What Are The Effects Of Discrimination On Japanese Americans

In the late 1800’s Japanese immigrants came to America in their search to be freed from strict government rule which inhibited their life in many ways. What they found instead was a life filled with discrimination and crushed hopes. They were locked up not for any crimes they had committed, but because of the fears felt by the American citizens based solely on their ethnicity. Many Japanese Americans faced horrible discrimination before, during, and after their imprisonment in internment camps.
With rumors of the United States being full of opportunity and freedom Japanese immigrants were drawn to the U.S. to see for themselves. The federal law at the time did not allow them to become citizens of the United States and also did not allow them
They had many resemblances with how the white Americans lived, but despite that they were not accepted as true Americans in white communities. Through “yellow journalism” fears were put into the minds of Americans, and encouraged the use of derogatory terms such as “Japs”. (Yancey 26) They experienced hatred from many Americans and were accused of spying on the U.S. and sending military secrets back to Japan despite the fact that there was never a proven case of sabotage. (Yancey 9) The Americans refused to believe that the Japanese Americans were loyal to the U.S. even though 75% of the Issei, Japanese immigrants, and 90% of the Nisei, first generation born in America, were, in fact, completely loyal. (Yancey
(“Japanese American Internment”) In reaction to the pressure president Roosevelt was under he signed Executive Order 9066 which allowed all people of Japanese ancestry to be relocated from the western U.S. that the military deemed a threat. (Yancey 9) Roosevelt believed that they were a “treacherous people.” (Dickerson 62,63) Military Areas 1 and 2 were established by General DeWitt in March to exclude certain people. Area 1 included the western halves of Washington, Oregon, and California and the southern half of Arizona and Area 2 was the rest of those states. (Yancey 31) The Japanese people began to panic at the suggestion of internment camps and the rate of suicides spiked. (Dickerson 76) Everything they owned had to be gotten rid of very quickly at a very cheap price. Many of the people were embarrassed by being evacuated, but no one put up a fight. It was mandatory on March 31, 1942, that they registered the names of everyone in their family at certain control stations. (“Japanese American Internment”) The day that had been feared finally arrived on April 30, 1942, when the relocation notices were officially posted. (“Civil Rights, Japanese Americans”) They had from four days to two weeks to report to the camps with items the government