This
article examines the discriminatory conduct with which the Japanese were
treated in 1940s when 120,000 of innocent Japanese civilians living in the USA
were subjected to internment. This article encompasses literature review from
other writers who also found this to be true. This article focuses on the
importance of reviewing historical injustices as a toll for ensuring that the
same do not recur in future. The author’s grandmother was a second-generation
Japanese American and had also been subjected to the internment in Arizona
(Hastings 26). The Japanese Americans subjected to this treatment chose to
remain quiet about their treatment.
In
1942, President Roosevelt authorised the setting up of military camps. All
persons considered to be enemy aliens were to be evacuated from their homes and
moved into the military camps. Two-thirds of interned Japanese were already
American citizens and their inclusion in the enemy alien description is
considered as a result of racial discrimination (29). In the post war era,
efforts were made to redress these injustices. Powerful lobby groups were
formed seeking to reverse the order to place Japanese persons under internment.
This was in the 1970. In fact, it was not until 1980 that initiatives were made
to try and redress the injustices against Japanese Americans.
This
article also outlines the manner in which the government exercised social
control through documentation. It is through the documentation that the
economic power of the Japanese Americans was restricted. Their movement was
also restricted with the average Japanese American being largely immobile (35).
As a matter of fact, the author finds that it was through restriction of access
to documentation that racial discrimination was advanced. The findings were
that at the time of the internment, the state had sufficient information to
indicate that a majority of the Japanese Americans were not a threat to
national security (38).
There
was also an economic angle to the internment. The Japanese Americans lost their
property during the internment to the tune of $400 million (39). The
compensation was barely $37million and this further cemented the
injustice. Hastings also addresses the growing political
confidence among the Japanese Americans who have since the 1970s participated
in lobby groups to curb any cases of racial discrimination (41). The main lobby
group is the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
The
efforts of the Japanese American lobby groups have now introduced a new face of
the Japanese who are no longer silent about mistreatment. In 1988, the JACL
successfully pushed for the formation of the national reconciliation bill.
Surviving internees were paid $20,000 each in 1990 as a result of these efforts
in addition to a letter of apology from President Bush (42).
This
article outlines the manner in which the Japanese Americans were discriminated
against and how they embraced their liberties under the constitution to push
for redress decades later. In addition
to the compensation, the there were also initiatives to conduct further
research into the events. The treatment of the Japanese Americans was not
unique to them: other Asian Americans were also treated to the same
discrimination. The rationale for the mistreatment appeared to guard the
Caucasian Americans from losing their economic advantage (Yakamoto et al 259). Laws that were discriminatory
in nature were established at varying times with the most restrictive one being
non-recognition of Japanese as American citizens.
However,
the Japanese of latter generations appeared to gain mileage over the American
natives with some of them being more educated. However, the racial
discrimination still continued as they would fail to secure the kind of jobs
that they deserved. There is therefore the general agreement that
discrimination did not end with internment era (260). It has remained persistent
and subtle and in need of greater efforts by equality lobbyists.
WORKS CITED
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