The Unites States of America has one of the most multicultural societies in the world. The nation is home to people from all races. In recent decades, the nation has become very democratic and racially tolerant. However, this has not always been the case. The United States has historically had a tendency of suppressing racially unique groups through racially motivated policies. The first example of this was the loss of liberty and land of the Native Americans to white settlers. The other action that comes to mind is the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation between blacks and whites. There is also the Chinese Exclusion Act that intentionally barred members of the Asian community from entering into the United States. However, one of the greatest exemplification of racial bias in modern times is the internment of the Japanese during the Second World War. Various justifications have been given in regard to this historical injustice, but all the available evidence seems to suggest the action was not in any way justified and hugely tainted the image of the nation and it would years for the nation to rebuild it.
The internment of the Japanese in America was set in motion after the Pearl Harbor attack on December, 1941 (The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II, n.d). The Japanese had immigrated into America in large numbers through the latter half of the 19th Century and the early 20th century. Most of them had settled in Hawaii and along the western where they endeavored in various economic activities including farming, fishing as well as the operation of small business. There was a lot of ethnic tensions and consequently most Japanese people preferred to organize themselves into ethnic enclaves where they built schools, worship center and cultural and economic institutions. The bombing of the Pearl Harbor sent the United States into a state of desperation and hysteria. The Japanese were economically prospering, and there was a lot of envy from the rest of the Americans. This was coupled with an increasing distrust over racial and cultural separateness as well as anti-Asian racism and when the Pearl Harbor was attacked, many viewed as a justification for the long-standing racial hatred and suspicion exhibited towards the Japanese. (The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II). By the next dawn, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declared it was holding a couple of Japanese aliens who it considered to be dangerous to the security and peace of the country. Although the bureau maintained that only a select groups of aliens was to be detained and investigated, this was however proved not be the case as the coming days saw the detainment of massive number of Japanese aliens along the west coast. The Japanese together with the Italians and the Germans were locked out of areas along the West Coast that were deemed crucial to the defense of the nation. There was growing sense of patriotism across the nation and there were calls by various authoritative figures and even citizens for the total restriction of aliens from nations that were against the United States in the newly declared World War II. According to Fox (1988, p.407), “From January to May 1942, various local, state, and federal officials demanded that all enemy aliens and their families be interned for the duration of the war”. One of the greatest advocate for this interment was an American Lieutenant General named John L. Dewitt (Fox, 1988, p. 408). Dewitt was the commander general of the Western Defense Command (Fox, 1988, p. 408). Dewitt was known for his massive push for Italians and Germans to be interned together with the Japanese. According to Fox (1988, p. 408), Dewitt held a very peculiar logic; that aliens were simple faceless relatives of the enemy who had been removed from their home places and herded into secure areas in America. Dewitt was so committed to his push for internment that he publicly announced his willingness and readiness to the take charge of the internment program from the Justice department which was in charge of the program at this time. When the evacuations started, it was in fact Dewitt who gave the order that excluded people of Japanese ancestry from some designated areas along the American west coast ((Fox, 1988, p.425). Throughout the internment duration, Dewitt continued to be actively involved but perhaps his most distinctive characteristic that distinguished him from other advocates of the internment was his feeling and constant advocacy that the Germans and the Italians be evacuated together with the Japanese.
The evacuation of the Japanese and their consequent internment officially commenced after the declaration of the Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 19, 1942 (Executive Order 9066 Japanese Relocation Order, 1942). This order gave authority to the military to evacuate all individuals who were considered a threat to the security and peace of the nation from the Western Coast and move them into inland relocation centers (Executive Order 9066 Japanese Relocation Order). The order was officially implemented on March 21, 1941 by the Congress and in following six months, more than 122, 000 individuals were evacuated from their areas of residence alien the West coast and were moved into assembly centers. These people were then taken to internment camps where they were fenced, guarded and isolated from the rest of the society.
The intentional racially motivated action exposed the ugly sides of the US administration. The nation was ridiculed for its action given that it had for long declared itself to be one of the most democratic nations in the world. Ina addition, the nation was at war with Hitler, who was notorious for his racially motivated attack in minority communities and many suggested that by taking such a drastic action, the United States was no different than Hitler and the general American attitude towards the Japanese some of who were legal American citizens was likened to the Nazi attitude towards the Jews (Shaffer, 1999).
There was however a lot of opposition to the internment of the Japanese especially from leftist liberals in the nation (Shaffer, 1999). Most of them were from Protestant denominations who had previously interacted and worked with Japanese community along the West Coast. There was also a lot of opposition to the forceful evacuation of the Japanese community by missionaries, socialist and pacifists.
There was also a lot of opposition to the move by college students. For example, the University of Washington students were very vocal in their renunciation of the discrimination and injustice exhibited by the American administration towards the Japanese (Shaffer, 1999). There was also other individual citizens who exhibited their displeasure and opposition to this move, and these included Robert Obrien, a sociology professor, Floyd Schmoe amongst many others (Shaffer, 1999). Unfortunately, the opposition and activism did not do much as the national government went ahead with its plan and evacuated hundreds and thousands of Japanese Americans.
Conclusion
The internship of the Japanese during the Second World War was one of the darkest moments in recent American history. The nation rashly, unjustly and arrogantly acted on one of the communities making up its largely multicultural society. However, this action was a catalyst for the intensified advocacy for equal human rights. It led to the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act, for instance, which removed racial and ethnic bars to immigration and consequent naturalization (The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II, n.d). While it meant that new immigrants could become naturalized, it also meant that those aliens of Japanese descent who had been living in the nation for many years and who had been residents of the internment camps could also become naturalized citizens (The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II, n.d). Currently, the United States is one of the most culturally and racially tolerant nation in the world, and all citizens regardless of race have equal rights. However, the events following the World War II will never be forgotten.
References
Executive Order 9066 Japanese Relocation Order. (i.e.). Japanese Relocation, 1942. Retrieved October 4, 2014, from http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/fdrrelocation1942.html
The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II: 1941. (n.d.). The War Relocation Authority and The Incarceration of Japanese-Americans During World War II: 1941. Retrieved October 4, 2014, from http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/japanese_internment/1941.htm
Shaffer, R. (1999). Opposition To Internment: Defending Japanese American Rights During World War II. The Historian,61(3), 597-620.
Fox, S. C. (1988). General John DeWitt and the Proposed Internment of German and Italian Aliens during World War II. Pacific Historical Review, 57(4), 407-438.
Yancey, D. (2001). The internment of the Japanese. San Diego, Calif.: Lucent Books.
