ASIA AM 10W Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: War Relocation Authority, Executive Order 9066, Japanese Americans
1 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
All credits give to Professor Fong, K.N.. Direct quotations are directly from the
professor’s slides. Others is either paraphrased or summarized.
Midterm
● Stay outside classroom and hand in at least one new bluebook
● Use blue or black pen
● Spread out and sit
● Cover from the first lecture to today’s lecture, including both lectures and readings
Japanese American Incarceration
● “Over 110,000 Japanese immigrants and American citizens incarcerated during WWII
(1942-1945)”
○ Not happen in vacuum: Japanese Americans’ information (especially those
identified as leaders and potential “threats”) are collected by US before war
● Pearl Harbor
○ After Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbor on 12/07/1941, FBI arrested Japanese
American leaders
○ Japanese Americans (JA) experienced fear and uncertainty, faced hostility,
racism, and discrimination
● “The Fifth Column on the Coast” stated that JA should be removed from the west
coast because they are “spies or saboteurs”
○ Foreigner racialization: JA are assumed to have alliance with Japan even though
they are born in US and are US citizens
● “Feb.19, 1942, FDR signs Executive Order 9066”
○ West coast is designated military zone/defense zone because it is thought to be
vulnerable to Japanese military and JA → remove JA
○ Intense pressure from US military, the public, and the press
○ JA have “one week to report to temporary assembly center,” and they have to
move to camps inland
■ Include citizens and non-citizens”
■ Reference: Densho
● “War Relocation Authority (WRA) created 10 camps”
● Department of justice created 9 internment camps for foreigners considered “enemy
aliens”
○ Italian American, Japanese American (majority), German American
● Life in camps
○ People are tagged by identification number and shipped to different camps; can’t
bring many stuff, lost vast majority of wealth, e.g. businessmen etc.
○ Each family has a section: limited and pact space; curtain separates different
families
○ Guarded/surveilled by watchtowers, barbed wire camps
● Changes in community
○ Nisei (2nd generation of JA who are born in US) became community leaders
○ “Family dynamics change”
■ No family time: community dining hall
■ Shift of gender role
○ “Question 27 and 28 of loyalty questionnaire controversial”
■ Question 27 asks whether individuals are willing to serve on combat duty
■ Question 28 asks whether individuals swear allegiance to US and forsake
allegiance to Japanese emperor
■ Japanese immigrants: they’re citizenship of Japan; the question 28
means they don’t have any citizenship to any country (stateless) because
US doesn’t allow naturalization
■ People who answered ”no” are considered “disloyal” and segregated from
those “loyal” by being moved to Tule Lake
● ““No-No” boys: those who answered “no” to both questions”
● No to question 27: why should I serve in US army when you
violate my constitutional rights as a US citizen
● No to question 28: I don’t have allegiance to Japan
Challenges to incarceration
● Resistance within camps
○ Strikes, riots for better living conditions e.g. food etc.
○ “No-no” boys answered no to controversial questions
○ “Refusing military draft until US gov’t restored rights”
■Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee: we’re loyalty to US and willing to
serve in US army if US grants them civil rights
○ Art, photography
■ Camera is banned
■ Smuggle elements of camera and resemble in camps
■ Toyo Miyatake
● Resistance using judicial system—court cases
○ Yasui v. United States (1943)
■ Nisei, lawyer
■ Challenged curfew (Japanese were not allowed to stay outside after a
specific time)
■ Intentionally broke curfew and demanded the police to arrest himself
■ Lower level court agreed that the curfew illegally targeted certain group;
however, higher level said that he should be convicted because he broke
the law
■ Supreme court convicted that he broke the law and curfew was legal
■ Solitary confinement
○ Hirabayashi v. United States (1943)
■ Student in Washington
■ Broke curfew intentionally
■ Lawyer argued that US violated the citizen’s right to fair trial
Document Summary
Direct quotations are directly from the professor"s slides. Stay outside classroom and hand in at least one new bluebook. Cover from the first lecture to today"s lecture, including both lectures and readings. Over 110,000 japanese immigrants and american citizens incarcerated during wwii (1942-1945) . Not happen in vacuum: japanese americans" information (especially those identified as leaders and potential threats ) are collected by us before war. After japanese attack on the pearl harbor on 12/07/1941, fbi arrested japanese. Japanese americans (ja) experienced fear and uncertainty, faced hostility, racism, and discrimination. The fifth column on the coast stated that ja should be removed from the west coast because they are spies or saboteurs . Foreigner racialization: ja are assumed to have alliance with japan even though they are born in us and are us citizens. Feb. 19, 1942, fdr signs executive order 9066 .
