The Anti-Asian Racism - Research Paper Example

What evidence is there of anti-Japanese racism prior to the US governments decision to place "all persons of Japanese ancestry" in concentration camps and evidence that this anti-Japanese racism played an important part in the decision? Name Tutor Collage Date INTRODUCTION In 1942, the American Government took around 80,000 Japanese American citizens into concentration camps (Saltinski 84-114). This was also done to other Japanese who could not have become the American citizens at that time due to various reasons. Using war as the scope goat, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made sure these people were denied their constitutional rights and moved into concentration camps. The act violated the United States of America constitution bill of rights. This was the period of World War Two, and Japanese had bombed the Pearl Harbor. Later in the Supreme Court, the United States government was able to prove that the action was solely due to the necessity during the war but not anti-Japanese racism. This research paper aims at exposing the existence of ant Japanese racism by exploring the period prior to the making of this historical decision. The research will be organized into subsections which are: anti-Asian racism; racism in the judicial system; executive order; the government stand and the conclusion. The anti-Asian racism This refers to the racial prejudice against the citizens of Asian origin who includes the Japanese. In the 1848, there was a shortage of labor in the west coast as well as Hawaii. It is but this duration the Japanese migration was encouraged by both governments to help in the provision of labor. The Chinese were the first to face discrimination in the America by the passing of laws which ensured they stayed in segregated areas. Some of the laws passed were outright unacceptable such as no Chinese could testify against a white person, engage in a profession, racial segregation in schools as well as restrictions in marrying whites (Hummel 285). As in the prejudice against the Asians intensified, the west coast leaders enacted laws which would ensure that the people who became American citizens had to be white, and of twenty one years. It was later that the African American was allowed the citizenship. This issue went into the extent that the political parties passed laws which made anti Japanese declarations. There was also the American legion that organized a committee to help in removal of Japanese from the ventures which they took as competitive. All these happened under the watch of the government. From the time the Japanese won the 1905 Russo- Japanese war, the Japanese American was taken as a troop that could help an invading army of Japan. As early as in 1936, the American president had started contemplating intermittent of some of the Japanese Americans. This was led by fears that the Japanese Americans lacked loyalty to the government and would be used by the Japanese government as spies. He had placed orders declaring that the Japanese Americans seen meeting the Japanese ships or having any connection with its officers to be put in a list of those to be placed in a special list. This was to enable the government to put those on the list in a concentration camp in case of any danger. The hate against Japanese intensified when natives noted that the Japanese Americans were leading a better life. This is due to the fact that the white population perceived this to be a threat to them. They could not bear it to see the prosperity of the Japanese people in the city like California. It was later in 1913 that the government barred the Japanese from legislation in the labor movement (Chander 2-6). Even before the decision, to relocate the Japanese into the concentration camps, the west coast had been having native groups who sought to have the Japanese Americans to be excluded. The main source of the hate between the two groups was the competition especially in the agricultural sector. Groups which were against the Japanese existence on the area included those in California like the Native Sons of the Golden West. These groups had one common goal; the elimination of the Japanese from the area. It was clear even before the world war two that the Japanese were perceived to be taking the occupancy of the area in which they were unwanted. It is also crucial to note that the sentiments against the Japanese were taking place long before the world war two in the presence of the government of the America. To prove the extend of these prejudices, there were the press which also tolerated the anti-Asian sentiments (Chander 6-12). Looking at the laws which were in existence before the period of war, it was evident that they favored the whites while suppressing their Asian counter parts. The law on immigration did not allow the Japanese migrating to United States to become the country citizens by naturalization. This was only a provision for those who were pure whites’ up to 1970. The Japanese who were there then were branded as aliens hence they had no right to be the United States citizens. There was also passing of the laws which made it impossible for those branded as aliens a chance to own the land. One of those laws was the Alien Land Law in 1913 which denied those not born in America their rights to own the property (Chander 5). The racism against the Japanese American was there even before the attack on Pearl Harbor and was proved on the retaliation attack with the atomic bomb on Japan. The racial judicial system The United States government used the judicial system to deny Japanese their rights even prior to 1942. The Supreme Court had prior to war been showing a trend that it catered less for the Japanese. The court was behind the denial of the right of citizenship to the Japanese Americans. The rulings by the court inmost of the time revealed that it was not taking the Japanese Americans as the citizens of that country who had right for justice. It was evident that the court resented the Japanese hence the judgment it passed were against the Japanese Americans. This could only be taken to be denial of the citizen’s right which was done by their own government. After the order, the Japanese who went against it were prosecuted. The judges at the time were still prejudiced and gave rulings which were unjust. The argument by the prosecuted Japanese that the military order ought not to be executed on citizens was rejected. Racial segregation which was being carried out by the government was upheld by the judicial system. It was later asserted as the failure of the judicial system as the system allowed racial prejudice to account in its rulings (Rostow 493-515) In the year 2011, the solicitor general of the United States, reported findings of the trials before the Supreme Court involving the Japanese Americans. The findings were able to show that the attorney general Charles Fahy withheld a report. The report which was drafted as naval intelligence was withheld so that he could be able to justify the Roosevelt action against the Japanese Americans. This report would have proved that there was no necessity for the military action against the Japanese Americans as they were not a threat to the country (Saltinski 96). The operation which was carried was racial and malicious directed to the Japanese American. Later it took more than a half a century for the victims of the concentration camp to be compensated. The amount that they received was little compared to the agony they had to undergo. The executive order The American government signed the executive order three months after the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor. With this order, all the people whose origin was Japan were to be evacuated. The evacuees could not carry most of their belonging, and they had to sell out their business. This order was inhuman and lacked responsibility for the American citizens of the Japanese origin. President Roosevelt seemed to have deep resentment against the Asians as were most of the Americans at that time. It is perceived that Roosevelt was influenced by his advisors who were racists. They had a believe that the Japanese had terrorist tendency in their blood. The aliens (Americans of Japanese) which now were taken to be enemies were imposed curfews (Saltinski 84-114). By enacting this order, the evacuation program coasted Americans tax payers more than a quarter billion dollars. The citizens were denied their rights to have a decent life as well as the loss of their properties. Decision and racism This decision by president could have been caused by many factors. The most probable factor at the time was the deep harbored resentment against the Japanese. The press broadcasted on the issue intending to put fear to citizens toward the Japanese. The Japanese Americans had to face the unjust press, as well as government; it was evident to the Japanese that the evacuation was as a result of racial prejudice. This was further confirmed by the General of the Western Command (General DE Wit) who said that a” Jap is a Jap” claiming he did not want to see them as they were dangerous element. Looking at the General statement, the hate for the Asian was portrayed as he took them dangerous people compared to the other races in that country. The name Jap referred to the Japanese and was taken as an insult to them. Taking the fact that the Americans hated the Japanese, they were in the front to call for the evacuation of the Japanese in January 1942. The treatment against the Japanese was from the fact that the community had been shown on how to hate the Japanese (Daniels 46). The previous racial prejudice took a prominent part in determining the Japanese destiny after the Pearl Harbor attack. Other factors, which may have contributed little in this, were the economic position of this group. The Japanese American was more successful in their ventures especially in the agriculture. This had led to resentment from the natives. The Government stand The way the government conducted itself during the period of relocating the Japanese Americans indicated a lot on the way they past feeling toward them was. It showed that the government had been having racial grudge against the Japanese Americans. In the event of this mistreatment against the citizens of Japanese origin, the American government took a stand that they were protecting America from the Japan attack. They wanted public to believe that the Japanese were acting as informers and needed to be secluded and kept under watch. The government tried to make the public believe that the offering of intermittent program was the most viable solution for the safety of Native Americans as well as Japanese Americans. There were footages which showed Japanese Americans content in their camps so as to convince the society that the programme was the best option (Saltinski 84-114). During this period of the world war two, there was a lot that went on the media that were aimed to bring a negative image on the Japanese Americans. This was supported by the government by allowing it to go on in the cinemas as well as in the homes. The media also portrayed the Japanese as cruel and barbaric to the Native American society. Using these negative stereotypes, the government led to instilling racism. The propaganda was spread which was full of stereotypes. This led to Americans hating the Japanese as people rather than be driven by the need to defeat them in the war. Using pictures which depicted them as apes as well as various beasts, the Japanese Americans were portrayed by the American war sources to humiliate them and show them as an inferior race. They were rounded up as animals and were forced to stay in inhuman conditions. This was against the ethics and conduct of the country which was expected to unite its citizens irrespective of their origin. The Japanese were shown to soldiers as fanged animals so as to help instill hate toward them. It was intended to show the Japanese to Americans as not human so that killing them would be seen as only the right action. The Japanese under the programme were faced with the hardest living conditions possible. The social amenities were lacking as well as their hygienic conditions were not catered for (J.tenBroek 26-29). The Japanese American faced the crises which were imposed by their own government. Conclusion According to this research, there is reasonable evidence to show that there existed anti Japanese racism prior to the enactment of the executive order. The findings in the pre World War 2 show clearly that the whites resented the Asian counterparts. This later came to target the Japanese who were in the country irrespective of whether they were American Japanese or the new Japanese immigrants. The rights of the American Japanese were infringed, and they were treated as in the most unjust manner. The American government failed to prove the reason of its action in moving the Japanese. The executive order by the president seems to have been as a result of the hatred that was there prior to the bombardment of the Pearl Harbor. The attack on the Pearl Harbor acted to fuel the much awaited eradication of the Japanese from areas such as west coast. The Supreme Court was misused even prior to the attack on the Pearl Harbor. This was one of the worst things that a government would ever do to a certain race. The enactment of the laws which were passed by the court system led to instilling racial prejudice against the Japanese American. This prejudiced court system led to hatred directed towards the Japanese Americans who were seen as an outsider despite being part of the country citizens. The hatred against a race was the most disgraceful thing that the government helped grow in its community by enacting laws which encouraged it. This should have been prevented at all costs by any country which safeguards the citizen’s rights. . This is hatred that later led to the American president making the decision of passing the executive order. Infact the attack on Pearl Harbor led to worsening a situation which was already was from 1800. References Chander, Anupam. "The Internment of Japanese Americans." Legalized Racism (2001): 2-6. Daniels, Roger. The Decision to Relocate the Japanese Americans. New York: J.B. Lippincott Co, 1975. Hummel, Jeffrey Rogers. "Not just Japanese Americans: The untold Story of U.S. Repression During The Good War." Instute For Historical Review vol 7 (1987): 285. J. tenBroek, E.N. Barnhart and F.W. Matson. , Prejudice, War and The Constitution: Causes and Consequences of the Evacuation of the Japanese Americans in World War II. Cslifornia: (Berkeley University of California Press, 1954. Rostow, Eugene V. "The Japanese American Cases." The Yale Law Journal 54 (1945): p . 489. Saltinski, Ronald. "Americas Concentration Camps : Anniversary of a National Injustice." International Journal of Humanities and social science vol 5 (2012): 83- 112. Read More