The Internment of Japanese Americans During World War II

During World War II, there was a policy that was introduced by the United States government known as Japanese internment, but it was highly criticized. The policy targeted Japanese Americans who lived on the Pacific Coast following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan on December 7, 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 and authorized the forced relocation of over 120,000 Japanese Americans in 1942. These individuals were placed in camps in remote areas of the USA. The government justified the internment on grounds of national security as they were afraid that the Japanese Americans would commit espionage, though there was no credible evidence to support it.

The conditions at the camps were poor since they were often overcrowded.The families were forced to lose their homes and lived in shabby barracks,they also lost their businesses and possesions despite all this they demonstrated loyalty and resilience to the USA. In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the internment, but years later, there were efforts to reevaluate and redress the injustice(MarshallV, 2022).The internment remains a dark chapter in the history of America, and it reminds people of the dangers of fear ,prejudice, and civil liberties erosion if the crisis is not handled well(Khan Academy, 2023).The internment contributed to a history of discrimination against Japanese Americans long after the war.

In 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed the Japanese American Evacuation Claims Act, which ensured compensation to the internees. It also ensured that the Japanese Americans got the property that was confiscated back(MarshallV, 2022).Decades after the war, efforts to raise awareness of the injustice of the internment and reconcile the Japanese Americans and the rest of the Americans were made. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, which formally apologized for the internment and provided reparations to surviving Japanese American internees(Khan Academy, 2023).

All the videos acknowledge the fact that the tensions were high after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Americans lived in fear of being treated like traitors, whereas the government and the rest of the Americans felt like the Japanese Americans were causing espionage. The Japanese Americans were loyal to the U.S. since they even helped with the war effort, but the government was not at ease since the people lived near critical areas such as the Naval base. The people were moved to temporary camps and then later moved by the army to concentration camps, which the government officially called the relocation centers.People were forced to leave their businesses, farms, and homes, and although the government tried to paint a picture depicting that the people were to lease their shops and assign tenants to their farms, the other videos do not support it. The government video tries to show that life was quite everyday in the camps, which is the opposite of the lifestyle explained in the other videos,which shows that the conditions were poor. The Japanese American detainees were transferred to long-term camps with the area surrounding being unused desert, and they had to find a way to survive, which the government painted as an easy task.

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The government video and the third video on the people’s experience seem closer to the truth of what happened.The government video explains in detail what happened chronologically from the time of the bombing to when the people were relocated to concentration camps.This video also explains which exact areas the Japanese Americans were relocated from and the exact reason as to which they were moved, which is historically correct according to other sources(MarshallV, 2022). The third video explains how the temporary residences were pig and cow stalls, which makes sense since every other source explains the poor conditions. It also shows how the government tried to paint a nice picture of the kind of life people were leading in the camps(U.S History, 2020).The videos also explain how the camps denied the Japanese Americans freedom since the camps were always guarded and how two-thirds of those incarcerated were citizens. They did not under trials to prove their innocence, hence supporting the claims that their civil rights were violated.

In conclusion, the internment of Japanese Americans was a violation of their civil rights, and it impacted them . The internment was xenophobic and racist and contributed to them being discriminated against and living in prejudice. The government should have tried to better their living conditions rather than trying to paint a picture of perfection, whereas they lived in poor conditions. However, it