Was Japanese Internment Justified Essay

During World War II more than 127,000 Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned at internment camps in the United States. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestry and they were suspected of being loyal to their homeland of Japan. This was done because earlier, the Japanese government bombed the United States(U.S.) Naval base at Pearl Harbor to attempt a sucker punch on the US before their fight which turned into World War 2. Though, many argue if the decision of the internment was justified or not it is clear that this was not justified. The decision was not justified because it was made out of fear, anger and war hysteria, also the Italian-Americans and the German-Americans were not treated the same way as the Japanese-Americans

because they looked like any other Americans even though they were fighting against them too, and most of the people in the camp were 3rd generation Japanese which means they were US citizens and have proved their loyalty also they were taken with no evidence. The decision on the internment of the Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor was not justified because it was made out of fear, anger, and war hysteria when really the Japanese were not threat the country.
The Japanese-Americans who lived mostly on the west coast were very poor and lived in their own neighborhoods away from all of the white people. So, these Americans already had something against them and just saw their opportunity to get rid of them when this happened. But, these poor farmers or fisherman would not have the access to all of the big machinery needed to sabotage the base.
In 1941 President Roosevelt asked the state department to investigate the loyalty and capability of the Japanese which would help shape his decision whether to intern them or not.

Special representative Curtis B. Munson wrote a report talking about how the Japanese were nowhere near capable or unloyal enough to pull off sabotage. “The Japanese here is almost exclusively a farmer, a fisherman or a small businessman. He has no entree to plants or intricate machinery” (Document D). Rep. Munson is saying that the Japanese-Americans are strictly fishermen or farmers so they would not have the money or access to weapons. So, the Japanese-Americans were not capable of harming any military personnel because of their lack of access to

weapons.
The decision on the internment of the Japanese-Americans was not justified because we were fighting Japan, Italy, and Germany but nobody of Italian or German ancestry were put into the camps because they were white, so this was discrimination.

The Italian-Americans and German-Americans do not have a distinctive look so these people were not easily recognized as a threat as the Japanese-Americans so they could not be easily corralled into camps. After the internment, a man named Harry Paxton Howard wrote for his black periodical and focused on promoting civil rights talks about how the threat could just as easily come from Germans or Italians. “Germans and Italians are “white.” Color seems to be the only possible reason why thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry are in concentration camps. Anyway,there are no Italian-American, or German-American citizens in such camps” (Document E). Mr. Howard is saying just because the Italian-Americans and German-Americans look like Americans and Japanese-Americans look different they are being mistreated. If the Japanese-Americans were interned the German and Italian-Americans should have been treated the same if this really wasn’t about

race.
The internment of Japanese-Americans was not justified because the American citizens who just happened to be of Japanese ancestry and proved to be loyal to their country were also interned. Just because these people were within 3rd generation Japanese ancestry they still were forced to be interned. Even, if they had full citizenship, lived in the country for years, or even if they served in the military they still had to be isolated no matter how loyal they seemed to be. Also, without any evidence or suspicion on them. After the internment the U.S. established the Commision on Wartime Relocation which was to overlook the internment and make sure it would continue to be run smoothly. But they came out with a report talking about how their personal Constitutional rights were taken away. “A grave injustice was done to American citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry who, without individual review or any…evidence against them, were excluded, removed and detained by the United States during World War II” (Document F). The commission is showing how the Japanese-Americans were detained against their will with no evidence whatsoever against them no matter how loyal they may be.
So, these people were taken away from their homes, most loyal American citizens and detained with no evidence.
In conclusion, the decision to intern the Japanese-Americans was not justified because, the government made a biased decision based on fear anger and war hysteria, the German and Italian-Americans were not treated the same because of color, and innocent people no matter how loyal were taken with lack of evidence. So, the government made a wrong, unjustified decision to intern innocent people based on their looks.