Japanese Internment

In the United States during World War II, nearly 120,000 American citizens were incarcerated in prison camps. The U.S. government took away the constitutional rights of the Japanese Americans, justifying it  “on the grounds of military necessity” (Daniels). This act has been considered one of the United States’ worst mistakes. It is important not to forget this time in our history. If we forget, then we could repeat our past mistakes and imprison more Americans. Even now, there is prejudice against immigrants. With the prejudices against the Muslims and the Hispanic immigrants, we are starting down a path that will only lead to injustice. In a way, we are already repeating history.

All this prejudice, hatred and anti-sentiment against the Japanese Americans started in 1853. Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into the Tokyo Harbor and forced the then isolationist nation of Japan to open its doors. Japan had been in a state of isolation for 214 years. After Perry’s arrival, Japan underwent extensive social transformation. In 1863, only ten years after Perry’s arrival, there was social upheaval and a decline in agriculture due to rapid urbanization and industrialization. This marked the start of Japanese Immigration to the United States.

However, before this, thousands of Chinese men came over to America during the California Gold Rush. The Chinese were not well received in America. There was often competition with the Irish immigrants over railroad labor. Many Irish immigrants started a slogan: “The Chinese Must Go!” The aim was to end Chinese immigration. In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring Chinese immigrants from coming to the U.S. It was after Chinese immigration was halted that Japanese immigration started.

Pretty much as soon as Japanese immigrants landed in the United States, sentiment towards them began to arise. Which so much hate towards the Chinese, this prejudice was passed on to the Japanese and other Asiatic immigrants.

We can still see anti-sentiment towards immigrants today. It may not be as harsh as it was in the 1800s and the 1900s but, people are still affected by this. Many people come up to America from Mexico and take jobs that we, Americans, would not take. Politicians on are fighting over immigration reform, much like how they how they fought over the Chinese Exclusion Act. Again, we are taking steps towards repeating the injustice that happened to the Japanese Americans.      

We came very near to repeating history after 9/11. There were many innocent Muslims (most were American citizens) who were targeted by the U.S. government due to their religion and their ethnicity. Some where even placed in prison for weeks until they were proven not to be a threat. Many of them didn’t even know why they were being targeted. Just like the Japanese Americans, these American citizens’ rights were stripped.

This is why it is important to remember what we did in the past. If we do, we could repeat the injustices that happened in our country. We are already taking steps towards repeat our past mistakes, but this time to the Hispanics and the Muslims.

~Bridget

   

Works Cited

Daniels, Roger. Prisoners without Trial: Japanese Americans in World War II. New York: Hill and Wang, 1993. Print.

"Immigration... Japanese." Library of Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.