Wednesday, March 5, 2014
"Farewell To Manzanar" Internment Resource Response?
Regarding the Internment Link Resource Database, what are some ideas or
trends that profoundly struck you that are addressed regarding this
period in American History? Please use any quotes or specific
references to materials that validate your argument. Due Wed., March 5th, 2014.
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Some of the trends that struck me as shocking was the amount of kids arrested, " mass incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II... Two-thirds were American citizens. Over half were children or infants." The fact that Americans would throw Over 50,000 Children into internment camps is hardly fair to them and their families considering that the kids can't be relaying information to the Japanese because they have no way to do that.
What suprised me was how Japanese American citizens were placed into incarceration even though they were proven to not be a threat to the US. "...President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans." All of this reminded me of how African Americans and whites were segregated. Prior to the WWII, Japanese American citizens were not allowed to own land, purchase homes in certain areas, and they weren't even allowed to marry outside their race.
In the resource we were given some things that stuck out to me were that none of the citizens had committed a crime and were incarcerated for the mere fact that they were of Japanese decent. Another fact that shocked me was the fact that over half of the 110,000 Japanese Americans that were incarcerated about half of them were children. One thing I took away is that if this were to happen again in modern America the only way to stop it would be if the American people spoke up against it.
Well some ideas that struck me are the ideas that the U.S. could turn on any of its citizens and hold them accountable to crime simply for their heritage. Also we could do similar to what the Nazis did and have no one step up to stop us. We are fighting this war to stop the mass removal of Jews and now we are doing it to anyone with Japanese Heritage. This was not right.
Something that struck me about this time period was how the Japanese were treated. In the text it states, "They were prominent leaders in the Japanese-American communities: priests, teachers in language schools, officers of community organizations, and newspaper editors. Often they were arrested in the middle of the night, taken to unknown destinations, and treated as prisoners of war." These people weren't doing any harm to the community, they were simply doing good but they were still taken as prisoners. These people were taken and treated very poorly, although they didn't deserve it.
Some ideas that surprised me or moved me were the discriminatory laws that were passed in the early 1900s. They were passed so the Japanese could not be citizens, own land, marry outside of their race... etc.
The idea that almost every Japanese personnel were thought to be spies strikes me the most. I understand why but what baffles me is that, throughout the countries life, so many groups of people have tried to adapt to American life and adapt the liberties that are given. So many people have lost their lives in order for us to live this way yet we took it away faster than ever. Also in the camps they were asked loyalty question if they would serve the US military and forswear against their home country. It wasn't fair because they were trying to gain citizenship and when denied they are now asking if they will fight for the same country.
People in these camps were innocent and didn't deserve to be there. They were treated wrongly because of false accusations and paranoia and overall fear. Life in the camp was hard and people were in "overcrowded in single rooms with no furniture except for cots and a pot-bellied stove." This is surprising to me because Americans should be better than that. We fought for freedom throughout our existence and we threw it away out of fear.
The narrator states that this topic is actually very difficult for them to write about. Last semester in my history class, we learned about Pearl Harbor and the events of the Japanese-American concentration camps. The idea that racial segregation involved many characters, is quite upsetting. Japanese-American were accused of being affiliated with those who were not of their country, and for that punished. Innocent people were held in incredibly poor living conditions, and many died, which is a consequence nobody deserves. According to an article titled 'Camp Life' from caamedia.org/jainterment/ , prisoners did not live in luxury. "Many families lived in horse stalls under unsanitary conditions, often by open sewers," the author writes. This describes an undesirable location/station for innocent people to be placed.
What stuck me was the camps were called "assembly centers" but the Japanese Americans had armed guards pointing guns at them and it was infarct a prison it was not "assembly centers". Quote:"Inmates stood in line for everything meals, latrines,supplies, and services.". It just stuck with me how the were not suppose to be prisons or camps but that's what it ended up being.
It really struck me that we were turning on our own brothers and sisters. Even though the internment camps weren't as bad as the ones in Germany, it was shocking to our country and to those who were put in there. It was a major point during our history because it got the US involved in World War II. It was still kind of depressing that we can turn down our own citizens like that.
America has had a history of being hypocritical. We wanted to live free yet we had slaves, we wanted equal rights except for the people who were a different ethnicity or color of skin. This shocks me that we would go so far to put american citizens in camps because of their ancestors.We were no better than the nazis and their death camps for the Jews at this time.
The lack of evidence that found the Japanese Americans malicious and how the U.s acted upon rumors really surprised me. The database said that there was not one Japanese American found to be guilty of sabotage or espionage. But just because they originated from he enemy they were see as the enemy. But even without the lack of evidence the president signed an executive order forcing the removal of any people originating or having ancestors from Germany, Italy, and especially Japan. All of this was incredibly unconstitutional and unjust.
As I read about Internment camps and everything to do with them during WWII on the website, the fact that struck me the hardest was the that these Japanese Americans really had no reason given to them for why they were being taken away. The website states, "Japanese Americans had no charges brought against them, there was no hearing; they did not know where they were going, how long they would be detained, what conditions they would face, nor what would happen to them." This fact really is the essence of the wrong doing that took place in America during the war. Anyone learning about this topic wonders why this happened and what the logical reasoning for these actions was. Reading more through thee website I came to find out that the U.S. government was scared for America, this was their logical argument for their actions. But later on in history they came to realize that what they did was not right and tried very hard to fix it.
I think that it is terrible that those who were sent to the Internment camps had harsh living conditions. They food that they ate was not enough to support them day to day and did not have enough nutrition. Some of the people that stayed there started to work and were payed very little for long days of work. "They worked in the camp offices, canteens, mess halls, hospitals, and schools, among other places, and earned wages, paid with script, of $8 to $16 per month for a 44-hour week. " ( Japanese American Internment). Those who lived in these camps had to live in very bad conditions and were not used to the bitter colds and hot summers. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire and military guards. There were sometimes riots in the camps. The camps did not have good living conditions and were not a good place to live.
Some things that struck me are that the Americans acted just like the Nazi's putting many people into these camps without any reason basically. The camps weren't as severe as is Germany but still Americans just took thousands of people and put them in camps whether or whether not they were spies for the Japanese. Another things that struck me was that the rights for all the Japanese people that were citizens of America, were taken away their rights. This has repeated history many times in Germany, Blacks, and now WWII. Two-thirds of all the Japanese taken were citizens of the United States of America. Is that the way America is?
One thing that struck me that was odd was that two out of three Japanese Americans were actually citizens. Another thing is that over half the people in the camps were either children or babies. the quote " Japanese Americans posed no military threat" showed me that most Japanese Americans were actually harmless and probably on Americas side during World War II. This time was very hard for many Japanese and many did not know when they would see freedom again.
After reading what ideas struck me the most was that two thirds of the people taken were American citizens and then half of that were children and infants. Another one ins the fact that some people in the camps (Nisei and Kibei) joined the military to get out of the camps. From there they made up the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. This team later became the most decorated unit in U.S. history.
One of the trends that struck me shocking was the bombing of Pearl Harbor,
"On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The following day, the US declared war on Japan."
I think that the main reason that we got bombed was because Japan was trying to get us into war after we declared to be neutral. But it killed a lot of innocent people. But after that it back fired because then U.S got paranoid and sent Japanese-Americans to concentration camps to make sure they weren't spies.
"authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans.Two-thirds were American citizens. Over half were children."
I was extremely suprised about how we treated the prisoners. We Americans pride ourselves with being the best country in the world yet we treat American citzens this way. We gave an entire family a room with a stove to live in. That is not even close to enough space! We prove that we are no better than the Nazi'swith the way we treated our people.
"Despite the government's own evidence that Japanese Americans posed no military threat, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans. Two-thirds were American citizens. Over half were children."
Even if the Japanese in a America posed a military threat it is still wrong to bring children into war. They have no idea what is going on and you can certainly not take them to a camp so that they will be scarred the rest of their lives. What the government did to the Japanese Americans is wrong and took away their civil rights.
Their are many similar events in the american history, "They were prominent leaders in the Japanese-American communities: priests, teachers in language schools, officers of community organizations, and newspaper editors." This quote show that the Hawaiians were not treated well by the other forces. In the past course of history it shows that we retaliate a lot so it repeats itself then it goes to the next problem.
I found it interesting that we are trying to stop the Nazis from treating people bad and putting them in camps but really we are doing the same thing to the Japanese. Also there was never one Japanese that was convicted of being a spy in the entire war, they weren't even convicted or given a chance to stand up in trail, which is against the law.
What struck me was that the FBI went into Japanese-American's houses without evidence or search warrants and arrested them. Also how they just gathered a bunch of them up and shipped them off to internment camps without warning, not notifying their families, and they didn't even know where they were going. One more thing that surprised me was that German and Italian-Americans were restricted as well and were considered "enemy aliens."
What stood out to me was when the FBI agents cleared and rounded up 1,212 Japanese immigrants and more through out the untitled states including Hawaii. Innocent teachers, children, and many more important people that impacted the United States were taken to camps and treated like prisoners of war. The immigrants that were taken were put in Justice Department internment camps down south. Being put in the someones shoes that have experienced that is very influential and depressing.
"President Roosevelt signed Executive order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans" they are turning on their own people. They only welcomed the Japanese for the cheap labor. It's kinda sad that they had been doing this just to save money, not to give them jobs.
Some of the topics in the resource that shocked me the most were the conditions inside of the camps. "The also found themselves overcrowded in single rooms with no furniture except for cots and a pot-bellied stove." Not only did we take away their rights as American citizens, but we didn't even give them a safe or healthy place to stay in. In the article it also stated that they had no privacy, and the camps had barbed wire and guards with guns everywhere. It's ironic how whenever another country puts their own citizens in camps, America takes action, and they think it is wrong yet we did it after Pearl Harbor.
One thing that stuck out to me was the conditions that the people had to live in and the pictures of the people there looked so sad also how the people were treated. Also one thing that I thought about it that we were fighting in a war at the time to stop Hitler to do this to innocent people and now we were doing it to innocent people. So America is almost being a hypocrite at the time.
What startled me was how the Japanese were thrown into the internment camps even though nothing was proved to see that they were even a threat to the US people. "...President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans." This brought back to me the civil rights movement but it happened so suddenly. This book showed how some can handle being in these positions. Her dad basically died at manazar when the country betrayed her dad.
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