The Internment of Japanese Americans

The internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II was a dark time in American history. This episode in American history saw the wholesale internment of most Japanese-American citizens living on the West Coast. Women, children, the elderly; no one was exempt from being put into camps. Worse yet was the fact that there was no judicial process to determine the loyalty of the Japanese-Americans being put into camps. Here was the American government restricting naturalized and American born citizens for the simple reason of having Japanese ancestry.

Map of Japanese-American Internment Camps

It is curious that practically none of the people on Hawaii who had Japanese ancestry were interned. It is also interesting that Americans of German ancestry were not interned since America was at war with both Germany and Japan. This is probably due to the fact that it was easier to racially differentiate Japanese-Americans. Another reason why Japanese-Americans were probably targeted for internship was because of the long history of anti-Asian sentiment on the West Coast of America.

In Koremastu v. United States the Supreme Court sided with the Roosevelt administration in their internment of Japanese-American citizens, stating that the internment was a matter of national security. Although the Japanese-Americans who were interned were eventually freed in 1945 and 1946 there was tremendous damage they suffered because of the actions of the American government. Thousands of Japanese-Americans lost their businesses, homes, and possessions due to their lengthy internment. It is my belief that in times of war it is the American government’s duty to work even harder to protect civil liberties. The Roosevelt administration’s actions in the displacement of thousands of Japanese-American citizens was a horrific crime that infringed on some of the most sacred principles America was founded upon: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.