Historical Background on Japanese American
Internment and Fred Korematsu
Public Domain
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December 7, 1941
Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor
Public Domain
Public Domain
 The first Japanese arrived in America in 1843, almost 100
years before Pearl Harbor.
 President Roosevelt describes the attack on Pearl Harbor
as “a day that will live in infamy.”
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Public Domain
Consequences of the
bombing of Pearl Harbor
 The United States enters World War II, fighting against Japan,
Germany and Italy.
 How would people of Japanese ancestry be treated in the United
States?
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Consequences of the
bombing of Pearl Harbor
 After the United States declared war on Japan, Japanese
people were portrayed as the “enemy” of the United States.
 American citizens of Japanese ancestry were treated with
suspicion. Propaganda depicted racist and xenophobic
stereotypes about Japanese Americans.
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All images Public Domain
United States Constitution
 The United States
Constitution was
created to protect
citizens from unfair
treatment.
 The 4th Amendment:
“The right of the
people to be secure in
their persons, houses,
papers, and effects,
against unreasonable
searches and seizures,
shall not be violated.”
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United States Constitution
• The 14th Amendment: “All
persons born or naturalized in
the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the
State wherein they reside. No
State shall make or enforce
any law which shall abridge the
privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States;
nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process
of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.”
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Executive Order 9066
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Public Domain
 In 1942, President Roosevelt
authorized the deportation
and incarceration of
Americans of Japanese
ancestry.
 This affected about 120,000
people, most of whom were
American citizens:
 Issei: Japanese
immigrants to the United
States (not allowed to
become naturalized
citizens).
 Nisei: JapaneseAmericans, born in United
States.
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Japanese American Internment
Public Domain
The U.S. government ordered 120,000 people of Japanese origin to
report to ten internment camps across the country.
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All images Public Domain
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Japanese American Internment
 First, people were sent to temporary detention centers. Often horse
stalls were converted into temporary shelters.
 Japanese Americans were given 48 hours to sell their personal
belongings, homes, businesses and property.
 There is no evidence of any crime against the United States
committed by a person of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Public Domain
Public Domain
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Japanese American Internment
Public Domain
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Fred Korematsu
Image courtesy of Karen Korematsu
Image courtesy of Karen Korematsu
 Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu was born in Oakland,
California on January 30, 1919.
 He was the third of four sons to Japanese immigrant
parents who ran a floral nursery business, in Oakland.
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Fred Korematsu
 Fred Korematsu refused to follow the government
evacuation orders, becoming a fugitive.
 He was arrested, tried, convicted in federal court,
and placed on five years’ probation.
 After his trial, he was sent to a war relocation
center in Topaz, Utah with his family for the
remainder of the war.
 Korematsu’s case was appealed all the way to the
Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court upheld
the verdict, justifying the government’s internment
of Japanese Americans during wartime.
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Image courtesy of Karen Korematsu
Fred Korematsu
 Korematsu challenged the court
again in 1983. Judge Marilyn Hall
Patel of the U.S. District Court
in San Francisco formally
vacated Fred Korematsu’s
conviction.
 In response, Korematsu stated,
“I would like to see the
government admit that they
were wrong and do something
about it so this will never happen
again to any American citizen of
any race, creed, or color.”
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Fred Korematsu
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Image courtesy of Shirley Nakao
 In 1988, the United
States Congress
apologized for the
evacuation and
internment of
Japanese Americans.
 They granted
$20,000
compensation to each
surviving prisoner.
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Civil Rights Activists:
Fred Korematsu and Rosa Parks
Image courtesy of Shirley Nakao
“Don’t be afraid to speak up. One person can make a
difference, even if it takes forty years.” – Fred Korematsu
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Fred Korematsu
 In 1998, President Bill
Clinton awarded Fred
Korematsu with the
Presidential Medal of
Freedom, the highest
civilian honor in the
United States.
 In 2011, California
remembered Korematsu
by naming January 30th
“Fred Korematsu Day of
Civil Liberties and the
Constitution.”
 Fred Korematsu died in
2005.
Image courtesy of Karen Korematsu
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