Summary: The Myth Of Military Necessity

The Myth of “Military Necessity” for Japanese-American Internment

Unfortunate for Japanese Americans, were the events of Pearl Harbor, an act that defined the fate of thousands of U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry. The “white man” once again felt a need to put blame on a group of people, belittling them and forcing them into seclusion. Despite efforts by Ranking Officers in Hawaii to inform the Government that there was no reason to believe that Japanese Americans were involved in any sabotage, President Roosevelt signed the order to direct the Secretary of War “to prescribe military areas” in which, “the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions
By the 1940’s there were thousands of Japanese located in Hawaii and California many of whom were citizens, born on U.S. soil. Unlike those in Hawaii, the Japanese of California were forced out of their homes and taken away from the coastline, bringing them deep into the mainland to cut off any potential contact with Japan. In Hawaii, the Japanese were seen as loyal, trustworthy and a huge part of the economy. But in California, they were few and seen as, “strangers from a different shore.”(Takaki, 1989, 392) Unfortunately, Navy Secretary Frank Knox accused the Japanese in Hawaii of sabotage, which ignited rumors across the mainland that the Japanese in Hawaii had committed treason. Thus, families were exiled from their homes and brought to internment
All the Japanese located near the coast were evacuated and brought to internment camps. Japanese born citizens were seen as potential threats regardless of that fact they were American and saw the United States as their home. How can America, a country founded on the basis of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness take these rights from its people? Simple, all it takes is for a country to attack or declare war on us, for the U.S. government to turn its back against it’s own people. Thousands of Japanese were brought to separate facilities, scattered throughout the Midwest. Families were assigned numbers and a single room to share. No one in this country could’ve prepared for such a demoralizing event in history. Imagine if this happened to you, the country which you swore your allegiance too or have called home since birth, stripped you of your rights and forced you out of your home, leaving everything behind, bringing only what you could carry in one bag. Combine that with the worse part being, your own country is suspicious that you may be a saboteur. This was the unfortunate truth for the Japanese in the U.S. for they were now “prisoners of war.” Throughout their internment, the internees remained strong. They felt that if they abided by the rules imposed on them that perhaps they could show the U.S. that they are loyal citizens. The Japanese of this generation during WWII hoped that by doing so, they could help secure