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Joseph P Kiszeli Professor Daniel Thorburn HIS 401 16 Jan 2008
An essay concerning Manzanar
On 19 February 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed executive order # 9066. This put into motion a summation of the attitude of Anglo Americans of the United States. On 26 October 2001 the Patriot Act was signed into law (Public Law 107-56). Both executive reactions were done because of a horrific act committed to the People of the United States. Both Executive Order #9066 and Public Law 107-56 were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States. Changes were then instituted to correct the unconstitutionality of these two mandates. The nature of American democracy is reactionary. The history of the United States is littered with this evidence.
How could a country founded on freedoms put an entire race of people into internment camps? What other historical events show an intolerance towards a race of people by the United States?
According to Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston her family was told to move on 25 February 1942, this began her family’s change in their lives as Japanese Americans. They were interned at the Manzanar “War Relocation Center” as the sign at the front gate read. This was a reaction by the United States, to an act of war by the Empire of Japan. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This was the home of the United States Navy’s Pacific fleet. The military advantage and success for this attack was outstanding. With this success and an atmosphere of anti Japanese feelings already on the west coast, from laws like Chinese Exclusion Act; May 6, 1882, and 1911 Alien Land Law. The next step was going to be internment. Regardless of the constitution of the United States, people wanted an eye for an eye now. So under the legal jargon of a presidential order the interment began. In Executive Order 9066 it dose not target a specific race of people. This puts the United States under a martial law and has the “Secretary of War and said Military Commanders to TAKE SUCH OTHER STEPS as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem…” (4) The order is too vague for interment not to happen. The American people were reacting to a strong threat by the Japanese. People of the West Coast being attacked was a real fear on everyone’s mind. Examples of theses fears are as follows: On 23 February 1942 a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired some shells into the Goleta, California oil refinery. This was a real event by the Japanese military. A few days later on the 25th the “LA AIR RAID” took place with no actual Japanese military taking part. This shows the hysteria and substantiated fear, which was prevalent on the west cost. Some of the history of overreaction by the U.S., which supports the racist or discriminatory actions, will be discussed next.
The September 11th, 2001 the attacks buy Al-Qaeda was a turning point in U.S. history. The United States reacted swiftly to the act of war, by bombing Afghanistan then attacking and establishing a moderate pro “Western” government in Afghanistan. They also put together a Law that sailed through Congress it is The Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001). (7) This Law gives Government authority to spy on citizens, with out court orders or notification of those being spied on. According to the ACLU this law destroys your right to privacy. (8) Again this is the American Government reacting to an extreme situation.
Kuwait was invaded by Iraq in 1990. An international out cry was raised and coalition of forces led by the United States. This assembled coalition attacks Iraq and drives them out of Kuwait. The first time the United Nations actually worked as a world force. These are some most recent examples of reactions by the U.S. Some more examples relating to the anti Asian theme are as follows.
Spanish American war is another example of our reactionary government. William Randolph Hearst the news paper king did sway public opinion with his “yellow journalism”. He coined the phrase “Remember the Main”. This appeared on the front page of his National paper. The U.S. then puts together an expeditionary force for invading Cuba. War is declared with Spain on April 25, 1898. During this time the Philippines were a strong point for the Spanish in the Pacific. The U.S. Pacific Fleet receives orders for sailing to Manila, Philippines to engage the Spanish. After a few skirmishes in Cuba and Philippines, the Spanish surrendered. A peace treaty was signed in Paris, France with Spain. This now gave the U.S. control over Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines.
The Americans would now have a presence in the Asian world. Unfortunately the attitude that accompanied our presents was one of superiority towards the Asian people. During the occupation of the Philippines, independence was being sought by the Filipinos. The U.S. was reluctant to turn over the Philippines for self rule. An argument came upon the senate floor for staying the course. It stated that the Filipinos were “unprepared for self government” (4). A Filipino resistance to our occupation was then started. This lead to a new type of warfare it was termed “Guerilla warfare.” Guerilla warfare was being fought by the Filipinos against the American military and it was very successful. This would then be used against the Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines during WW II. Our occupation lasted until 1939.
A treaty had already been signed with Japan brokered by Commodore Matthew Perry, on 31 March 1854. This treaty opened Japanese ports to foreign trade. During this time the Japanese and American cultures had been mixing, but not to appoint of mutual trust. President Roosevelt had to intervene when San Francisco in 1907 passed a Law segregating Japanese students from public school. President Roosevelt came up with a “Gentleman’s Agreement” to please both parties.
Over the course of this discussion the attitude of the American public and government was shown to have anti- Asian or one of superiority over the Asian people. We went back to the Occupation of the Philippines after the Spanish American war. The first anti- Asian law was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. (5) These key events aided in the justification of internment and setting an attitude towards Asians.
Once executive order # 9066 was signed on 19 February 1942, events moved rather quickly for Japanese Americans. They were given 48 hours to secure all property. In this atmosphere of hysteria humane nature was going to show its true nature. The Japanese culture is family based with the father as the head of the family. The fist action by the government is to arrest the head of a family. Now the family is disrupted. From an interrogation stand point you now have an advantage over your prisoner. What is going on with my family? Are they safe? Could you handle this type of a situation thrust upon you?
We have a chapter devoted to the interrogation of Mr.Wakatsuki. The questioning is most interesting by the Federal agent. This shows he had no understanding of Japanese culture, another example of the government reacting without a direction. Question: “Who do you want to win the war?” Mr. Wakatsuki answers with the wisdom of a grand master. His answer: “When your mother and your father are having a fight, do you want them to kill each other? Or do you just want them to stop fighting?” (9) That answer is a direct reflection of Japanese culture and wisdom. We learn that Mr. Wakatsuki become an interrupter for the Federal interrogators. This shows a lack of forethought by the government to handle any type of interrogations. They were given a job of talking to the evil Japanese and had no person that was capable of speaking Japanese. Now they had to turn to the imprisoned for assistance. Upon arrival the camp is not ready for visitors. Let’s look at a time line for this event. Dec.7, 1941 Japanese attack Pear Harbor the nation is shocked at the brilliance of the Empire of Japan. On February 19, 1942 executive order # 9066 is signed by the President. Then February 25, 1942 the Wakatsuki family is told they have forty eight hours to move. Quick math give the U.S. government six days to build housing for 100,000 Japanese Americans. The SEA BEES are good but not that good. Now if the Marine Engineers were assigned the task probably seven days. Point here is that the government had not taken the time to put the logistics together for the relocation.
Manzanar had a religious outlook as well. Buddhists was a higher percentage but Christian religion was also present. Since the Buddhists were considered a Japanese religion and Christian was a western was there some effort to have the prisoners change to a Christianity. The author talks about how the Catholic Church is having classes on becoming a Catholic and she was showing an interest in being baptized. But her father objected and that was that. His fear was loosing the Japanese tradition. “You get baptized now, how you going to find a good Japanese boy to marry?”(9) His family had a culture and traditions that had a place in Japanese society. It was his job to keep the traditions moving on to the next generation. Christianity was a threat to these traditions. During the pacification of Native Americans, a technique was used to take the children from the tribe. They would introduce them to Anglo American life styles and culture. Object was to erase their Indian culture, make them more Anglo. Was the interment a process of possibly eliminating a culture and making them more Anglo?
Another example of the reactionary style of the U.S. government is the handling of American Japanese assets. On March 12, 1942 the Secretary of Treasury designated the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to handle all Japanese American property. Farm and Farm equipment was given to the Farm Security Administration. (6) The interment camp was to be closed on December 1, 1945. It took until 1948 in a Supreme Court decision Oyama v. California to return monies lost at 10 cents to every lost $1.00. (6)
What historical dynamics allowed for the internment? What was the impact? What doses the interment suggest about the nature of American democracy?
Internment losses: Property, Economic, Family.
Conclusions: Unconstitutional all laws passed.
Webliography
1. http://www.library.cornell.edu/ 2. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:h.r.03162: 3. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Standard 2005 4. http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5154 Executive Order 9066 5. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/statutes/chinese_exclusion_act.htm 6. http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/intern01.htm 7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act 8. http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17343res20031114.html 9. Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston ISBN0-553-27258-6 (1973) Houghton Mifflin Company: pg.64, pg. 115 10. http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html
