What does an American look like?. What does the enemy look like?
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- What does an American look like?
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- What does the enemy look like?
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- Guess the year of this quote? 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] Public statement by President Roosevelt on January
31, 19 praising the decision to form a segregated, all-nisei combat
team. Roger Daniels. Concentration Camps: North America. (1971.
Malabar, Florida: Kreiger Publishing Company, 1981,1989),
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- A year earlier, however, Roosevelt had authorized incarcerating
more than 120,000 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? Correct answer:1943
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- MILITARY NECESSITY 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.
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- The real reason why.. no military necessity for the unequal,
unjust treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII 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] Recommendations section, Personal
Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and
Internment of Civilians. (1982. Seattle: University of Washington
Press, 1997), page 459.
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- Timeline of events Chinese Exclusion ActMay 6, 1882 Congress
passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, ending Chinese immigration for
the next sixty years. Enforcement creates a labor shortage, leading
to increased immigration from Japan to the mainland United States.
Japanese laborers to HawaiiFebruary 8, 1885 Japanese laborers begin
arriving in Hawaii, recruited by plantation owners to work the
sugarcane fields. Western Defense CommandDecember 11, 1941 The
Western Defense Command is established with Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt
as the commander. Immediately after Pearl Harbor DeWitt issues
public warnings of Japanese attack without substantiated evidence.
He favors a mass purging of Japanese, German, and Italian nationals
for security reasons. Baseless accusationsDecember 15, 1941
Accepting rumors of Japanese American espionage without any
evidence, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox announces to the press,
"I think the most effective Fifth Column work of the entire war was
done in Hawaii... " Newspapers and radio spread unsubstantiated
reports of spying by Japanese Americans. Naval intelligenceDecember
30, 1941 A Naval intelligence report states that the majority of
Japanese Americans are loyal; that the "Japanese problem... is no
more serious than the problems of the German, Italian, and
Communistic portions of the United States population, and, finally
that it should be handled on the basis of the individual,
regardless of citizenship, and not on a racial basis."
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- FBI searches and arrestsJanuary-May 1942 The FBI searches
thousands of Japanese American homes for "contraband" such as
shortwave radios, cameras, heirloom swords, and explosives used for
clearing stumps. The FBI arrests more "suspect" issei. After brief
hearings, thousands of these men will be held for the duration of
the war in Department of Justice and U.S. Army internment camps,
separate from their families.
http://www.densho.org/sitesofshame/family.xml Executive Order
9066February 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs
Executive Order 9066, authorizing Secretary of War to exclude
civilians from any area without trial or hearing and prescribe
certain areas as military zones. The order does not specify
Japanese Americans--but they are the only group to be imprisoned as
a result of it. Roosevelt disregards intelligence reports that
Japanese Americans are overwhelmingly loyal. The War Department
lobbies to remove all people of Japanese ancestry from the West
Coast, while the Attorney General opposes the sweeping exclusion as
unconstitutional. authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe
certain areas as military zones. Eventually, EO 9066 cleared the
way for the relocation of Japanese Americans to internment
camps.Japanese Americans to internment camps War Relocation
AuthorityMarch 18, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs
Executive Order 9102, establishing the War Relocation Authority
(WRA), a civilian agency in charge of managing the incarceration
camps. He appoints Milton Eisenhower as director. Hirabayashi
protestMay 16, 1942 University of Washington student Gordon
Hirabayashi turns himself in to the authorities. His written
statement explains that he will not submit to the imprisonment on
constitutional grounds. Like Yasui, Hirabayashi's case will go to
the Supreme Court.