Blog #35: Home was a Horse Stall

Japanese internment camps were put into place by Executive Order 9066, or the Civilian Exclusion Order No. 27, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was very unfair to Japanese Americans, because they were forced out of their homes, when in reality, many of them did not support the Japanese bombing at all. The majority of Japanese Americans were actually saddened that their people had become the enemy, and they lost much pride in their Japanese roots.

Here are my reactions to Sox's story:

1. The story about Sox is sad, because although she did not support the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, people were still suspicious about her family and people with similar heritage.

2. It is disappointing that thousands of American citizens were forced to sleep in horse stalls and burn their valued Japanese treasures. The fact that Sox was so happy to give her possessions to someone else (rather than burn it) really demonstrates how much Japanese Americans did not want their past to be lost.

3. I understand how tensions were high within the U.S. at this time, and I understand how people were quite paranoid, but the fact that so many people suffered as a result is not a good thing at all. It is frustrating that the Kataokas had worked so hard to have a good life in America, and now it was all taken away based on an assumption that was not true.

In 1988, this story was somewhat "repaired" when people pushed for laws that would prevent something like internment camps from ever happening in America again. As a result, the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was established. This gave each surviving internee $20,000 to make up for their hardships. It also gave Alaskans compensation who had been relocated as a result of a Japanese invasion. Additionally, this act created a fund for teaching the public about the internment experience.

Notice for Japanese Americans to evacuate the area (preparing them to move to internment camps)

                                        

                                              Japanese Americans eating in an internment camp

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, people were paranoid that everyone with Japanese heritage was an enemy, and as a result, Japanese people were excluded from society. In a way, this is similar to when in the 18th and 19th centuries, black people were segregated from whites. In both instances, although not for the exact same reasons, a group of people were segregated from the rest of Americans and were forced to live as inferiors.