget the shocking feeling that human beings were behind this fence like animals crying. And we were going to also lose our freedom and walk inside of that gate and find ourselves…cooped up there…when the gates were shut, we knew that we had lost something that was very precious; that we were no longer free." said Tsukamoto in her book about her experience in the camps. You could say yes, this is true, but how else were they supposed to keep them in the camps, the president was just trying to keep America safe. Well there is an answer for that maybe arrest all the Japanese then interrogate all of them instead of keeping them in horrible camps for all those years. This is important because if this was offered to the President before he sign order 9066 it could’ve prevented countless pain and suffering. After that, Executive order 9066 ordered over 110,000 Japanese Americans to leave their homes in California, Washington, and Oregon immediately. All in all, this suggest that the government didn't give the Japanese any notice or warning that they were going to be evacuated. Finally, Japanese Americans felt more racial hatred than German Americans and Italian Americans. People were afraid, and they thought that the only way that America could be safe was to put the Japanese Americans in camps. That was because Germany and Italy didn't directly attack America but Japan actually bombed on of America's naval bases in the United States. This shows that Japanese were treated unfairly because they were put into camps but Germans and Italians weren´t.
The second way Japanese were treated unfairly because of their nationality was they had psychological trauma from being in the camps.

To start things off, the first way that the Japanese had psychological trauma is there was an increase in heart disease and Japanese committing suicide, the numbers got bigger as the generations go on. This shows Japanese had psychotic trauma because they had suicidal thoughts. Next, the second way that the Japanese had psychological trauma is that the trauma that many Japanese Americans experienced from the internment camps stayed with them even after they left. According to http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/index.html, “The mental and physical health impacts of the trauma of the internment experience continue to affect tens of thousands of Japanese Americans. Health studies have shown a 2 times greater incidence of heart disease and premature death among former internees, compared to non interned Japanese Americans.” This is important to notice because they had dreams and nightmares even after their stay at the internment camp. Lastly, the third way that the Japanese had psychological trauma is some of the Japanese were killed by the emotional stresses encountered. Several were killed by military guards ignoring their orders. In spite of the fact that Executive Order 9066 was just supposed to relocate the Japanese and not endanger them in any sort. This is significant because they suffered unfair abuse because of their nationality.

All this evidence shows that they were treated unfairly because they were forced into harsh environments just because of their nationality.
The third way the Japanese were treated unfairly was they were sent to the internment camps with horrible conditions.

In the first place, the first way the Japanese were in bad conditions was some of the Japanese died in the camp due to poor medical care that was provided by the military. This adds up to suggest that the military didn't give proper living spaces for the Japanese to live in. In the same way, they had to wait in line for everything from the bathroom to getting their one meal a day. This shows Japanese were in bad conditions they didn't have private bathroom or privacy. Thirdly, they were sent in one of ten internment camps in some of the most desolate parts of the US. This means that the Japanese were stuck in some of the hardest places to live in the US. Fourth, the barracks that the were sent to had no running water and little heat The Japanese Internment camps were some of the most desolate parts of the United States. There was almost no privacy, and everyone had to use public bathrooms. This is important to notice because where the Japanese were they didn't even have any modern conveniences for the time. Fifth, they had to grow the food sometimes to eat. The US didn't send food to the camps for the first year so then the Japanese could learn how to grow their own crops. This is important because it shows that the US didn’t care if the Japanese lived or not. Also, this is significant because the US didn't even provide the food for the Japanese. Finally,

the last way the Japanese were sent to bad conditions is according to http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/history/index.html “President Roosevelt himself called the 10 facilities concentration camps.” This is important because the President who signed Executive Order 9066 that put the Japanese in the Internment camps thought they were like the Nazi’s concentration camps. All this evidence suggests that the Japanese got what the didn't deserve.
In conclusion, the Japanese Internment camps are discussed a lot because some people believe that Executive Order 9066 was meant to keep America safe because they think that the Executive Order 9066 shows how quickly America can react to something like the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Yes a TON of people were scared and everyone thought that the Japanese spying on the US. This argument is wrong because the government had no evidence that any of the Japanese did any spying. Also Congress and the President were extremely pressured by people in the West. We should pay attention to the history and this evidence because America won’t want to repeat history and single out a race like they did for the Japanese, because the Japanese are human beings just like the rest of and they have feelings just like the rest of us and they probably didn’t appreciate being locked up in those horrible conditions. Also, the Japanese were treated unfairly by being put into internment camps because the Japanese had psychological trauma from being in the camp, they were treated poorly because of their skin tone, and the Japanese had to live in a place that was way worse than where they lived before they were relocated into the internment camps. Do you think that the Congress members and the president that locked up the Japanese had any doubts locking up the Japanese in the Internment camps?