Question 1
The targeting of the Japanese Americans began immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack which occurred on December 1941 (Conrat & Conrat 45). The main reason they were targeted was because of the suspicion that they some were sympathizers of the Japanese government and army that had just bombed the Pearl Harbor. The Japanese people had, in fact, been treated with suspicion for a long time, and the Pearl Harbor attacks only helped to aggravate the suspicion and this time unfortunately, they were subjected to unimaginable oppression. Since they first immigrated into the United States, the Japanese had managed to create fairly successfully lives for themselves. Many had settled along the West Coast and in Hawaii and while there, they had engaged themselves in various economic activities that included farming, fishing and the running of small businesses. Since there was a lot of ethnic tension at this time, many Japanese preferred to organize themselves into small ethnic enclaves and in these enclaves, they built social amenities such as schools, churches, hospitals, market centers and so on. The fact that the Japans were secluded and were at the same time successful helped to heighten the envy and suspicion that other community members had against them. This was at the same time accompanied by an increasing distrust of the Japanese over cultural and racial separateness. When the Pearl Harbor was attacked, many saw it as a justification for their envy, distrust, suspicion and envy towards Japanese Americans (Ng 34). The government seemed to agree with this and using the excuse that only specific aliens were to be restricted and investigated; Japanese Americans were oppressed on a national scale. Faulty reasons that had no ground and that suggested that many Japanese were sympathizers, and indeed spies of the Japanese government were used to target the Japanese and this resulted in the internment of thousands. In simple terms, the reasons given for targeting the Japanese were based on irrational perceptions and not on facts.
Question 2
The constitution of the United States guarantees liberty to all its citizens. Every citizen has the right to be subjected to the due process of law if they are accused of a certain crime or if they are suspected to have committed a particular crime. The Japanese were removed from their homes and incarcerated because the government suspected them of being spies. Many of the Japanese who were taken to internment camps were indeed American citizens. Many were plucked from their homes against their wishes and were then forcefully taken to internment camps. No due process of law was followed (Ng 34). They were simply held without being prosecuted or being exposed to any criminal legal process (Daniels 58). The constitution of the United States makes it clear any person arrested should be subjected to a fast and speedy trial. In addition, one should be informed of the crimes and the charges advanced against then and should also be informed of any witnesses against them (Daniels 62). All these were constitutional rights that were denied to the Japanese Americans when they held without being charged of any crime and without being give n proper reason for their incarceration. These constitutional issues were later addressed through reparations that were given to the survivors of the massive incarceration (Tang 979). However, this resolution was not fair. This is because the damage had already been done. Many Japanese died while being incarcerated in the internment camps and many others lost their loved ones. Reparations were, therefore, not enough
Question 3
After the targeting of the Japanese Americans by the United States government which saw many of them plucked from their homes and taken to internment camps, only a few were left. Many Japanese however wanted to show the government that they were not what they were being construed to be. Some of them even tried to enroll in the army and the navy to show their commitment to the country and to prove that they were full Americans. The government was however very reluctant to admit such individuals and in fact, many were denied entry to the army or the navy ((Malkin 81). Many had not way of proving that they were committed to the United States course and were not spies or sympathizers of the Japanese government like the government was accusing them of being (Malkin 72). Others started public advocacy groups calling for immediate release of those who had been incinerated. However, most of their actions were unsuccessful, and many remained in internment camps. The Japanese community survived this crisis by sticking together, Even in the internment camps where many were piled up like sheep, they never gave up hope and remained calm and together. They did not try to revolt in the camps as they knew that this would only make things worse. They simply remained calm and together hoping that in the end, the government would be able to see the truth and realize that it was violating the rights of its own citizens.
Question 4
The US government should not have acted the way it acted against the Japanese. The way it acted against Japanese was in bad taste and was an infringement of their constitutional rights. No government has the right to take a section of the population and put it under restriction and even deny it basic human rights. Even at that time, the United States was still a model country that was looked up by other countries in the world. The targeting of the Japanese Americans was not only a violation of their constitutional rights but was also a violation of their human rights. The kind of message that United States was sending was that it was okay to violate the human rights of a section of the population at a particular time. There were many other alternative actions that the United States government should have taken. Even if it suspected the existence of illegal aliens and spies among the Japanese American populace, the government had enough power and resources to conduct independent investigations and identify the parties who were involved in the espionage activities. The government should not have alienated an entire community simply because it suspected the existence of spies among this population. One recommendable action, for example, would have been the screening of all the Japanese citizens currently living in the nation. Background checks could have been conducted on each and every one and then if an anomaly was detected for a particular individual, then that individuals should have been subjected to extra screening. All suspicious individuals should have then been gathered together and it would have been possible to get the truth from them and establish indeed whether there was the existence of any element of espionage that could have facilitated the bombing of the Pearl Harbor .
Works Cited
Conrat, M., & Conrat, R. Executive Order 9066: The Internment of 110,000 Japanese Americans.1972
Tang, B. L. Japanese Internment and Reparations: Creating a Judicial or Statutory Cause of Action against the Federal Government for Constitutional Violations, The. Loy. LAL REv., 21, 979. 1987.
Ng, W. L. Japanese American internment during World War II: A history and reference guide. Greenwood Publishing Group.2002.
Daniels, R. Prisoners Without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II. Macmillan. 2004.
Malkin, M. In defense of internment: The case for'racial profiling'in world war II and the war on terror. Regnery Publishing. 2004.
