Name____________________ Period_____
What does an American look like?
For that matter, what does an enemy look like? And what
can happen to those people who look like the enemy?
In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "The principle
on which this country was founded and by which it has
always been governed is that Americanism is a matter of
mind and heart; Americanism is not, and never was, a
matter of race or ancestry." [1]
A year earlier, however, Roosevelt had authorized
incarcerating more than 110,000 innocent people based on
their ancestry, in what he called "concentration camps." Although two-thirds were U.S. citizens,
they were targeted because of their ancestry and the way they looked. How could this happen?
In 1941 the United States entered World War II after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Without evidence, key U.S. leaders claimed that all people of Japanese ancestry on the West
Coast of the U.S. posed a risk to national security. Justifying it as a "military necessity," the
government forced U.S. citizens and their immigrant elders to leave their homes and live in
camps under armed guard.
In 1983, however, a U.S. congressional commission uncovered evidence from the 1940s proving
that there had been no military necessity for the unequal, unjust treatment of Japanese
Americans during WWII. The commission reported that the causes of the incarceration were
rooted in " ... race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership."[2]
The U.S. was also at war with Italy and Germany
during WWII, so why were only people of Japanese
ancestry incarcerated as a group?
The decision to incarcerate all individuals of Japanese
ancestry living on the West Coast in 1942 was
influenced by decades of anti-Asian attitudes-ingrained in U.S. institutions, laws and the majority
population. During a time when discrimination was
accepted by many as part of American culture, special-interest groups formed to stir antiJapanese feelings and actions. Racial discrimination was legal and established in policies and
laws at the city, state and federal level. Media perpetuated negative myths and stereotypes of
Japanese people as less than human. There were Italian and German nationals who were
placed in internment camps such as Crystal City, Texas, but unlike Japanese Americans, U.S.
citizens of Italian and German ancestry were not incarcerated during World War II.
In what ways did our laws institutionalize racial prejudice against Japanese Americans?
Until 1952, U.S. laws denied Japanese immigrants the right to become naturalized citizens.
(Naturalization Act of 1790; Ozawa v. United States.) Forced to remain non-citizens, Japanese
immigrants could not vote and had no voice or representation in U.S. democracy.
States passed Alien Land Laws to prevent non-citizens from owning agricultural land and to
restrict their ability to lease land. These laws were aimed directly at the Japanese: They were
the only immigrants both ineligible for citizenship and largely dependent on farming for a living.
Covenants against renting or selling homes to 'Orientals' were written into real estate
contracts, anti-miscegenation laws barred marriage to Caucasians, and many children of
Japanese ancestry attended segregated schools, even though most of them were U.S. citizens
who had been born in the United States.
As with African Americans and other people of color, the Japanese Americans were refused
admittance to restaurants, theaters and other establishments. As Japanese American children
grew up, many faced discrimination. Even with high grades, a college or professional degree,
they were often denied access to certain professions, unions and apprenticeship systems due to
the discrimination that was legally permitted at the time.
Wartime Hysteria
Virtually no one publicly questioned the rightness of the decision
to incarcerate thousands of innocent families in the United
States during World War II. Why did so few people speak out to
defend our basic principles of "liberty and justice for all?"
Many Americans reacted with fear and anger when the Japanese
military attacked the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941. False reports of spying and sabotage by Japanese Americans
and immigrants in Hawaii and on the West Coast combined with
racial prejudice to inflame feelings of hate against all people of
Japanese ancestry. Japan's military victories in Asia and reports in
the news media intensified the crisis of war.
"The Japanese in California should be under armed guard to the last man and woman right now
and to hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over," wrote journalist Westbrook Pegler.[1]
Key government leaders agreed with this view. They decided to imprison people without
evidence or trials, denying their constitutional rights because of their ancestry. This policy was
carried out on the West Coast of the United States, but not in Hawaii.
1. Personal Justice Denied, page 80 and citation in the notes: Westbrook Pegler, 'Fifth Column
problem on the Pacific Coast very serious-Japs should be under guard,' Feb 16, 1942.
What happens when fear-based thinking enters the decision-making process?
In the attack on Pearl Harbor, more than 3,500
Americans were killed or wounded. "It is
difficult forty years later to recreate the fear
and uncertainty about the country's safety
which was generally felt after Pearl Harbor; it
is equally impossible to convey in a few pages the virulence and breadth of anti-Japanese
feeling which erupted on the West Coast in January and February of 1942," stated the report of
the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC).[2] This antiJapanese feeling, anger and fear overwhelmed reasonable thinking.
Many public officials made statements and called for actions that were not based on hard
evidence, and which contradicted democratic principles. For example, then California Attorney
General Earl Warren falsely claimed that Japanese Americans had "infiltrated themselves into
every strategic spot in our coastal and valley counties" for spying and sabotage, and therefore
they should all be removed from the West Coast. Warren had no real evidence, but offered as
"proof" lists such as the following:
Alameda County Japs adjacent to new Livermore Military Airport
Japs adjacent to Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Railroads
Japs in vicinity of Oakland Airport
Japs in vicinity to Hold Caterpillar Tractor Co., San Leandro[3]
A simple list of locations where some Japanese Americans lived and worked was not proof they
were spies, but in the atmosphere of crisis and anger, many U.S. leaders and citizens felt
Japanese Americans were guilty. In reality, the FBI, U.S. Naval Intelligence and other
government sources reported no incidents of sabotage by Japanese Americans. Despite these
reports, irrational arguments were made. "The very fact that no sabotage has taken place to
date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken," according to
General DeWitt.[4]
Failure of Leadership
Certain principles and freedoms are guaranteed by our
Constitution. Yet, without enforcement, the Constitution is just a
piece of paper. Where does one turn if national leaders fail to
uphold these fundamental rights?
President Roosevelt ignored reports from Naval Intelligence, the
FBI and other official sources that there was no need for either
mass removal or incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry.
According to then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, " ... the decision to
evacuate was ... based primarily on public and political pressures
rather than factual data."[1] Perhaps Roosevelt was influenced by
anti-Japanese sentiments or misled by key advisors. Perhaps it was
because there was no strong opposition to the incarceration on the West Coast. In any case,
President Roosevelt encountered little resistance when he chose to violate the civil rights of a
small, easily identifiable and politically powerless minority group rather than go against the
rising tide of hostility. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Roosevelt's decision. In sharp contrast to
the mainland, the military leadership in Hawaii discouraged public hysteria and there was no
mass incarceration on the islands.
Economic Motives
How did economics play a role in the decision to incarcerate
thousands of innocent men, women and children?
"We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish
reasons and we might as well be honest. We do. It's a
question of whether the white man lives on the Pacific Coast
or the brown men," wrote Frank J. Taylor in the Saturday
Evening Post.[1]
Greed is a powerful motivator. The potential for economic gain was a major factor leading to
the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry.
Groups that had competed with Japanese immigrant farmers and laborers for more than half a
century lobbied for the incarceration. As with other minorities before them, people from Japan
found that the United States' principles of equality were not applied to all, and rewards for hard
work in the "land of opportunity" were often denied. Their hard work was often resented and
successes on the West Coast were envied. In Hawaii, though, more than one-third of the
population was of Japanese ancestry. They formed a major part of the labor force. Hawaii was
the site of Japan's military attack on Pearl Harbor, and thus one might have expected an outcry
there for the mass removal of people of Japanese ancestry. Different economic motivations
were a factor in the prevention of such action.
What were the causes of Japanese Incarceration in the Internment Camps?
History of Racism – how was it a cause?
Wartime Fears and Hysteria - how was it a cause?
Failure of Leadership - how was it a cause?
Economics - how was it a cause?