The Japanese relocation of 1942

                                               The San Francisco News 1942

 

Arley Paguay

Mrs. Wilson Clasby

English 207

26 March 2020

 

 On 7 December 1941, the Japanese Navy air service bombed Pearl Harbor, a U.S army base, located in Oahu Hawaii. Due to the tragic event and loss of American lives, the U.S government saw the best way to take care of the issue was to isolate every Japanese and Japanese American from the rest of the American people and significant Army locations. Executive Order 9066 was passed and every Japanese and Japanese American was relocated from the West Coast to isolated land in the desert to create their own community. Germany and Italy, as allies of Japan declared war on the United States. The only people asked to move for being so-called threats were the Japanese community. In the Japanese Relocation film, the narrator, Milton S. Eisenhower, stated that the Japanese community had the freedom to decide whether they wanted to go to the “new pioneer land” or not, to shut down any ideas the U.S government practiced unjust treatment on citizens and legal aliens of Japanese descent. The steps taken in the film to reassure the American people why the relocation had to happen also introduced the idea that this was a great opportunity for the Japanese community. Through the lens of the film, and the film alone, we see the relocation as a win on both sides. The purpose of this essay is to convey the truth behind the relocation to eliminate any assumption that this was anything, but a violation of the American constitution and basic human decency.

 To effectively convey this, I will identify the message behind the publication of John Hersey’s  New York Times article, “Behind Barbed Wire” the article conveys key details on how the Government reacted after the relocation and made connections through first hand sources to reveal some of the troubling issues the Japanese community faced due to the relocation. Then, I will further explain the impact on the families in these camps by introducing James Mackey and William Huntzicker’s interviews with Gladys Ishida about her family who were one of the many families affected by Executive Order 9066. Gladys’ family lost their home and business all at the same time, meaning when Gladys came home after her time in the camps, she didn’t have much to get her by financially. Finally, researchers revealed the lack of new coverage and racist atmosphere surrounding the media coverage during the relocation of the Japanese community through the eyes of Dolores Flamiano. News outlets used their power to publicly express their opinion on the relocation of the Japanese community which fueled racism and false interpretations.This is a huge piece of my essay because it shows how propaganda and false information was spread to easily influence minds across the United States.

The Government used Japanese Relocation as propaganda to reassure all Americans and the world that the relocation was strictly optional and an opportunity for the Japanese community. While this was believed at the time, the truth became apparent years later, the relocation was not optional and most, if not all, lost their property and business which resulted in the previously incarcerated Japanese coming home to nothing, if they came home at all. Hersey revealed information through first hand sources and stories. Stories like one of a Japanese man who said, “ It is difficult to describe the feeling of despair and humiliation experienced by all of us as we watched the Caucasians coming to look over our possessions and offering such nominal amounts, knowing we had no recourse but to accept whatever they were offering” (6). This account strengthens the idea that the Japanese community did not have the option to move and were forced to relocate. They lost any plausible opportunity of a successful future when they were forced to get rid of their businesses for pittance. Another Japanese woman explained how she lost her privacy and dignity when she and her family were forced to replace their names with numbers. The stories are endless and don’t stop within this period. Many stories explain the struggles legal aliens faced before Executive Order 9066 was executed which only complicated their relocation in 1942.

The Government used Japanese Relocation as propaganda to reassure all Americans and the world that the relocation was an opportunity for the Japanese community which would only increase their success.  The Government used the film to show the process prior to the relocation to back up their statement. The narrator, Milton S. Eisenhower, stated with great pride how helpful the U.S Government were with getting the Japanese community temporary tenants for their businesses and if the Japanese people chose to sell, their property would be sold for reasonable prices. Mackey and Huntzicker documented Gladys Ishida’s perspective, a Japanese American woman, who lived in the camps and she  revealed the hardship of losing property and what it meant to even have property as a legal alien living in America. According to Mackey and Huntzicker,  “although the Ishidas had built a successful farm, The 1913 Alien Land Law prevented Raiji and Sue [Ishida] from owning their own land. They were Issei, the first generation of Japanese to emigrate to the United States, and were not allowed to become U.S citizens. (415). Gladys’s family had to remove their names from the property lease and put the name of a family friend. News traveled to the camps that their land of 180 acres sold for 2,500 per acre in 1943, sadly the family friend only sent them 16,500 (Mackey and Huntzicker 415). The Alien Land Law robbed Ishida family of their land and further explained  how the relocation of 1942 wasn’t the only act of discrimination towards immigrants during this time. Despite their efforts and hopes of becoming U.S citizens and owning land, laws were put into place to prevent any chance to prosper and when given the chance to remove immigrants for the sake of white Americans the U.S government took it. Gladys’ story shared the toll of the relocation of 1942, but also shared a piece of what life was like for immigrants at this time. The Japanese community weren’t treated as human or equals which allows for the idea that when decisions and discussions were made about immigrants, their best interest wasn’t top priority. This doesn’t just fall under Government actions who released the film, Japanese Relocation, but also the actions of news outlets who are supposed to share facts with their audience released opinions on the film.

News outlets in 1942 were aware of the relocation and if they weren’t, Japanese Relocation screened at every cinema possible made them aware. Despite the controversy of this topic, many news outlets chose to distance themselves from the topic, and those that did release articles on the topic made it clear they thought the United States was doing the right thing by relocating the west coast Japanese community. Flamiano’s article, “Japanese American Internment in Popular Magazines” reveals publications were made with heavily opinionated comments that not only confused the facts but fueled racism. For example, California Governor Culbert L. Olson expressed his thoughts directly by stating “You know when I look out at a group of Americans of German or Italian descent, I can tell whether they’re loyal or not… But it is impossible for me to do this with the inscrutable Orientals, and particularly the Japanese” (qtd in Flamiano 24). This comment was in regards to the lack of integration the Japanese community made to American western practices, since the Japanese community celebrated their own holidays and beliefs. They were proud of their roots and showed that immensely which is why comments like the one Governor Culbert Olson made was just one of the hundreds of racist arguments used to justify the inhuman treatment of the Japanese community. Flamiano argues that news outlets shared the racist comments and were not questioned nor pushed to be removed from articles, news streams, etc. Instead, they were used as valid arguments with little to none explanation on the Japanese side. Failure to mention “the San Francisco Board of Education [ordering] Japanese Americans to attend a segregated “Oriental School” with Chinese and other Asian Americans, and the Alien Land Law of 1913 prohibited Asian immigrants from purchasing land” (Flamiano 24) leaves out a huge piece as to why the Japanese community didn’t feel welcomed to branch out.

The U.S government tried to mislead the American people into believing this was anything, but a violation of the American constitution through the film, Japanese Relocation. This is important to recognize because it gives you the tools to question Government motive. We see how the United States has been able to discriminate and attack people of color because the Government has brainwashed  white Amercians’s into believing they are better and since they are “better” they can act as such. News outlets reported false opinions which fueled racism and without consequences, schools were segregated and people were put into camps.  The film, Japanese relocation, was propaganda meant to reassure the public of the reasons why these actions were taken and the Government’s humane approach, but through the sources, we see the relocation was driven by hate and propaganda that convinced millions that the relocation was necessary only proves how powerful and manipulative the United States government is, especially in times of crisis

 

Work Cited Page

 

Hersey, John. “Behind Barbed Wire. (Japanese Relocation in World War II).” The New York Times Magazine, vol. 137, The New York Times Company, Sept. 1988.

Mackey, James, and William Huntzicker. “Racism and Relocation: Telling the Japanese-American   Experience.” Social Education, vol. 55, no. 7, American Book Co., Nov. 1991, pp. 415–18, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1304708786/.

Flamiano, D., 2010. Japanese American Internment in Popular Magazines. Journalism History, 36(1), pp.23-35.