Korematsu V. United States

War leads to oppression and leaves negative implications on all people and societies by impacting the poor, women, children, and nations as a whole. "War is a state of violent conflict between one or more groups" (Rasenberger 3). Rasenberger defines war as a state of conflict between one group within itself or several groups in combat with each other, what is not mentioned are the after-effects of war. War itself leads to many civilian and military deaths, an estimated 1.5-3.8 million people died during the Vietnam War and an approximate 500,000 people died in the Iraq war. The biggest tragedy of War is that it always results in fatality, but another key, negative, factor to understand is that after the War many adverse implications arise. Post-war ramifications in the nation fall upon the poor, women, and children, making them weaker and less motivated leading to the downfall of a society. Regardless if a nation wins or is defeated in war they have to deal with consequences of war and find solutions to the impacted people and society. It is essential to understand that there is never a true victor in war because regardless of the outcome, fatality and a fall of morale within society on both sides are inevitable. War has often been the solution to situations that required force or violence, but in recent times this has

WWII brought on a lot of social changes for many types of people, especially minorities in America. Japanese citizens in America around the coastal areas or military bases were forced to sell their homes and shops, to go to live in internment camps. The U.S. government tried to sell the idea that it was to protect Japanese Americans and send the out of harm’s way, when in actuality it was more because of the fear Americans had in the Japanese, especially since they looked different. (Document 2) The discrimination within many people because Japanese Americans were so easily identifiable is why that group of people were specifically interned and why German or Italian Americans weren’t. The government tried to make it seem like Japanese Americans were happy to leave their homes to live in the government camps set up for them to live in during the war. Women also

Korematsu v. United States (1944) actually began December 7, 1941 with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor then began the conquering of Wake, Guam, Philippines, Malaya, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Burma. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, racism, which was hardly unfamiliar, became an even greater problem. The Japanese Government's attacks on Americans including; torturing, raping, and murdering was an excuse for Americans aversion towards the Japanese. Public officials began to lock up the Japanese people simply for their own good, for protection against the hate crimes.

The creation of slavery or institution led to conflict in the colonies because African Americans were abused and treated as they weren’t people. In source 9 the Native Americans and the Africans are interacting.“When they have been brought to the very edge of collapse by the labors to which they are put and begin to drop from hunger and toil as they stumble through the mountains with enormous loads on their backs, the Spanish kick them and beat them with sticks to make them get up and resume their wearisome trudge. They do not let them stop and gasp for breath, and even knock their teeth out with the pommel of their sword.” Slaves were abused and forced to work until they collapse and ask their owners to kill them because they could not handle it anymore. Another example is source three. This source shows the interaction between all three Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans. “The work is hard and the Spaniards are not willing to do the work, Natives who have become Christians are not allowed to be forced to do the work because

Perhaps, according to Bernard Schwartz, the greatest failure of American law during World War II may be illustrated by the case of Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu. As graphically described in 1944 by a member of the bench, his case is one that is unique in our system:

While World War II had been ongoing since 1939, Japan had been fighting for the Axis powers, against the United States. In 1941, when Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States government had assumed the viewpoint that the Japanese were not to be trusted, and that the Japanese-American citizens of the United States were much the same. As such, they had resorted to establishing internment camps, or preventive labor prisons, so as to keep them in check and ostensibly to prevent further Japanese sabotage. However, the government’s actions were not fully justified, as several factors had interplayed into the circumstances that directly contradicted the intentions and visible results of the internment of the Japanese-Americans, in the social, political, economical, and cultural aspects. On the whole, the internment camps served as drastic measures which were not wholly without reasoning; contrarily, those factors in support of the internment camps did not override those which had gone against it, since the United States’ own legislation, in the form of the Constitution and other laws, had explicitly prevented the depriving of human rights, privileges, and pursuits, which had doubtless applied in light of the Japanese-Americans’ universal citizenship along the Pacific Coast in the early 1940s. As such, while the internment camps were not completely unjustified and without purpose from the viewpoint of the government, they did not align with standards of law and

In the landmark case of Korematsu v. United States the Supreme Court was correct in the ruling because the executive order that was issued became a law to protect the country from persons that had close ethnic ties to the enemy and made all people that the government deemed a threat to national security into prisoners. Although this was against moral standards, it was a necessity at the time to protect the country. While it may seem that it was just the Japanese that were prosecuted, it was also Americans of German and Italian heritage that were also persecuted. This executive order infringed on the rights of American citizens based on their ethnic background. This isn’t right because as said in the constitution everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Japanese-Americans were forced to evacuate from coastal areas following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. A massive amount of Americans who were not of Japanese descent believed that the Japanese community could not be trusted, so the government felt that it was necessary to remove them from their homes and place them in camps located away from militarized coastal regions. This was a controversial decision at the time and still receives criticism today for going against typical American constitutional values centering around citizen’s unalienable rights. Through the research of many letters written during Japanese internment or reflecting on the event, it seems that Japanese-Americans of that time period had mixed feelings about being relocated and the majority of the community was upset that they were viewed and treated differently than other Americans but did acknowledge that the overall treatment they received at camp was fair. Japanese Internment camps were psychologically damaging to Japanese-Americans due to the racist nature of selective forced evacuation, and the Japanese community was more upset about being removed from their homes than how they were treated at camp.

More than 110,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast of the United States were forced and placed into internment camp. Many believe that the internment camps were necessary for national defense. Conversely, I believe that the actions taken place at time of war were unnecessary and racist acts. Throughout this paper, I will discuss how and why the removal of the Japanese-Americans was uncalled for and harsh, while addressing the counterpoint. The first reason I believe that the Internment camps were despotic is that for other war like situations, no actions this harsh were taken.

During the brink of war in World War II to the Civil Rights era, the United States was globally known for their considerable dedication of nationwide pride and prosperity as the outside perspective of the nation was depicted as a powerhouse along with a booming economy. However, the inside perspective of the nation gave away its true colors, becoming a tough pill to swallow as the minority of the United States’ population experienced a time of turmoil facing the white majority. It was fairly easy to overlook the prime examples of racial injustice in the 20th century, but not unfairly to sense the hardship for equality. Victims of the crimes of hatred and vengeance were heavily targeted as being Japanese-Americans and African-Americans. The motive for the discrimination of the Japanese-Americans was influenced by the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan, which caused mainstream hatred toward all persons of Japanese ancestry. As an act of precaution, all Japanese-Americans were forced to be imprisoned in internment camps until the end of the war. Moreover, the pursuit of racial equality for African-Americans was a continuous struggle that ensured the limitations of their freedom and civil rights. Whereas one of the incentive for the cause of segregation was merely to input fear to distribute the mindset of whites being the dominant race. Both the Japanese-Americans and the African-Americans battled the impaired judgement that was written all over the partial citizenship they were

The widespread belief that Japanese American citizens were loyal to Japan, where their ancestors lived, resulted in fear of these people. This led President Roosevelt to sign an executive order that would relocate any citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps within the U.S. Many families left much of what they had behind, due to the uncertainty of whether or not they would be able to return to it. While the conditions inside the internment camps were nowhere near able to be compared to those during the Holocaust, they weren’t ideal. However, nothing is ever ideal when concerning racial prejudice. Despite the way that they were treated, the Japanese Americans persevered and in the end learned from their experiences.

Korematsu v. US was a supreme court case after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The US had internment camps throughout the country to house Japanese citizens so the government could check through all of their mail and try to see if there were any more terrorists

War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and subjectively concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a

“People go to war because of how they see, perceive, picture, imagine and speak of others: that is, how they construct the difference of others as well as the sameness of themselves through representations,” they argue.

Talking about war tends to make people feel emotional, feel a sort of adrenaline rush, mad, and even proud. These emotions can at times, in my opinion, bring groups together and separate others because of disagreements on views and beliefs. While it is not easy to talk to anyone about delicate topics such as this one, it is important to acknowledge how war can influence societal behavior and culture. Many can argue that war unites people, particularly speaking of the United States; a country is known for its patriotism and pride when it comes down to its military forces and achievements across nations.