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From Pearl Harbor to Manzanar. This is No Drill. Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese Imperial Navy bombs Pearl Harbor, home of the Pacific fleet Japanese navy only 450 kilometers from Hawaii Dec. 8, 1941: FDR asks for a declaration of war from Congress
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This is No Drill • Dec. 7, 1941: Japanese Imperial Navy bombs Pearl Harbor, home of the Pacific fleet • Japanese navy only 450 kilometers from Hawaii • Dec. 8, 1941: FDR asks for a declaration of war from Congress • Congress gives vast war-making powers to the President • “day which will live in infamy” • result of poor communication and underestimation of the Japanese military capability
Public Response to Pearl Harbor • Shock, indignation: Pearl Harbor deemed a sneak attack-not war by “gentlemen’s rules” • How did we let this one get by? • In addition to patriotism and unity, rioting, looting, harassment, propaganda, anger, hysteria
Propaganda Methods • Stereotyping • Substitution of names • Transfer: connection between something valued/hated and idea being discussed • Selection of simple facts • Repetition • Assertion • Appeals to values: authority, patriotism
Did racism make internment possible? • Pre WWII racism toward people of Japanese descent made internment possible • 1905: Asiatic Exclusion League--SF • Japanese farm laborers often deported from towns by vigilante groups-Turlock, CA 1921 • 1922 Ozawa Case in USSC: Issei can’t become naturalized citizens on basis of race: ban lasts until 1952 • 1924 anti-immigration signed by Coolidge-effectively ends Japanese immigration
The Nikkei • Nikkei--Four generations of people of Japanese ancestry living in America • Issei-1st generation-born in Japan • Nisei---2nd generation, raised in the US for the most part--Japanese and American in culture (Kibei--Nisei who return to Japan) • Sansei--3rd Generation, some born in the internment camps, but too little to remember--have tried to reetablish link with this tragedy • Yonsei--children of the Sansei Issei Volunteer for US Army 1918
FDR and Japanese-Americans • Executive Order 9066-Feb. 19, 1942 • Executive Order 9102-Mar. 18-establishes WRA • FDR declares West Coast a “war theater” • 110,000 forcibly “interned” to 10 locations in 7 states • families given 48 hrs. to dispose of belongings • if sold, most received only about 5% of value of possessions • 1/3 Issei, 2/3 Nisei
LEAVING HOME
FDR: Oct. 1942--refers to “relocation centers” as “concentration camps” Relocation deemed“necessary” as states refused to accept Japanese Military/Society Japanese-Americans seen as potential spies Entertainment: “Little Tokyo, USA”-20th Century Fox--all Issei and Nisei are seen as “volunteer spies” Japanese are the only ethnic group singled out for internment during WWII in America--not Italian or German Americans Business/labor: opportunity to take out the competition Attitudes about Internment
Internment and the Constitution • Korematsu vs. US • Supreme Court rules internment Constitutional • Court could not second-guess military decisions • but once loyalty was established, then you couldn’t hold the person • (by then, the camps were being closed down)
The Camps up Close • Assembly Centers-temporary camps from winter to fall of ‘42 • Relocation Centers: permanent camps • Dry, arid conditions--fit for toxic waste disposal today
Nisei US Soldier visiting family Gila River, AZ Two Issei playing Go at Poston Relocation Center Manzanar, CA
What were the results? • Greatest violation of civil liberties on the homefront • $105 million of farmland lost • $500 million in yearly income, plus uncalculated personal savings • No act of sabotage proved • March ‘46: camps closed • 1981-83: CWRIC-Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians • 1988 Official govt. apology + reparations • 1990: $20,000 to each internee