Fred Koreatsu Case

Mindful of the hardships during war times for all Americans, the Court implies that it is the responsibility of citizens to bear this burden, “We uphold the exclusion order …Not unmindful of the hardships…But hardships are part of war,…the burden is always heavier.” (Korematsu, 357). The hardship of one race seemed to outweigh that of another, no mention is made about the fact that the only race ordered to evacuate by reporting to Assembly Centers followed by indeterminate confinement to detention camps were Japanese Americans. The Supreme Court outlines that this case is about an exclusion order and not racial prejudice, “Our task is simply, our duty clear…we are specifically dealing with nothing but an exclusion order. To cast this case into the outlines or racial prejudice…merely confuses the issue.” (Korematsu, 358) Korematsu was a loyal citizen of the U.S., his loyalty was never attested; nevertheless, he faced charges against him because he refused to obey an order which singled him out because of his ancestry. “Guilt is personal and not inheritable” (Korematsu, 364). The military acted to protect the nation against espionage and sabotage, they were acting in the interest of the nation and at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack time was limited, the loyal could not be segregated from the disloyal. During wartimes however the US Government needs to be mindful that this is a country made of vast cultures, races, religions and the US Constitution

Executive Order 9066 issued by President Roosevelt on February 19. 1942 was a result of this new racial hatred. This law forced 120,000 Japanese Americans to sell their property, leave their homes, and enter detention camps located around the United States. Many rights granted to citizens by the Constitution were blatantly overlooked during this entire procedure.

Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1946 were an exemplification of discrimination, many Japanese Americans were no longer accepted in their communities after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were perceived as traitors and faced humiliation due to anti-Japanese sentiment causing them to be forced to endure several hardships such as leaving behind their properties to go an imprisoned state, facing inadequate housing conditions, and encountering destitute institutions. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 (Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me). This led president Roosevelt to sign the executive order 9066, which authorized the army to remove any individual that seemed as a potential threat to the nation (“Executive Order 9066”) This order allowed the military to exclude “‘any or all persons from designated areas, including the California coast.”’ (Fremon 31). Many Japanese opposed to leave the Pacific Coast on their own free will (Fremon 24) . Japanese Americans would not be accepted in other areas if they moved either.Idaho’s governor stated, Japanese would be welcomed “only if they were in concentration camps under guard”(Fremon 35). The camps were located in Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California where thousands of Japanese Americans eventually relocated. (“Japanese Americans at Manzanar”) The internment lasted for 3 years and the last camp did not close until 1946. (Lessons Learned: Japanese Internment During WW2)

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, many people were dubious towards many Japanese-Americans and believed they were working with Japan. With this, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066, moving several Japanese-Americans into concentration camps, calling it a “military necessity” (Ewers 1). When this happened, many Japanese-Americans lost everything they had owned such as houses, farms, and their rights as American citizens.

On February 19th 1942, Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066. Under the terms of the order, people of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps. The United States’ justification for this abominable action was that the Japanese American’s may spy for their Homeland. Over 62% of the Japanese that were held in these camps were American Citizens. The United States’ internment of the Japanese was a poor and cowardly method of ‘keeping the peace.’ The United States was not justified in stowing away Japanese Americans into almost concentration camps. This act goes against the basic Bill Of Rights granted to all American citizens, the Fifth Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due

Korematsu argued that the racial exclusion was unconstitutional and in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. The United States argued that Congress and the President had the power to order and legislate this exclusion based on Article 1 Section 8 and Article 2 Section 2.

During WWII many civil liberties were affected and felt by the American people; some of these decisions include new policies on foreigners and civil defense groups in towns. A major facet of homefront life in WWII was the discrimination faced by Japanese/German/Italian Americans, especially the Japanese, After the attack on Pearl Harbor which drew the United States into the war, Americans developed a fear towards immigrants and foreigners; not unlike the fear felt during the 1920’s after WWI. Local, state, and federal governments began drafting new laws and policies against persons whose ancestry is that of any of the Axis powers (Italy-Germany-Japan). For instance, a new law stated that all residents (“enemy aliens”) of German, Japanese, or Italian descent were required to register with the government, submit to fingerprinting, and list all their organizational affiliations. In addition, many of these peoples were forced to submit to curfews and travel restrictions. Furthermore, during this time, Japanese persons could not join the military until 1943 due to racism and fears of the American people. In February of 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which designated certain areas as war zones, and allowed for the removal of anyone for any reason. This led to the internment of Japanese people. Japanese-Americans were forced to either store or sell nearly all their property and belongings, only permitted to take “necessities”,

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many Americans were afraid of another attack, so the state representatives pressured President Roosevelt to do something about the Japanese who were living in the United States at the time. President Roosevelt authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to designate military areas as exclusion zones, from which any or all persons may be excluded. Twelve days later, this was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast. This included all of California and most of Oregon and Washington.

Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, racial tensions increased in the United States, especially on the West Coast (Divine 898). The anti-Japanese sentiment led to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which gave military officials the power to limit the civil rights of Japanese Americans (Danzer 802). The order also authorized the forced relocation of all Japanese Americans to concentration camps (Divine 898). These camps were located in desolate deserts and flatlands in the interior of the United States (Sato 67). Two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to relocate were “Nisei”, or native born American citizens (Divine 898).

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II (Prange et al., 1981: p.174). On February 19, 1942, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War and Military Commanders to prescribe areas of land as excludable military zones (Roosevelt, 1942). Effectively, this order sanctioned the identification, deportation, and internment of innocent Japanese Americans in War Relocation Camps across the western half of the United States. During the spring and summer of 1942, it is estimated that almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated from their homes along the West Coast and in Hawaii and

Two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. This forced all Japanese-Americans, regardless of loyalty or citizenship to evacuate to the West Coast. The relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II was one of the most flagrant violations of civil liberties in American history.

In the year 1942, President Roosevelt signed the “Executive Order 9066,” which created the existence of internment camps and removal of all Japanese-Americans that lived on the west-side of the United States. Roosevelt signed this mostly because of the suspicion of the Japanese-Americans of causing severe damage to the United States. Before the attacks of Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were not thought of much differently as to Americans, other than the fact they were obviously Japanese. The Pearl Harbor bombing caused everyone to keep their focus on the Japanese-Americans. When the Japanese-Americans were moved out to the Internment-camps, some questions were stirred around. Did the government make the correct decision, removing all Japanese-Americans from the West Coast? No, the government did not make the correct decision because a good amount of the Japanese-Americans were innocent, they lost all of their belongings, and having a terrible life within the camps.

After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese that propelled the U.S. into World War II, paranoia causes President Roosevelt to sign an executive order forcing all people of Japanese ancestry; including those born in the U.S. to be moved to concentration camps. Even in the towns where the camps were located, stores would post signs saying “No Japs Allowed”.

Sensing danger, the United States decided to freeze Japanese assets to avoid further expansion. However, this precaution did not help the Americans because soon after Pearl Harbor was bombed December 7, 1941, approximately twenty-four hundred Americans were killed. At that point, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt felt it necessary to sign Executive Order 9066, which stated that the Japanese-Americans will be relocated from the West coast to obtain national security. Most of the Japanese-American internment camps were located on the West Coast, and the East Coast had little involvement in detaining Japanese-Americans. The United States government was worried that there were conspirators that wanted to feed Intel back to their home country of Japan by sneaking into these restricted zones to gain the information. Journalist, C. B. Munson, After witnessing a progression towards mass internment, Munson even warned the President that the United States seemed to be following the destructive path the Germans traveled with the Jews. However, when faced with the same “problem”(a threatening race) as Germany, Roosevelt did decide to relocate thousands of Japanese-Americans to internment camps, by signing Executive Order 9066 on February 19th, 1942.

The relocation of Japanese Americans was an event that occurred within the United States during World War II. On February 19th, 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which forced all Japanese Americans living in the West Coast to be evacuated from the area and relocated to internment camps all across the United States, where they would be imprisoned. Approximately 120,000 people were sent to the camps and the event lasted through the years 1942 and 1945. The main cause of the relocation and internment of these people was because of fear made among Japanese people after Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. Citizens of the United States had been worrying about the possibility of Japanese residents of the country aiding Japan, and/or secretly trying to destroy American companies.