On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the Uni Essay Example For Students

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the Uni Essay ted States Naval facility at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 19 ships were sunk, 2,335 servicemen lost their lives, and, afterwards, the United States declared war on Japan, and her allies Germany and Italy. However, another great loss occurred on United States soilthe imprisonment of 120,000 people, 2/3 of whom were United States citizens. The Japanese Internment, the name of this mistake, was illegal, unconstitutional, and an act of nothing more than severe prejudice and paranoia.Shiros parents, Hachizo and Tsuru Nomora, were Issei, people of Japan who immigrated to America to better their lives. The Namoras couldnt become US citizens because the Naturalization Act of 1790 didnt include Asians. The children of the Issei were called Neisi, who were automatically US citizens because they were born here. In 1905, they moved to Berkeley, CA. Hachizo grew fruits and vegetables on a leased farm. He would sell his crop to local stores for low prices. The Japanese were talented at farming and whites complained about how hard it was to compete. The San Francisco Chronicle headlined Brown Artisans steal Brains of Whites, The Yellow Peril-How the Japanese crowd out the White Race. In October 1906, the San Francisco board of education segregated 93 Japanese kids in Chinatown.The Alien Land Law of 1923 was passed, banning all purchase of land by Issei, and allowed them to rent for only 3 years.The Immigration Act of 1924 ended all immigration of !Japanese. By now the Nomoras established a successful farm, and a family. Tsuru gave berth to Shuigeru and Sadae. In 1923, Berkeley had a large fire and the Nomoras decided to move to Keystone, a suburb of Los Angeles. Around this time, Shiro was born. At Banning High School, Shiro (who shortened his name to Shi) played baseball, football, and track. Shi recalls, I was a girl chaser, all I thought about was girls and sports. In 1940, he met Emiko (who adopted the name Amy) Hattori. Shi wanted to propose to her at the end of the school year, but was hit in the head by a shot-put and spent 6 months in a hospital. In August of 1941, Shi and Amy went to the annual Neisi Festival. At the festival, a singer on stage caught Shis eyes. Four months later Pearl Harbor was bombed. Shis hopes of meeting the singer, marrying Amy, or finishing high school were put on hold. December 6, 1941, Shi was driving Amy home when he was hit from behind. After multiple victories in the pacific, military officials were worried that if the Japanese reached the West Coast, Issei and Neisi would aid them. Lt. General DeWitt was very influential in the Japanese-evacuation movement. According to the Roberts report, HawaiianJapanese farmers were making arrows on their land pointing to Pearl Harbor. In Seattle, there were rumors of a flaming arrow (workers burning brush) pointing towards the city. Japanese farmers in California used paper to protect crops from frost. There were rumors of white cloth covering crops pointing to a nearby airplane plant. Students studied German at the University of California to meet the Foreign Language requirement. They must have been spies. In January of 1942 the FBI and the FCC found no evidence of sabotage. However DeWitt and a variety of newspapers stated that if no evidence was found, that proved the Japanese real!ly were saboteurs. Time and Look Magazines published articles on how to tell Japs from your friends. In LA times it read A viper is a viper wherever the egg is hatched The Nisei became desperate and tried to shed as much of their heritage as possible. Ceramics that were family heirlooms were dumped in the streets. Priceless diaries, photos, letters, and other written treasures that happened to be written in Japanese were burned. Mary Kageyana remembers burning her mothers sheet music, We had to do it because they would not know what it said. They might have thought it was code or something. By February 9, DeWitt banned Japanese from 133 strategic areas in California. By mid February, the California coast had been dubbed Restricted Area Number 1. DeWitt suggested Japanese voluntarily move inland. 4,000 did, and weeks later DeWitt prohibited Japanese from leaving the West Coast. On February 13, 1942, DeWitt recommended the evacuation of all Japanese form t!he West Coast. A Jap is a Jap, said DeWitt. It makes no difference if hes an American. With no knowledge of Japanese-Americans living in America, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt bought into the claims made by the military, media, and California Congressmen, and signed Executive Order 9066, granting military authority over the evacuation of any person deemed an enemy of the United States. On March 2, DeWitt announced the evacuation of all Japanese-Americans, regardless of citizenship.Amid the growing hate and violence, Shis real white friends remained at his side. The Japanese were refused admittance to theaters, skate rinks, and public parks. Some were fired from jobs they had been working at for 30 years. With little time before they had to evacuate, the Japanese community was in panic. Japanese-owned stores sold their produce at very low prices and whites rushed to Japanese neighborhoods for good buys. Shi recalls, They swarmed like locusts through Japanese areas, cheating, stealing, and threatening to buy belongings for almost nothing. New washers went for $5. A 26-room hotel was sold for $500, the Ruth Hotel worth $6000 was sold for $600. Shi and his family moved to his Aunts house in Los Angeles. Wffrfrg Essay Shi was granted clearance on May 14, 1943. Now what was I going to do? he wondered. I had been drafted, but my medical records from the shot-put accident made me ineligible to serve. When I notified Amy of my clearance, she immediately requested permission for my admission to AmacheI felt it would never work out. But seeing other people leaving Manzanar to be reunited with their loved ones made me realize that my first duty was to Amy. Shi left for Colorado in June 1943 with a diamond engagement ring paid for by his savings and a lone by his father. Shi entered the Amache camp, and the guards failed to find the ring he carried through in his mouth. Shi said, I told her I loved her and I proposed marriage, but she said she was having too much fun playing the field and she said no. With tears in my eyes, I threw the ring in the desert and said goodbye. Shi reenlisted in the furlough program and worked at an icehouse. In August 1943, Shi returned to Manzanar and worked as a sportswriter on the Manzanar Free Press, and worked with Dr. Robert Emerson, who was experimenting with new ways of making rubber. Shis final months in the camp were spent playing sports. Then one day strolling with his friends, he heard a beautiful voice that belonged to the person he heard at the Nisei Festival two years ago. It belonged to Mary Kageyama. They fell in love and in February of 1945, Shi proposed marriage and Mary !accepted. By 1944 there was no longer a military necessity for internment. On December 17, 1944, President Roosevelt rescinded DeWitts mass exclusion order. In January of 1945, the War Relocation Authority announced that the camps would be closed by the end of the year. The internment was over. Without a thank you or apology, or compensation for the losses, the internees had to once again face a hostile country.Anti-Japanese organizations sprouted like No Japs Inc. in San Diego. One of the saddest accounts of postwar treatment was from Senator Daniel Inouye. He was a captain in the army, and had recently been released from a hospital recovering from war wounds. He decided to get a haircut. Are you Chinese? the man said to me. I looked past him at the three empty chairs. The other two barbers watching us closely. Im an American, I said. Are you Chinese? I think you know where my father was born. My father was born in Japan. Im an American. Deep in my gut I knew!what was coming. Dont give me that American stuff he said swiftly. Youre a Jap and we dont cut Jap hair. I wanted to hit him There I stood, in full uniform, the new captains bars on my shoulder, four rows of ribbons on my chest, the combat infantry badge, the distinguished unit citations-and a hook where my hand should be. And he didnt cut Jap hair. To think that I had gone through the war to save his skin-and he didnt cut Jap hair. A post war survey showed 80% of the privately stored goods by the Japanese were rifled, stolen, or sold. One survey placed the amount losses and damage from 1942-45 by the Japanese-Americans at $6.2 billion in current dollars. In 1980 Congress started a committee to investigate Executive Order 9066, and the committee found no moral or legal basis for the internment. In 1987 the Supreme Court declared the internment unconstitutional. In 1947 Amy married Tatsumi Mizutani. She became a bilingual teacher for the Cypress school district. She and Tat have 5 kids and 5 grandchildren. Shi married Mary in June of 1945. Shi successfully ran his own fish market and grocery store until 1986, when he retired. Shi and Mary have 5 kids and 11 grandchildren. In 1954, Hachizo became a naturalized citizen. In October 1990, Shi received $20,000 and a letter of apology from President Bush stating: A monetary sum and words alone cannot restore the lost years or erase the painful memories; neither can they fully convey our Nations resolve to rectify injustice and to uphold the rights of individuals. We can never fully right the wrongs of the past. But we can take a clear stand for justice and recognize that serious injustices were done to Japanese Americans during World War II. The Japanese Internment, the name of this mistake, was illegal, unconstitutional, and an act of nothing more than severe prejudice and paranoia. Among the many rights that were broken include: the right to a trial, the right to have the assistance of legal council, and the right to an impartial jury. The constitution also states that no state shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States. In other words the internees were arrested and imprisoned without due process. From his retirement home in Garden Grove, CA, Shi said, One of the greatest things about America is that it admits its mistakesthis is what America is all about; tolerating different cultures, accepting people who look different. America is a nation of immigrants from all over the world, and they have made America the greatest nation in the world. When anyone sees a person of Japanese ancestry living in the United States they should think American and only afterward Japan!ese. That is the American way.