Japanese Internment

Forced relocation of thousands of Japanese Americans to detention camps during World War II. The internment of Japanese Americans has long been an issue of controversy, both for the racial inequality involved and the unprecedented disregard for civil liberties that it represented.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the U.S. War Department became concerned that Japanese Americans might act as saboteurs, despite a lack of evidence to support this view. As a result, some leaders recommended rounding up Japanese Americans, particularly those living along the West Coast, and placing them in detention centers inland.

At the time, approximately 125,000 Japanese Americans lived in the United States. Some were first-generation Japanese Americans, known as Issei, who had immigrated from Japan. About 80,000 of them, however, were second-generation individuals born in the United States who possessed U.S. citizenship, a group called Nisei. While many Issei retained their Japanese character and culture, the Nisei generally acted and thought of themselves as Americans.

The voices of those who defended Japanese Americans were drowned out by others who expressed fears or hatred of all Japanese. Within the government, a power struggle erupted between the U.S. Department of Justice, which opposed moving innocent civilians, and the War Department, which wanted to detain Japanese Americans. John McCloy, the assistant secretary of war, remarked that if it came to a choice between the safety of the country and the Constitution, the Constitution should be regarded as nothing more than a scrap of paper.

Relocation

In early February 1942, the War Department created 12 restricted zones along the Pacific coast and established nighttime curfews for Japanese Americans within them. Individuals who broke curfew could be arrested immediately. The nation's leaders still debated the question of relocation, but the issue was soon decided. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, which gave the military authority to exclude any persons from the designated areas. Although the word “Japanese” did not appear in the executive order, it was clear that only Japanese Americans were targeted. Very few German Americans or Italian Americans—who might also be considered enemy aliens—faced detention during the war.

On March 31, 1942, Japanese Americans along the West Coast were ordered to report to control stations and register the names of all family members. They were then told when and where they should report for relocation to an internment camp. Japanese Americans were given from four days to about two weeks to settle their affairs and gather as many belongings as they could carry. In many cases, individuals and families were forced to sell some or all of their property, including businesses, within that short period of time.

Some Caucasian Americans took advantage of the situation, offering unreasonably low sums to buy possessions from those who were being forced to move. Many homes and businesses worth thousands of dollars were sold for only a few hundred dollars. Nearly 2,000 Japanese Americans were told that their cars would be safely stored until they returned. However, the U.S. Army soon offered to buy the vehicles at cut-rate prices, and Japanese Americans who refused to sell were told that the vehicles were being requisitioned for the war.

...