The World War II was known for numerous atrocities that greatly affected the interactions between states as well as the national governments and citizens. For the most part, these dreadful developments occurred in response to the aggressive decisions and actions of countries that were at war. The Japanese Internment was one of such instances. It came down to the forced relocation of the Japanese Americans to the specially created zones so that the threats they were associated with would be addressed and the further escalation of war would be prevented. It is commonly believed that the key factor behind making this decision was race. However, even though the role of race in the Japanese internment was vital, there were other factors that made the government support this decision – the failure of political leadership and the fear of war that touched upon hysteria.
To begin with, it is essential to understand what the phenomenon of Japanese internment was and what caused it. This would create the historical context that would help determine the key factors that drove the government to support this decision. The internment was declared in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor dating back to 1941. It made the Americans believe that the Japanese should not be trusted so that it would be better and safer for the American community to isolate them. To legalize this decision, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066 that was named the Japanese Relocation Order. It was signed in February 1942, with the aim of guaranteeing national security and protecting the state and citizens against espionage and sabotage (Roosevelt).
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According to this legal document, the Secretary of War and the Military Commanders were granted authority to prescribe military areas that would serve as the destinations for excluding Japanese Americans. The document prescribes that the residents of the newly created military areas are provided with necessary transportation, shelter, food, and any other accommodations and resources they might need to live in dignity (Roosevelt). As a result, over 100,000 Japanese Americans have been forcefully taken to the so-called relocation centers by 1943 (“FDR and Japanese American Internment Documents”; Shaffer 597).
As it has been mentioned above, there were several key factors that resulted in supporting the Japanese Internment. The first one was the fear of the further escalation of war. The Americans were in the state close to hysteria after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They were driven by the fear of the second attack that might be even more destructive. The main challenge here is that they were not confident whether all Japanese Americans should not be trusted. For this reason, the decision to isolate thousands of them seemed sound in order to protect the nation and citizens. As mentioned in “Korematsu v. United States,” because the United States is at war with the Japanese Empire, proper security measures cannot be guaranteed if the citizens with the Japanese ancestry – Issei (first-generation immigrants) and Nisei (second-generation immigrants) – are not segregated. This point supports that the internment was as well driven by fear.
This fear was further supplemented by the failure of political leadership. In the first place, it was assumed that the failure was connected to the inability to prevent the Pearl Harbor attacks. After the attack, the political leadership failed to properly estimate the risks and decided to adopt this legal act. Even though it is true that there was evidence provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation regarding the number and location of those that might be potentially dangerous, they were taken into custody based on their background only, not because of their proved sabotage- or espionage-related intentions. This evidence can be found in the letter of Major General Watson to the President (“FDR and Japanese American Internment Documents”). Some other documents that the order was signed under pressure were the memoranda addressed from across the country that stated that the President should keep the eye on the Japanese situation – for instance, Memorandum for Grace Tully (“FDR and Japanese American Internment Documents”).
These two factors were extremely critical, and they may have been supplemented by racial bias. From this perspective, it is commonly assumed that the making this decision was driven by racial hatred. To a particular extent, it is true because all of the evidence mentioned above points to the vital role of race in the deteriorating situation across the state as well as taking the suspects into custody. It means that the ordinary Americans perceived Japanese as the sources of threat so that supporting the internment may have been a way to prevent social unrest that would be especially destructive given the involvement in the war. The role of race in the Japanese internment is commonly tied to the fact that those with German and Italian ancestry have not been segregated (Fox 409), which means that the decision may have been driven by racism. Also, DeWitt’s idea to isolate anyone suspected of espionage or sabotage was regardless of their race was not supported (Fox 420).
In conclusion, Japanese internment was one of the most significant instances of wrong political decisions made out of fear and racial prejudice. It pointed to the inability of the political leadership to make sound decisions based on facts, not assumptions. However, regardless of the critical consequences of the internment, it can still be perceived as a way to protects the citizens living in the state of hysteria so that it could be justified if viewed as an instrument for preventing social unrest.
- “FDR and Japanese American Internment Documents.” Southern New Hampshire University, snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/undergraduate/his/his114/his_114_fdr_presidential_library_documents_selections.pdf. Accessed 13 Jun. 2018.
- Fox, Stephen C. “General John DeWitt and the Proposed Internment of German and Italian Aliens During World War II.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 57, no. 4, 1988, pp. 407-438.
- “Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)”. Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/323/214. Accessed 13 Jun. 2018.
- Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. “Executive Order 9066: Japanese Relocation Order.” vlib, 19 Feb. 1942, www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/fdrrelocation1942.html. Accessed 13 Jun. 2018.
- Shaffer, Robert. “Opposition to Internment: Defending Japanese American Rights During World War II.” The Historian, vol. 61, no. 3, 1999, pp. 597-620.
