Ryan Moya Dr. Fairbanks
U.S History 1312
Relocation of Japanese Americans
In 1941, the United States was very sure that a conflict with Japan was inevitable. World War II was breaking out all over Europe and Japan was starting to invade China. When the invasion of China occurred the emperor agreed to negotiate some terms the U.S had asked for but not all. The U.S was not going to back down and started an embargo on Oil, something that Japan desperately needed from the U.S. Japan was angry and in September of 1941 the U.S had intercepted a message implying that Pearl Harbor would be attacked. Immediately Roosevelt called upon Charles Munson to began investigating the Japanese on the West Coast …show more content…
"There is no Japanese `problem' on the Coast ... There is far more danger from Communists and people of the Bridges type on the Coast than there is from Japanese”[Munson Report]. The report broke the Japanese living on the coast into three different categories: The ISSEI -- First generation of Japanese who are considered weaken by their loyalties to the emperor and the motherland. They are still Japanese citizens but do break from their motherland and their culture in order to secure a better future for their children. The NISEI - second generation Americans educated entirely in America and who show an extreme eagerness to be American despite all the racial ignorance directed towards them. The last was the SANSEI - usually the third generation and child or baby and no threat at all. The report talks about how even with investigating these generations of Japanese there is no threat and there would not be an uprising of Japanese on the West Coast. …for the most part, the local Japanese are loyal to the U.S. or, at worst, hope that by remaining quiet they can avoid concentration camps or irresponsible mobs. We do not believe that they would be at least any more disloyal than any other racial group in the United States with whom we went to war [Munson]. Despite the report and the recommendation from Munson, the President ignored it and issued Executive …show more content…
This was a time in the U.S where we feared what we did not know and the Japanese being very private and family oriented were something we did not quite understand yet. They didn't look like other immigrants in most cases they were not Christians. This was not different than the racial treatment of Blacks and Catholics of the early 20’s with the exception that Blacks and Catholics had no tie to bombing any military base. Given the information that Roosevelt was given in the Munson report before there would of been no reason for his interment of any Japanese Americans. He later said that the relocation of for the protection of the Japanese but one report given by a Japanese American in the camp stated the irony when he said “If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?" Fear of the unknown is the only logical conclusion I can come up to given all the information the president chose to
U.S History 1312
Relocation of Japanese Americans
In 1941, the United States was very sure that a conflict with Japan was inevitable. World War II was breaking out all over Europe and Japan was starting to invade China. When the invasion of China occurred the emperor agreed to negotiate some terms the U.S had asked for but not all. The U.S was not going to back down and started an embargo on Oil, something that Japan desperately needed from the U.S. Japan was angry and in September of 1941 the U.S had intercepted a message implying that Pearl Harbor would be attacked. Immediately Roosevelt called upon Charles Munson to began investigating the Japanese on the West Coast …show more content…
"There is no Japanese `problem' on the Coast ... There is far more danger from Communists and people of the Bridges type on the Coast than there is from Japanese”[Munson Report]. The report broke the Japanese living on the coast into three different categories: The ISSEI -- First generation of Japanese who are considered weaken by their loyalties to the emperor and the motherland. They are still Japanese citizens but do break from their motherland and their culture in order to secure a better future for their children. The NISEI - second generation Americans educated entirely in America and who show an extreme eagerness to be American despite all the racial ignorance directed towards them. The last was the SANSEI - usually the third generation and child or baby and no threat at all. The report talks about how even with investigating these generations of Japanese there is no threat and there would not be an uprising of Japanese on the West Coast. …for the most part, the local Japanese are loyal to the U.S. or, at worst, hope that by remaining quiet they can avoid concentration camps or irresponsible mobs. We do not believe that they would be at least any more disloyal than any other racial group in the United States with whom we went to war [Munson]. Despite the report and the recommendation from Munson, the President ignored it and issued Executive …show more content…
This was a time in the U.S where we feared what we did not know and the Japanese being very private and family oriented were something we did not quite understand yet. They didn't look like other immigrants in most cases they were not Christians. This was not different than the racial treatment of Blacks and Catholics of the early 20’s with the exception that Blacks and Catholics had no tie to bombing any military base. Given the information that Roosevelt was given in the Munson report before there would of been no reason for his interment of any Japanese Americans. He later said that the relocation of for the protection of the Japanese but one report given by a Japanese American in the camp stated the irony when he said “If we were put there for our protection, why were the guns at the guard towers pointed inward, instead of outward?" Fear of the unknown is the only logical conclusion I can come up to given all the information the president chose to