The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941. This tragedy resulted in the United States declaring war on Japan, Germany and Italy. But an even more saddening thing happened in those days to Japanese-Americans who in the shake of a hand lost trust of their American fellow countrymen. The relocation of the former into internment camps located in other states, away from their homes at the West Coast, is now the question for ethical debates.
Can this internment be morally justified? The question is controversial. On one hand, from the point of view of the government of the attacked country it is justified. It can be seen as an act of isolation of potentially dangerous citizens, possibly disloyal and capable of sabotage. It can be positioned as an attempt to protect the rest of American people. On the other hand, the majority of these American-Japanese was born in the United States, was loyal to the country and even entered the U.S. Army to fight against Germany. This internment is seen as the appalling breach of their civil rights by many (Burgan 58).
As for the reparations offered in 1988 to those who survived after the internment, this can be considered an attempt of the U.S. government to make amends for what it has done, a compensation of a kind. It should not be seen as a buy-back, rather as an apology, the least the government could do for those who have been treated so unjustly. Therefore this is quite fair regarding the American Japanese who have suffered significant loss in financial, social, and moral means. But regarding the nation in general, those Americans who have never participated in, influenced or supported internment, it is not moral. Such decision of the President Reagan’s administration is rather a compromise, an excuse for President Roosevelt administration’s decision.
This is an example of cultural relativism, when American citizens appear liable to Japanese Americans for the actions performed in the past by the formers’ ancestors. Similar discussion in the field of cultural relativism is connected with reparations which should allegedly be paid to African Americans by the State to make amends for slavery (Asante 4). While any financial support by the government is always a perk, paying reparations for the faults of the past which are funded with contemporary taxpayers is not an ethical solution of the historical issues. Introducing change and assuring new attitudes are universally accepted and translated into action is the best solution.
Works Cited
Asante, Molefi Kete. “The African American Warrant for Reparations: The Crime of European Enslavement of Africans and Its Consequences”. Ed. Raymond A. Winbush. Should America Pay? New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003. 3-14. Print.
Burgan, Michael. The Japanese American Internment. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2007. Print.
