Effects Of Japanese Canadian

The internment of Japanese-Canadians was not only cruel but also immoral in a multitude of ways. In the Second World War, Japanese-Canadians were seen as enemies despite being mostly naturalized or born in Canada (Suigman 52). The internment served to protect Canadian citizens in the West Coast, however, it achieved nothing. The internment of Japanese-Canadians was unjust and teaches modern people the horrors of racial prejudice through the cruel conditions in the camps, the dispossession of property and the lasting effects of these events on the lives of future generations. The horrible conditions in the camps and detention facilities illustrate the realities that the Japanese-Canadians had to live through. Japanese-Canadians were regarded
The main drive in Ian Mackenzie’s, a person responsible for most of the dispossession that the Japanese-Canadians faced, war on Japanese people was preventing them from returning home (Sunahara 89). He and his supporters did not want “traitors” to live near them. His main concern in the internment of Japanese-Canadians was not their safety and security, rather it was the loss of labour in many Japanese-dominated industries. Ian Mackenzie wanted to sell Japanese-Canadian farms to help deal with the loss of production and provide homes for returning veterans (Sunahara 89). As a result of racial prejudice, Mackenzie lacks any feeling of humanity towards Japanese-Canadians. Their businesses closed, newspapers were shut down, boats sold, land repossessed, and language schools abandoned (Suigman 52). The federal government concerned itself with paying for the upkeep of the camps and Hastings Park, however, the dispossession of Japanese-Canadian property resulted in less money for those living in the prison-like accommodations (Sunahara 96). Many people in the camps needed money from rental income, however, that was simply taken away from them. If they had any capital in Custodian of Enemy Property, they could not find employment. Many families could only take one hundred dollars a month for support (Sunahara 96). The dispossession of
After the war, many Japanese-Canadians refrained from passing on their culture and language (Suigman 55). In the postwar era, they were told to leave Western Canada or go back to Japan (Marsh). People of Japanese descent chose to live far away from one another in fear of more hostility (Suigman 55). Even after the war, the federal government, because of their racial preconceptions of Japanese-Canadians, called for them to disperse and perform labouring jobs to “ensure assimilation” (Suigmann 57). The elderly, who built up their lives from nothing, had no energy to recoup everything they have lost. Many Japanese-Canadians were scarred from their status as inferior, a result of racial prejudice. Many younger Japanese-Canadians lost a large portion of their lives and could not attend school. The horrors that the Japanese-Canadians faced made them silent for decades. They feared everyone around them and only made a movement for justice the 1980s. Their culture was not passed on to the next generation. Their lives have been scarred by simply being of a different race. The injustice that they faced was so great that their recompensation amounted to $238 million (Burns). This serves as a reminder to modern people that racial injustice is not only cruel but costly. This value was only given in 1988 as the government was