The Relocation Camps Abolition Advocated Summary

The attack on December 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor by Japan gave Americans a whole new perception on those living in the United States with Japanese ancestry. The attack would have Americans become skeptical about these human beings. The Los Angeles Times factual article “The Relocation Camps’ Abolition Advocated” dated May 8, 1943 describes the loyalty of Japanese-Americans in the internment camps. The article explains how there are some internees who declare their loyalty to America. Meanwhile in William Strand’s Chicago Daily Tribune editorial “Dies to Probe Jap and Negro Racial Unrest” dated June 24, 1943 reveals in depth the disloyalty and threatening acts of not only Japanese, but Japanese- Americans. Japanese around the nation after the
attack was questioned and doubted of their stand on loyalty by most Americans.
In the factual article published by the Los Angeles Times the Senate Military Committee, in Washington, approves recommendations of abolishing some relocation centers. That way, they could segregate the loyal from the disloyal Japanese getting rid of the so called “trouble breeders.” Out “of 19,963 male Japanese citizens of draft age… 6 percent or 1181” proved their loyalty to America by stating that they would indeed “volunteer if permitted for service in the United States armed forces” Congress men from the west coast stated segregating the two was “impossible” lies could be made in hopes of saving themselves(Japanese). All Japanese were viewed as enemies and were not to be trusted.
William Strand’s editorial is an article with the intention of convincing Americans that Japanese are disloyal and a threat to the country.
He writes about how Representative Dies believes most disorders in the country are being caused by Japanese. Such as the “race riots in Detroit with … death toll of 29 lives” which was blamed on the Japanese. The tragedy of those 29 Dies affirms were by “racial and subversive propaganda.” He describes how these threatening acts affect the way society views Japanese. Dies declares there is evidence of subversive activities by the Japanese. His committee believed that the Japanese are enemies and dangerous aliens to American
society.
In both article’s hatred toward Japanese aliens and Americans of Japanese ancestry seems to be kindled immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The main question the U.S had for the Japanese was whether they were loyal or not. Most were perceived as potential spies and were not to be trusted for any given reason. The racial profiling against them was massive, both the West coast and East coast hated and viewed them as threats to the society. Americans feared traitorous acts by Japanese aliens and Japanese Americans. That fear caused Japanese to the denial of basic civil liberties. That denial by Americans ignited the constitutional issue of the 14th amendment to be questioned. Both the West and most of East coast denied liberties to these Japanese Americans the 14th amendment clearly stated all born or naturalized people in the United States should have citizenship rights.
While both coasts supposed, all Japanese were disloyal, some of the East coast accredited there were loyal Japanese.
The assumptions of these devoted Japanese created the idea of segregating the good from bad. Some even proved their loyalty by volunteering to join the armed forces. Americans in the west objected to the idea and stated there was no such thing as loyal Japanese. West Coast Chairman, Costello, said, “separating loyal from disloyal Japanese through an F.B.I screening process was wrong.” A Representative, Jackson, from Washington commented to the media, he would like to see Japanese removed from the U.S.
army.
Most Americans perspective of Japanese after the attack on Pearl Harbor was an extremely negative perspective. Both the Los Angeles and Chicago articles talk negatively against the Japanese. In the Los Angeles article, the East and West coast had different opinions on the Japanese’s loyalty. The Chicago article the East coast pretty much viewed them as enemies with no value. In the mid nineteen hundreds most Americans portrayed Japanese as a liability to society. Now in the twenty-first century Japanese have been accepted by society and are treated equal.