Japanese American Day of RemembranceSouth Seattle Community CollegeFebruary 15, 2012

Why have a “Day of Remembrance”?• In February1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

signed Executive Order 9066, the presidential mandate that ordered 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to be imprisoned in incarceration camps during World War II.

• The “Day of Remembrance” is an annual observance of the signing of Executive Order 9066.

• The day provides an ongoing reminder about the dangers of ever repeating the same offense against other individuals.

1790-1940

Immigration and discrimination

The Japanese American story includes immigration and discrimination before WWII. Like many other groups, the Japanese came to the United States for opportunity. However, through government decisions, the first Japanese immigrants were not allowed to become citizens or own land.

1790

• Naturalization Act:

• "any alien, being a free white person who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for a term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof."

1875

• No Citizenship for Asians

• The phrase "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent" is added to the1790 Naturalization Act, granting citizenship to freed slaves but still denying it to Japanese and other Asian immigrants.

• The ban will last until 1952.

1882

• Chinese Exclusion Act

• Ends Chinese immigration for the next sixty years.

• Creates a labor shortage, leading to increased immigration from Japan to the United States.

1885

• Japanese laborers come to Hawaii:

• Recruited by plantation owners to work the sugarcane field

1887

• Japanese immigrate to U.S. mainland

1894

• Citizenship denied by court

• U.S. district court rules that Japanese immigrants cannot become citizens because they are not "free white" persons, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 requires.

1900

• Anti-Japanese movement

• The first large-scale anti-Japanese protest is held in California, organized by various labor groups.

1908: Gentlemen’s Agreement

• Japan and the United States make agreement to stop the migration of Japanese laborers to the United States.

• However, Japanese women are allowed to immigrate if they are wives of U.S. residents.

1913: First Alien Land Law

• California passes the law forbidding “all aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning land. This law targeted Japanese who were becoming successful farmers

• Twelve other states adopted similar laws, including Washington state.

1924: Immigration Act

• Ends all Japanese immigration to the U.S.

1941-1942

World War II begins

• Japan bombs U.S. ships and planes at the Pearl Harbor military base in Hawaii. More than 3,500 servicemen are wounded or killed. Martial law is declared in Hawaii.

Attack on Pearl HarborDecember 7, 1941

1941• FBI begins arresting

Japanese immigrants on prewar "ABC" lists of potential subversives:• Buddhist priests,• Japanese language

teachers, • newspaper publishers, • heads of organizations.

• Within 48 hours, 1,291 are detained at Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) stations.

Picture: Japanese Americans were ordered to surrender their radios and cameras

Declaration of warDecember 8, 1941

• Congress approves the declaration of war presented by the President.

Source: Wikipedia

War Time Hysteria

• Many Americans reacted with fear and anger when the Japanese military attacked the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor

• False reports of spying and sabotage by Japanese Americans and immigrants combined with racial prejudice brought feelings of hate against all people of Japanese ancestry.

Propaganda

FBI searches and arrestsJanuary-May 1942

• The FBI searches thousands of Japanese American homes for "contraband" such as shortwave radios, cameras, heirloom swords, and explosives used for clearing stumps.

• The FBI arrests more "suspect" Issei, first-generation Japanese.

• Thousands of these men will be held for the duration of the war in Department of Justice and U.S. Army incarceration camps, separate from their families.

Executive Order 9066February 19, 1942

• President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066

• Authorizing military authorities to exclude civilians from any area without trial or hearing.

Exclusion Orders issued to send people of Japanese descent to “assembly centers”March-October 1942

• The first Civilian Exclusion Order is issued by the Army for Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington.

• 108 exclusion orders are issued across the West Coast.

What would you bring?

• Each person was only allowed to bring what he or she could carry, which meant leaving behind or selling homes, businesses, clothing, furniture, pets, and other possessions and personal items

Sent to Assembly centersMarch 1942

92,000 men, women, and children are sent temporarily to live in “assembly centers,” mostly race tracks and fairgrounds, while incarcerated camps are being constructed where they will later live.

Puyallup Fairgrounds became the Assembly Center for Washington, known as “Camp Harmony”

1942-1944

Incarceration of citizens

Map of the relocation of Japanese Americans on the West Coast

Source: National Park Service

The Exclusion area : any Japanese person living in that area was removed

1942:110,000 people are sent to WRA incarceration camps called “relocation centers”• Ten camps set in sparsely populated and

isolated areas.• Two-thirds of the incarcerees are U.S.

citizens.

The Incarceration Camps

Minidoka:Idaho• Populatio

n: 9,397

Poston:Arizona• Pop.:17,81

4

Rohwer:Arkansas• Pop.:

8,475

Topaz:UtahPop: 8,130

Tule Lake:CaliforniaPop.:18,789

The Incarceration Camps

Gila River: Arizona• Population: 13,

248

Granada: Colorado• Population: 7,318

Heart Mountain: Wyoming•Population: 10,767

Jerome:

ArkansasPopulation: 8,497

Manzanar: CaliforniaPopulation: 10,767

Loyalty is questioned at the camp:“Loyalty questionnaire"February 6, 1943

• The U.S. Army and the War Relocation Authority (WRA) produce questionnaires for all WRA incarcerees seventeen years of age and older.

• Both questionnaires contain two questions (27 & 28) that cause confusion and controversy for incarcerees.

The Loyalty Questions that caused controversy within the Japanese community: #27

27. Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?

The Loyalty Questions that caused controversy within the Japanese community: #28

28. Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor , or any other foreign government, power, or organization?

Depending on how you answered questions #27 and #28….

Answered “NO”

Labeled “disloyal” to the United

StatesTransferred to

Tule Lake incarceration

camp – a segregated

camp

Answered

“YES”Eligible for U.S. Military service

Eligible for release and

resettlement in areas outside West Coast

“Resettlement”1942• Term used by The War Relocation Authority (WRA)

to migrate the Japanese Americans from the camps during WWII.

• Those who were allowed to leave the camps for “resettlement” could not return to the West Coast; they were told to move to the eastern and northern areas of the United States.

Military: Serving in WWII

1943: War Department announces a segregated unit

of Japanese American soldiers, the 100th

Battalion/442nd Combat Team

10,000 Japanese American men volunteer for the armed services

from Hawaii. 1,200 from the camps volunteer

1944: Military Draft. More than 33,000

Japanese Americans serve in the military

Approximately 300 refuse to be

inducted

Military Intelligence Service (M.I.S.): 5,000 Japanese

Americans soldiers train as Japanese language specialists

The 100th Battalion/442nd Combat Team become the

most decorated U.S. military unit

Yasui, Hirabayashi, and Korematsu

Supreme Court Cases

Supreme Court CasesYasui (1943) Hirabayashi (1943) Korematsu (1944)Resisted the curfew orders

Resisted the exclusion orders

Resisted the exclusion orders

U.S. Supreme Court held the application of curfews against citizens is constitutional.

U.S. Supreme Court held the application of curfews against members of a minority group were constitutional when the nation was at war with the country from which that group originated.

U.S. sided with the government, ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional.

Legal appeals1983-1988

• The wartime convictions of Gordon Hirabayashi, Minoru Yasui, and Fred Korematsu (the three men who protested the curfew and/or exclusion orders) are vacated, or "nullified," because of government misconduct.

Photo: Hirabayashi, Yasui, and Korematsu in 1983.Source: Rafu Shimpo

1945-present

End of war, redress

1945- 1946 Incarceration Camps Close

• Thousands have nowhere to go after losing their homes and jobs. Many are afraid of anti-Japanese hostility and refuse to leave the camps.

Redress Movement1970s-1980s• A national movement

from Japanese Americans and their supporters to obtain an apology and compensation from the U.S. government for wrongful actions during WWII

• Sought redress from all three branches of the federal government

Photo: Seattle Evacuation Redress Committee

Congressional public hearings on the Japanese American incarceration1981

• The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians hold public hearing in Washington D.C. to investigate the incarceration.

• 20 cities hold hearings

Picture: Hearing in Seattle

Civil Liberties ActAugust 10, 1988• President Ronald Reagan

signs HR 442 into law. • Acknowledges that the

incarceration of more than 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent was unjust.

• Offers an apology and reparation payment of $20,000 to each person incarcerated under Executive Order 9066.

RedressOctober 9, 1990

• The first nine redress payments are made to the oldest surviving Japanese at a Washington D.C. ceremony.

1978: Mayor Charles Royer of Seattle signing the Day of Remembrance proclamation

Apology by President Bill Clinton1993

“Today, on behalf of your fellow Americans, I offer a sincere apology to you for the actions that unfairly denied Japanese Americans and their families fundamental liberties during World War II.

In passing the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, we acknowledged the wrongs of the past and offered redress to those who endured such grave injustice. In retrospect, we understand that the nation’s actions were rooted deeply in racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a lack of political leadership. We must learn from the past and dedicate ourselves as a nation to renewing the spirit of equality and our love of freedom. Together, we can guarantee a future with liberty and justice for all.”

- Bill Clinton

Congressional Gold MedalOctober 5, 2010President Barrack Obama signed S.1055, granting the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and Military Intelligence Service.The medal states in part, "The United States remains forever

indebted to the bravery, valor, and dedication to country that these men faced while fighting a two-front battle of discrimination at home and fascism abroad. Their commitment demonstrates a highly uncommon and commendable sense of patriotism and honor."

• To help us Reflect and Educate one another- that we can Empower ourselves and Take Action so that events like this may never happen again.

Day of Remembrance at South Seattle Community College2012

Mary Matsuda Gruenewald

• Mary grew up on Vashon Island and was a 16 year old girl when she was sent to an incarceration camp with her family.

• She wrote a book called “Looking Like the Enemy” to tell her story of being in the camps.

Welcome Mary to South!

Mark Mitsui

• Former Vice President of Student Services at South Seattle Community College

• Current President of North Seattle Community College

• His family were sent to the incarceration camps and served in the U.S. Military

Welcome back Mark to South!