The Case Of Korematsu V. US

Fighting a war against the oppression and persecution of a people, how hypocritical of the American government to harass and punish those based on their heritage. Magnifying the already existing dilemma of discrimination, the bombing of Pearl Harbor introduced Japanese-Americans to the harsh and unjust treatment they were forced to confront for a lifetime to come. Wakatsuki Ko, after thirty-five years of residence in the United States, was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen.

The United States constitution and the Russian constitution both share similarities in which they lay out the governmental structure such as: the Federal, Legislative and Judicial branches, however, the details and power that lies under each of the branches is much different between the two constitutions. Both constitutions also have differences that can be attributed to the time in which it was constructed as one was drafted by revolutionary figures during the 18th century while the other was drafted after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Throughout history of not only the United States but also the world, racism has played a huge role in the treatment of other humans. A dark mark in United States history, the Japanese Relocation during WWII is a prime example of this racism coming into play. Whether or not this event was necessary or even justified, however, is a constant question for historians even nowadays. The Japanese relocation of the 1920’s unnecessary and unjustified because it’s main causes: selfish economic plots by farmers, unrealistic military measures, and blatant racism.

The Fifth Amendment's command states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. During the Japanese- American internment, the Japanese-American’s were forced from their homes and made to go into makeshift concentration camps. This is a deprivation of life, through forcing the Japanese to give up their normal routine lives for ‘national security.’ It is a deprivation of liberty because the Japanese were confined in a set space and not allowed to venture past the area. The Japanese property was also seized and confiscated which is another direct violation of the fifth commandment. The government continued to break many of its own laws in the process of ‘justice.’ But is this justice really moral?

The Court utilized “the most rigid” scrutiny and the evaluation of the intent of the exclusion law to rule that the Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 was constitutional. The Court also applied the

of Japanese descent, Fred Korematsu. Justice Black stated in American Constitutional Interpretation, "In light of the principles we announced in Hirabayashi v. United States (1943), we are unable to conclude that it was beyond the war power of Congress and the Executive to exclude those of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast war are." (pgs.1383-1384). Also, as in Hirabayashi, it could not be without reason that there were disloyal members of the Japanese ancestry population. In summary, Justice Black confirms that Korematsu was not absolved from the military area because of hate towards him or against his race. Korematsu was absolved because the

First, prejudice played a role in the Japanese-American relocation by only moving the Japanese into internment camps and not moving people from the other enemies’ countries into camps. The United States government sent the Japanese-Americans like Jeanne and her family off to internment camps like Manzanar for a majority of the war. However, the Germans and Italians who were living in America were not sent to internment camps. The text states, “In court, the racial bias was challenged again. Why were no German Americans evacuated, it was asked, or Americans of Italian descent? Weren’t these nations our enemies too?” (91-92). That excerpt from the text shows that one cause of the relocation was definitely prejudice. If the Japanese had been evacuated, but the Germans and Italians were not, that means there was definitely prejudice. This means there was a preconceived opinion without reason about the Japanese race, most likely connected to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which caused the government to relocate the Japanese. All in all, prejudice played a role in the

     Another factor in the case is racism. Japanese-Americans were subjected to discrimination from the government even before the United States’ entrance into WWII. Five days before the executive order that allowed for removal of Japanese from the west coast, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt speculated the possibility of the Japanese-Americans acting against the U.S., saying that “the very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken” (RTAP, 119). This created a no-win situation for the Japanese-Americans because if they did not act against the U.S., it was still thought that inevitably would. Japanese were denied citizenship before the war, as well (RTAP, 121). Inside the camps, the loyalty questionnaires forced them to either renounce both their allegiance to

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

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.

The Japanese-American soldiers were discriminated when the they arrived for basic training. At Camp Shelby, Mississippi, many fights broke out between the white commission officers and the Japanese-Americans. Many of the commanding officers insulted them by calling them “Japs”, a rude name that referred to enemy Japanese that bombed

Rehnquist, as its stated in document 4, the public officials called for Japanese relocation because there was an attack in Pearl Harbor, by people of the Japanese Race. Many American Citizens were paranoid that anyone of the Japanese Race was going to commit an act of terrorism, however the Japanese living in America didn’t do anything wrong. The number one reason Japanese Americans were relocated was so that the Japanese would not commit sabotage, as stated by President Roosevelt in document 5a. The Espionage Act was put in place to protect the act of treason. According to Stanley Kutler, one motive to intern Japanese Americans because the government thought they would gain popularity and power. The government knew people who were Japanese and living in America posed no threat to the citizens of the United States of America. The government just did all of the relocation ,Espionage act for show, and to make the American citizens feel safer. Mr. Justice Jackson stated in document 6 that Korematsu is a citizen of the United States and of California. Korematsu was born in the United States of America, he has never done anything seriously wrong, or against the United States of America. The only “crime” he commited is his parents being born in Japan and him being born in America. He did not commit any sort of crime or any sort of act of treason, he did absolutely nothing

Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt was chosen for the job of defending and protecting the West Coast. He became one of the biggest supporters of evacuating the Japanese. The FBI began investigating and arresting people along the coast who were suspected of spying for enemy countries. Not only Japanese Americans were suspected. Italians and Germans were also investigated and imprisoned (Alonso). This is one fact that shows that racism was not the reason the Japanese were evacuated. Japan was the country that attacked Pearl Harbor, not Italy or Germany. DeWitt was hearing false reports of acts of disloyalty to the U.S. and sabotage on the part of Japanese Americans including unusual radio activity caused by contacting Japanese vessels, farmers burning their fields in the shapes of markers to aid Japanese pilots, and fisherman monitoring and relaying to Japan the activity of the U.S. navy (Daniels, 29). Executive Order 9066, signed by President Roosevelt, gave the military permission to label areas "military areas"and to keep out people who were seen as threats (Daniels, Appendix). DeWitt named the west coast a military area in Proclamation 1 in March 1942. This gave him the right to remove all those who threatened the safety of the U.S. from the area. Because even 100 Japanese-Americans who were still loyal to Japan could compromise the safety of the U.S., DeWitt decided that all people of Japanese ancestry had to be

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.

Shortly after the United States entered into war with Japan, the federal government initiated a policy whereby 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and herded into camps, 2/3 of these people were actually United States citizens. They were incarcerated without indictment, trial, or counsel - not because they had committed a crime, but simply because they resembled the enemy. These were similar to concentration camps that the Germans were using for the Jews, though no one was being killed and Japanese Americans were allowed to work within the camps. Not many Americans knew about the camps at that time, and some still don't know today. Like discussed in class, it was an embarrassing moment for this country. The book that was assigned in class, Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida, told the story of a family who lived through these horrible times. As we discussed in class