Japanese Internment Camps
Introduction
The second world war was fueled by hate; this hate stemmed from restrictions placed on Germany by virtue of the Treaty of Versailles. By extension, this deliberate hate was imposed among innocent groups of people, who were used as mere scapegoats.
This reality was particularly true for Japanese-Americans who were subjected to persecution based on the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had launched an attack on United States soil on December 7th, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. The hatred towards the Japanese-Americans was fuelled by propaganda that ran on print media and the government blaming the attack on the Japanese-Americans group.
The desired effect of the propaganda was to instill fear amongst the United States citizens. Hence, justifying the targetting of innocent civilians, who were deemed guilty by association. The sad reality is that the governments plan worked. As a result, the Japanese-Americans were hurled into internment camps where they were mistreated and tortured both mentally and physically(Hansler, 2018).
The federal government retained control of most of the Japanese internment camps. More than two-thirds of the population sentenced to internment camps in the spring of 1942 were United States Citizens who had come to the United States in pursuit of the American dream. Indeed, the internment camps formed the basis of the legal confines imposed on minority groups as at then.
Background
The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28th, 1919 and marked the end of the first world war and a new chapter of world peace. Additionally, the Treaty of Versailles placed additional conditions on Germany, including demands that Germany pays for all damages caused by the war as a means to claim responsibility for instigating the war. These provisions of the Treaty seemed unfair to Germans who felt that the government had given up so much land to other countries as a means of compensation.
Adolf Hitler preyed on the vulnerability of the German economy at then and the general hate amongst the German population promising them that only he could reclaim the lost assets, in complete defiance of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler blamed Germany’s recession on the Jews and went on to put them in concentration camps where they produced weapons for the German army. The invasion of Poland by Germany played a massive role in convincing Japan to switch their allegiance having fought alongside the allies in the first world war one with the hope of gaining vast amounts of land.
With the battle lines drawn, Japan was fighting for the Axis powers, and the United States was deemed an enemy. Japan launched an attack on the United States soil in 1941 targeting the Pearl Harbour. This attack was not taken lightly, because the United States had been reluctant to engage in the war. As a result of this attack, the United States Government was pressured into assuming that the Japanese could not be trusted and that the Government had to take reasonable measures to thwart any other attack by the Japanese on the United States(Davis 2011).
On February 19, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. Based on the Executive order 9066, the Presidential order authorized the Secretary of war to designate military Zones within the United States from which any or all persons could be excluded. The provisions of the order did not target a specific group, but it came to be used as a basis and justification to round up all Japanese-Americans and move them to one of the already in place internment camps by then referred to as relocation centers. These ‘relocation centers’ were located in California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas.
In implementing the new mandate, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, Commander of the U.S Army Western Defense Command established these exclusion zones and demanded that all persons of Japanese Ancestry report to the Civilian assembly centers. The effect of this order saw thousands of Japanese American citizens close businesses, abandon their homes and farms. Upon reporting to the civilian assemblies, the Japanese were moved to internment camps dubbed ‘relocation centers’, with some being repatriated to Japan and the rest moved to detention camps(Hansler, 2018).
This situation continued until January 1944, when the Supreme court issued a ruling that halted the detention and continued detention of United States Citizens without a justifiable cause. The effect of this order extended to rescinding the executive order.
More than half a decade later, the United States Government is yet to own up and compensate the innocent Japanese-American citizens who were subjected to inhumane treatment based on baseless allegations. Indeed, the event of Japanese-American internment camps damaged America’s reputation. There can be no justification for the action of targeting innocent minorities yet America was founded on the promise of offering a safe and just environment to all its citizens.
The Japanese American Internment
The Japanese American Internment is a dark period in the American history that saw the forced relocation of Japanese Americans by the United States government to detention camps during world war two. This action was not an isolated event; it was a culmination of the federal government’s long history of racist, prejudice and discriminatory treatment of minority groups particularly those of Asian descent.
The discriminatory practice can be traced back to the restrictive immigration policies imposed on Asian immigrants from the late 1800’s. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 presented the perfect opportunity to the United States War Department to further their agenda of targeting the minority Japanese Americans.
The discriminatory detention of Japanese Americans was based on suspicions that the Japanese Americans might act as saboteurs. As such the detention of Japanese Americans was based on an unfounded allegation, which leaders at the heart of power used to issue the recommendation of rounding up Japanese Americans.
The use of Propaganda
World war two proved to be one of the most monumental events in the history of the world. The war was fought on four fronts, these include; political, economic, military front and the social front. In recalling the war, it is easy to overlook the effect that the social front had on world war two. The significance of the social front extends to the dynamics of the individual and society as a whole. War is not pretty, it involves killing, violence, and hate all stirred up in the society. Hate triggers thoughts and emotions, and impacts ideologies and philosophies of the way of life.
During world war two, the United States government relied heavily on social warfare as a means to justify the war and all other actions that the government deemed fit to win the war(Hansler 2016). The United States government instilled a strong sense of nationalistic pride for their country, and on the other hand, inspired hatred for the ‘enemy.’
Inspiring that level of nationalistic pride and hate for the enemy could not have been achieved without the help of the media. These include newspapers, books, radio, and film. These forms of media played an active role in fueling propaganda against the enemy. The propaganda material was specifically tailored to be racist while catering to the ideas of racial inferiority and ethnic supremacy(CNN). Based on the Propaganda fueled by American Media, America was portrayed as the civilized nation while that of the enemy was depicted to be barbaric and demonic.
Society was treated to a flood of propaganda from all quotas, including radio, film, books, newspapers, magazines, and advertisements. The result of this saw society brainwashed, its thoughts restricted to what the media deemed fit. Indeed, if left unsupervised the media has the power to dictate consciously or unconsciously what individuals think, how they feel, and how they react.
Admiral William Halsey, commander of the South Pacific Forces, is famous for his slogan and motto during the World War two, “kill Japs, Kill Japs, Kill More Japs- Remember Pearl Harbour, Keep em’ dying.” A literal inspection of this slogan goes beyond a just war and extend to genocide because they encourage the killing of all Japanese regardless of them being innocent civilians.
Framing fear
The use of propaganda to fuel hatred during world war two specifically targeting the Japanese Americans was a panic move, and so was the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese Americans. The decision to incarcerate Japanese Americans was prompted by the United States government fear of the threat that the Axis powers posed within the nation’s borders (G, 1970). By and large, the internment of Japanese Americans was a social experiment by the government, aimed at instilling fear within the Japanese American group as a means to instill loyalty among the minority group.
Considering the effects that the internment operation would attract, the United States government took to the media to fuel propaganda. The heavy reliance on the media was specifically tailored to spread validate the relocation of Japanese Americans to the American Public. During this time, Cinema’s were the most popular forms of entertainment, as such the government through federal entities partnered with the motion picture industry to produce films that brainwashed society. Such films include the Japanese internment (1943) and a Challenge to Democracy (1944).
The media justified the internment of Japanese Americans as a national security measure that was not informed by prejudice or discrimination. However, a thorough examination of the effects of internment points to the ulterior motive of forcefully removing the Japanese American community from their coastal homes.
The declaration of war on Japan by Franklin D. Roosevelt stretched the contours of a militant enemy to include bounds of nationality and the Japanese race entirely. The Japanese Americans were not a threat to national security, a fact that was proved by two independent investigations commissioned by Roosevelt along with the Justice Department, the FBI and Military intelligence. Despite there being intelligence that proved the innocence of Japanese Americans, the Roosevelt administration went on to create the War Relocation Authority whose primary mandate was rounding up and interning all people of Japanese descent in violation of their constitutional rights(Honolulu).
Federal Government’s Propaganda Through the Media
The federal government created the Office of war information to serve as the command center for running propaganda. In implementing its mandate, the Office of War information produced numerous propaganda materials ranging from posters, movies, newsreels, and radio shows(Hansler 2018).
The use of propaganda posters proved to be the most effective tactic of feeding society propaganda. These posters encouraged volunteerism. Volunteerism extended to encouraging citizens to actively engage in war through buying war bonds, in essence, money raised from war bonds was used to fund the war. This poster campaign was so effective that it raised 185 billion dollars from American citizens(Japanese Relocation).
The success of this tactic was based on the posters ability to appeal to the emotions of the target audience; one poster shows a young soldier waving goodbye to a loved one from a ship, with words ‘so we will meet again’ appearing at the top of the picture. This emotional appeal targeted relatives and friends of those fighting in the war to donate money. Another poster treated the audience to a racially exaggerated drawing of a Japanese man holding a white American woman hostage. The intention was to instill fear in the audience to force Americans to fund the war as a means to keep America safe.
All the propaganda posters targeted the Japanese and by extension Japanese Americans in a discriminatory and racist way(Huffington post). The discriminatory and racist theme inspired suspicion and hatred towards Japanese Americans while justifying the existence and continued detainment of Japanese Americans in the internment camps where they were trapped behind barbed wire fences and forced to take Americanization classes.
Up until today both the media and the government have remained tight-lipped in owning up on the biased press coverage of the Japanese internment. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor majority of the most influential media outlets backed the internment of the first generation of Japanese immigrants, as well as second and third generation Japanese Americans who were US citizens(Davis2011). Some of the prominent media outlets that supported internment include; The Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times; these outlets published articles in their newspapers that questioned the loyalty of ethnic Japanese, as if that was not enough some of these papers published unsubstantiated claims that the local Japanese community was helping their homeland plan attacks on the West coast.
Additionally, the US media launched a crusade in support of Lieutenant John L. De Witt, the Western Defense Commander who held that a Japanese fifth column exists on the West coast, De Witt openly stated this allegation that was subsequently printed on Newspapers for the general public to read. The allegations stated, ‘ A Jap is a jap, and that is all there is to it. I am speaking now of the Native-born Japanese, in the war in which we are now engaged, racial affinities are not severed by migration(Making Ammends for Slavery). The Japanese race is the enemy and while many second and third generations are born on the United States soil, possessed of United State Citizenship have become Americanized, the racial strains are undiluted(Barrow report).
On the day following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Los Angeles Times reported. ‘some Japanese could very well be law abiding citizens. However the rest may be we do not know, nor can we take the chance in light of yesterdays demonstration of treachery and double-dealing are major Japanese Weapons.’ In a subsequent article, the Times openly called for the removal of all Japanese from American soil claiming, “ A viper is nonetheless a viper wherever the egg is hatched- so a Japanese American, born of Japanese parents grows up to be a Japanese, not an American(Hansler 2018).
Some of the most respected columnists like Scripps- Howard columnist of Westbrook Pegler used the media as a platform to advocate for the execution of a hundred detained Japanese for every American killed in the war, he also advocated for the suspending of habeas corpus for all Japanese and for their placement under government surveillance. The implementation of the internment propaganda was so effective that even the few papers that dared to defend the Japanese minority changed their tone after the government warned of spies living amongst the Japanese Immigrants. The change of tone was out of governmental intimidation and scare tactics These scare tactics were employed by the California Attorney General Earl Warren, who testified to Congress that the Nation was being lulled into a false sense of security when it came to Japanese in America, “our day of reckoning is bound to come,” he warned, and the Nation needs to be prepared for this eventuality.
Forms of Media Used to Spread Propaganda
The literature and rhetoric at the time were designed to affect how people viewed the war and how they viewed the enemy. The content of visual art created during the war was extremely graphic and violent aimed at drawing the attention of large audiences. The use of graphic arts in spreading propaganda proved to be effective as compared to a printed article or quotes in newspapers which do not catch the attention of the target audience easily(Davis 2011).
As such, the use of graphic arts played a significant part in spreading political and social messages of America’s propaganda war effort. Indeed, the majority of the images created to spread propaganda remain to be symbols of their time. One of the most graphic and gruesome images created during the time is that of a Japanese soldier suggesting villainy; the Japanese soldier is portrayed throwing a naked woman sinisterly over his shoulder in an almost pornographic posture. The woman appears to be a victim of rape, the race of the woman suggests that she is American because she is white. The image is engraved with a message designed to instill fear in the target audience, “would you let this happen?”
This was a common technique used by American propagandists; they likened Japanese to animals like rats, snakes, and monkeys. This imagery of the Japanese being sub-human was key to undermining the humanity of the enemy. As such, the enemy was less human, thus justifying his killing.
Posters were also used to spread propaganda; the posters sounded a call to vigilance and war to the American people. The underlying message contained in the posters was that America had been maliciously attacked, and being a sovereign nation it would not take the attack lying down. ‘ Not only must America defend herself, but her enemies must be destroyed completely.’ The message contained in the posters maintained a constant reference to the bombing of Pearl Harbour, in effect reminded the American people why they had to go to war and why citizens should take an active role in the war through enlisting in the army or funding the war(Davis 2011).
United States Propaganda of Life at the Internment Camps
While the US government succeeded in assuring its citizens that the internment policy was justified, it remained imperative for Americans to believe that the Japanese Americans forced to live in the internment camps were happy.
The internment policy was enacted and implemented under the guise of protecting National security interests; Japanese-Americans were forcefully relocated from the west coast and moved to the interior in a coordinated effort aimed at preventing anti-American war activities including espionage and sabotage.
In an effort to reassure the public of the conditions in the camps, the Office of War information released a video in 1943. The video shows footage of the relocation camps, painting them in a positive light. The footage portrays life in the camp as normal save for the barbed wire and armed guards guarding the parameter fence. In the footage, there were schools, post offices, and even churches. Additionally, the video portrays the United States government as being prudent enough to offer the detainees an opportunity to work with pay limited to that of an Army private, in jobs like doctors, teachers, and farm laborers(Lewis 2016).
The film, A Challenge to Democracy that was produced by the WRA in conjunction with OWI and OSS, features as the most comprehensive United States government propaganda film. The film is about the Japanese American Internment and relocation program; the narrator goes on to state that the internment policy was a form of the evacuation of the Japanese Americans to wartime communities. He insists that the Japanese Americans were not prisoners and that they are not internees. However, the images in the film tell a different tale(Davis 2011).
However, the true reality dawned on those who fell under the edict of the Executive order 9066. They were given a six-day notice to wrap up their belonging and dispose their property before reporting with only what was portable to ferry to the temporary assembly centers. Life at the internment camps was far from normal; the Japanese Americans were placed under packed accommodations with poor provisions. Once in the internment camps, the Japanese Americans came to learn that their Americanness only existed on paper.
Majority of Japanese Americans spent the war years dislocated from their homes, friends, and family. They were prisoners in their own country, and their crime was being Japanese.
Impact of Racist Propaganda on Japanese Internment
Images created and channeled through the media for public consumption reveal the tensions and fears ignited by the conflicts between nations. The entirety of this propaganda embodied the entire Japanese nation as being a ruthless and animalistic enemy that needed and had to be defeated.
Different forms of racist propaganda were used to drive the internment agenda and permeated society as a common and preferred tool of warfare. In essence, propaganda is used to influence people psychologically in order to alter or control social perceptions. In the case of the racist propaganda employed to justify Japanese internment; the purpose was to change American perceptions towards the Japanese. One of the most preferred strategies used to accomplish this goal was fear tactic.
The racist propaganda was based on fallacious depictions of the Japanese. The influence of racial stereotypes is depicted in the Tokio kid poster, which displays a Japanese character brandishing a bloody knife, designed to portray the Japanese as murderers. The pointed ears and fangs serve to support the stereotype that the Japanese were subhuman(G, 1970).
Before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese American community enjoyed considerable prosperity in the Pacific Northwest. Although, this prosperity was to some extent limited by white racism limited that limited their ability to get jobs. However, this did not deter Japanese from enjoying relative success in entrepreneurial ventures and farming. Additionally, there were many young Japanese Americans that were highly educated. They actively engaged in organizations such as the Japanese-American citizens league. These groups were used as platforms for promoting civil rights through community education and mutual aid through less confrontational politics.
The end result of the racist propaganda on the Japanese living in America took a serious toll on every aspect of the lives of the innocent Japanese civilians. These losses extend to massive losses in the business interests of the Japanese who were forced to dispose their property in six days. The loss in business interests proves the sinister motive of the government attempt to regain possession of properties held by the Japanese Americans. This is not withstanding the fact that the government had put in place agricultural land-ownership barriers designed to protect the native-born farmers. Based on this evidence, it is clear that the internment of Japanese citizens was partially inspired by the California corporate agribusiness interests.
Conclusion
The Japanese internment was ended by a Supreme court ruling. On December 17th, 1944 U.S Major General Henry C. Pratt made the formal announcement that the federal government would officially end the exclusion order on January 2nd, 1945.Despite the George H. W Bush administration issuing each living internee $20,000 and a letter of apology, the effects of the internment continue to be felt by the Japanese American community.
This ugly chapter of American history is an ominous reminder of the combustible nature of hate politics. Public fear, ethnic scapegoating, political expedience and the disdain of civil liberties is the most shameful tactic that any government can unleash on innocent civilians. Roosevelt will forever be remembered for his famous phrase, ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ This fear includes; the nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which cripples needed efforts to convert failure into success. It is easy to overlook the fact that fear also has the effect of provoking a blind and unthinkable action like the internment of the Japanese.
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