Analysis: Japanese American Internment

Japanese-American Internment Analysis When Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942,1 thousands of Japanese-American families were relocated to internment camps in an attempt to suppress supposed espionage and sabotage attempts on the part of the Japanese government. Not only was this relocation based on false premises and shaky evidence, but it also violated the rights of Japanese-Americans through processes of institutional racism that were imposed following the events of Pearl Harbor. Targeting mostly Issei and Nisei citizens, first and second generation Japanese-Americans respectively,2 the policy of internment disrupted the lives of families, resulting in a loss of personal property, emotional distress, and a personal attack on an entire race of people based solely on their ancestry. In this essay I will attempt to explore the experiences of Japanese-Americans during the internment period and the ways in which these experiences negatively affected their lives. Using the book Prisoners Without Trial and primary sources from relocation camps and assembly centers, I will analyze the physical, emotional, and social effects of the unconstitutional imprisonment, and how these effects shaped and reflected the lives and actions of those within the camps. Japanese-American internment violated basic human rights through racial discrimination, and in the process, subjected citizens to poor living and food conditions, emotional hardship, and financial loss, resulting in a lower standard of living and social imbalance affecting the entire race for the duration of WWII and years to come. While many of negative aspects associated with internment occurred during and after relocation, it is important to note the harm of the policy on Japanese-Americans before the population was even moved. After Executive Order 9066 was signed, Japanese-Americans were often used as scapegoats for Pearl Harbor, and encountered increased racism and hostility from

Bibliography: 1. Chester, Robert. “Resentment, Rage, and Hysteria: Japanese Internment & Racial Conflict during WWII.” 2 April 2014. Lecture. 2. Daniels, Roger and Eric Foner. Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. Print. 3. Ishimaru, T.G. Letter from T.G. IshiMaru to Lois Crozier. Santa Anita. Japanese American Relocation Collection, Occidental College Library. 4. Ishigo, Estelle. Lone Heart Mountain. Los Angeles: 1972. Library of Special Collections, UCLA. Print. 5. Vignette: A Pictorial Record. Fresno Assembly Center. 1942. Guy & Marguerite Cook Nisei Collection, University of the Pacific. 6. Iwata, Jack. Camp Sign. 1942. Japanese American National Museum. Photograph. 7. Wilbur, Gene. Letter from Gene Wilbur to Dill Nance. Santa Anita. August 14, 1942. Japanese American National Museum.