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You Live By The Sword, You Die By The Sword
The most unfortunate victims of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor--which happened 66 years ago today--were surely the 2,333 military personnel who lost their lives.
FDR called it, "a date which will live in infamy." Perhaps in 1941, a surprise attack on another country's military was infamous. But considering that in 1986 the U.S. launched a surprise attack on another country's civilians, 12/7 looks a lot less infamous than the direct domestic aftermath, felt especially keenly here in the Northwest.
The 2nd-most unfortunate victims of Pearl Harbor were thousands of Americans of Japanese descent who, in response to the attack, were unlawfully forced into internment camps. (The 3rd-most unfortunate victims were the 26 people who saw the Michael Bay film.)
Though President Reagan eventually signed legislation apologizing for internment and providing restitution to surviving victims, internment remains a controversial issue.
Case in point #1: When we were at NYU, a history professor lecturing on WWII called "ridiculous" the assertion that the U.S. only dropped the bomb on Japan because the Japanese are Asian, that we wouldn't have used the bomb on Germany because Germans are white.
"Well," someone piped up, "but we interned people of Japanese descent during the war, and not those of German descent."
"Yes, but Japanese-Americans weren't as integrated into society as German-Americans," he said.
We knew that was wrong.
"No, that's not true," we said. "I'm from Seattle, and there Japanese-Americans attended integrated schools, played baseball, spoke only English--they were no less American than anyone else, and yet they were interned, too."
"Were you there?" he said, coldly. We responded in the negative. "Well then you really don't know what happened, do you?"
Case in point #2: A 2004 Cornell poll found that 44% of Americans favor curtailing the civil rights of Muslim-Americans. The current administration hasn't gone anywhere near that far (instead choosing to curtail everyone's civil rights), but another Pearl Harbor/9-11 like attack could spur a law & order administration (We're looking at you, Giuliani), to consider internment again. Surely public opinion would be behind them.
FDR's decision to intern Japanese-Americans has been justified by some who say that Japanese-Americans may have been safer in the camps. To wit, this 12/8/1941 statement by then-Seattle-mayor Earl Millikin (courtesy NW Historylink): "Seattle must have tolerance toward American-born Japanese, most of whom are loyal. But I also want to warn the Japanese that they must not congregate or make any utterance that could be used as grounds for reprisals."
That same day, adds HistoryLink essayist Greg Lange, "Seattle Police Chief Herbert Kimsey announced that patrols would be placed around the 'Japanese quarter' and stated that anti-Japanese riots would be 'crushed with force.'
Instead of condemning this local racism gone amok, FDR justified it. Let's hope a future president doesn't repeat his infamous mistake.
For more, check out this essay on Bainbridge Island's Japanese American internment by Seattle Prep student Jack Hanley. Hanley won first place in a HistoryLink essay competition for the piece. Hanley's also one of the top returning players on the Prep basketball team. Word!
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I've been meaning to read Dave Neiwert's Strawberry Days: How Internment Destroyed a japanese American Community.
This post has inspired me to make a note to remind myself to buy it.
I recently read a memoir of a young Japanese internee - I think the name of the book was Nisei Daughter. Her Father ran a hotel in Pioneer Square and her Mother worked as a seamstress. They owned a home on Beacon Hill. She WAS there and you are entirely correct.
As an aside, you may remember Judge Lance Ito of the O.J Simpson trial. He was named for Attorney Lance Smith, who protected the Ito family property during the internment.
Thanks for highlighting this. It's part of my family's history (even the strawberry farmer part).There's no real day to mark this kind of tragedy, and I feel like it's not something your usual news programs flock to report on.
I remember once traveling abroad where I met a well-educated guy from the East coast in his 30s who was unaware that internment even happened. Kinda scary.
It was written: "Well," someone piped up, "but we interned people of Japanese descent during the war, and not those of German descent."
Oops...More than 50 camps were used for the internment of German Americans. Many German Americans were locked-up in the same camps as their interned Japanese American counterparts. Whoever "piped up" and said that we did not intern persons of German descent, did not know what s/he was talking of; Click Here -> for more on the internment of Americans of German descent.
It is well-documented that the evacuation was motivated, not by racism, but by information obtained by the U.S. from pre-war decoded Japanese diplomatic messages "MAGIC" and other intelligence revealed the existence of espionage and the potential for sabotage involving then-unidentified resident Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans living within the West Coast Japanese community.
You can read about MAGIC and it's subseqently being ignored by the reparations commission here.
http://www.athenapressinc.com/
The actual declassified MAGIC intercepts are here.
http://www.athenapressinc.com/smithsonian/Appendix3.html
The U.S. Congress immediately passed legislation providing enforcement provisions for FDR's Executive Order, unanimously in both the House and Senate, provided under Article 1, Section 9 of the United States Constitution.
Only persons of Japanese ancestry (alien and citizen) residing in the West Coast military zones were affected by the evacuation order. Those living elsewhere were not affected at all.
It is not true that Japanese-Americans were "interned. Only Japanese nationals (enemy aliens) arrested and given individual hearings were interned. Such persons were held for deportation in Department of Justice camps. Those evacuated were not interned. They were first given an opportunity to voluntarily move to areas outside the military zones. Those unable or unwilling to do so were sent to Relocation Centers operated by the War Relocation Authority.
At the time, the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League) officially supported the government's evacuation order and urged all enemy alien Japanese and Japanese Americans to cooperate and assist the government in their own self interest.
It is misleading and in error to state that those affected by the evacuation orders were all "Japanese-Americans." Approximately two-thirds of the ADULTS among those evacuated were Japanese nationals--enemy aliens. The vast majority of evacuated Japanese-Americans (U.S. citizens) were children at the time. Their average age was only 15 years. In addition, over 90% of Japanese-Americans over age 17 were also citizens of Japan (dual citizens)under Japanese law. Thousands had been educated in Japan. Some having returned to the U.S. holding reserve rank in the Japanese armed forces.
During the war, more than 33,000 evacuees voluntarily left the relocation centers to accept outside employment. An additional 4300 left to attend colleges.
In a questionaire, over 26% of Japanese-Americans of military age at the time said they would refuse to swear an unqualified oath of allegiance to the United States.
According to War Relocation Authority records, 13,000 applications renouncing their U.S. citizenship and requesting expatriation to Japan were filed by or on behalf of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Over 5,000 had been processed by the end of the war.
After loyalty screening, eighteen thousand Japanese nationals and Japanese-Americans were segregated at a special center for disloyals at Tule Lake California where regular military "Banzai" drills in support of Emperor Hirohito were held.
The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Consitutionality of the evacuation/relocation in Korematsu v. U.S., 1944 term. In summing up for the 6-3 majority, Justice Black wrote:
"There was evidence of disloyalty on the part of some, the military authorities considered that the need for action was great, and time was short. We cannot --by availing ourselves of the calm perspective of hindsight -- now say that at the time these actions were unjustified." That decision has never been reversed and stands to this day.
It should be noted that the relocation centers had many amenities. Accredited schools, their own newspapers, stores, churches, hospitals, all sorts of sports and recreational facilities. They also had the highest percapita wartime birth rates for any U.S.community.
More history for you to consider regarding the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians:
Consider that of the nine commission members, six were biased in favor of reparations. Ishmail Gromoff and William Marutani, relocatees themselves, sat in judgment of their own cases. Arthur Goldberg and Joan Bernstein made sympathetic, pro-reparation statements publicly before hearings even began. Arthur Fleming had worked closely with the JACL (he was a keynote speaker at its Portland convention in the '70s). Robert Drinan was a co-sponsor of the bill establishing the commission.
Consider that notices of when and where hearings were to be held were not made known to the general, non-Japanese public.
Consider that witnesses who gave testimony were not sworn to tell the truth.
Consider that witnesses who were pro-reparation were carefully coached in their testimony in "mock hearings" beforehand.
Consider that witnesses against reparation were harassed and drowned out by foot-stomping Japanese claques, that the commission members themselves ridiculed and badgered these same witnesses.
Consider that not one historian was asked to testify before the commission, that intelligence reports and position papers contrary to reparations were deliberately ignored.
Consider that as a result of the above, the United States Department of Justice objected strongly to the findings of the commission.
Lastly while we've all been educated on the doctrines associated with the rise of Nazism, I would be curious to know if courses are provided teaching the history of the doctrines of Japanese militarism, a belief system similar and equally as insidious as Nazism?
Any clasess on the kokutai? Hakko Ichiu? Any reading of Kokutai no Hongi? Shimin to Michi? The role of Nichiren Buddhism and Japanese "Language Schools" in teaching these doctines of Japanese racial superiorty to ethnic Japanese colonies throughout the word prior to Pearl Harbor?
Those of you learning this history at your public schools and universities should understand you are being taught an extemely biased and partial version of what really happened and why. I would urge you to go beyond the politically correct version of this history as propagated by the Japanese-American reparations movement.