Japanese Internment

     Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued executive order 9066, 1942, which lead to the evacuation of Japanese-Americans to concentration camps around the western U.S. There was no reason for the incarceration of Japanese-Americans since they had committed no crime or treason (Jones 2005). Over half of the Japanese-Americans incarcerated were children (“Children of the Camps” 1999). The conditions of the camps were primitive and uncomfortable. Toilets were lined up, back to back, with no privacy. Prisoners had to hold up a towel in an effort for privacy (“Children of the Camps” 1999). The floors were unfinished in crowded eating areas. There were 10 camps around the western U.S. in mostly arid desolate areas. 

     Leading up to the internment, the government and Hollywood ran a campaign of propaganda against the Japanese. This fostered feelings of hatred and racism in the general public, toward the Japanese. This was compounded by the already tense situation between farmers in the west and Japanese immigrants (Jones 2005). The propaganda included cartoons presenting the Japanese as a vermin (“Jap Trap”) that couldn’t be defeated, only obliterated (Sundquist 1988). Other propaganda was spread by Hollywood such as Frank Capra’s movie depicting the lifestyles of the Japanese enemy as ruthless rapists and militants (1945). Propaganda even showed up in children’s shows such as Popeye to teach children songs like “You’re a Sap, Mr. Jap” (Darlandchuck 2010). Not everyone supported the internment though, protesting that there was no reason for mass relocation (Jones 2005). 

     Within the camps were violent conflicts among the prisoners that arose from loyalty screening. The government made an effort to weed out troublemakers and draft dodgers. This involved two questions; will you fight for the U.S. military, and will you renounce allegiance to Japan. This loyalty screening was ineffective because interned prisoners couldn’t justify serving a country that imprisoned them and those ineligible for citizenship feared foreswearing any allegiance to Japan would leave them without a country (Sundquist 1988). A rift formed between the two groups with violent outbursts. 

     The camps were closed in 1945 and by 1988 congress passed legislation awarding restitution payments of $20,000 each to 60,000 surviving internees (Jones 2005). Although, some feel this debt cannot be repaid with money since there is a lack of historical understanding and was basically swept under the table (Sundquist 1988).

Researched and Written by Jonathan Mueller

Works Cited

Children of the Camps: The Documentary. Dir. Stephen Holsapple. Center for Asian American
     Media, 1999. DVD.

Darlandchuck. Popeye The Sailor - 01 - You're A Sap Mr. Jap.flv. Film. Youtube.com. Web. 19
     Oct. 2010.

“Instructions to Japanese.” Photograph. Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, 27 Aug. 2006. Web. 19 Oct.
     2010

 “Jap Trap.” Photograph. Historymatters.gmu.edu. History Matters, 14 Oct. 2009. Web. 19 Oct.
     2010.

Jones, Jacqueline, et. al. Created Equal: A History of the United States. New Jersey: Prentice
     Hall, 2011, 2008, 2005. Print

Know Your Enemy: Japan. Dir. Frank Capra. Prod. U.S. War Department, 1945. DVD.

Sundquist, Eric J. "The Japanese--American Internment." American Scholar 57.4 (1988): 529.
     Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.