Japanese Internment Camps

Temporary Detention Centers
Were Japanese Americans given adequate care and accommodations as they were rounded up? Were they given assurances and clear information on what the future held for them?

     Japanese-Americans had to be absolutely terrified when they saw armed troops coming into their homes telling them they were being evicted and were moving to a new home. With no clear information of were they were being taken, they made their way to the internment camps, that were far less then adequate living standards. Nearly all their facilities were repulsive and completely unsanitary. These camps would be the homes of many Japanese-Americans for years to come.


Permanent WRA Camps
Discuss the claim by the U.S. Government that the camps were for the protection of Japanese Americans. Were the barbed wire fences and guard towers meant to keep vigilantes out or Japanese American inmates in?

     The U.S. Government claimed these relocation camps were for the safety of Japanese-Americans, as the attacks of Pearl Harbor and World War II were fresh in the minds of Americans. These camps were meant to imprison the Japanese citizens. The U.S. Government did not want to take any chances of another attack and felt all Japanese citizens were potential threats. The U.S. Government claimed that the guard towers and barbed wire fences were to keep internees safe, but were really for keeping the captives from escaping.

Camp Life
Were the camps "resettlement communities," or prisons? What’s the difference between the two?

     The public and internees were told that these camps were resettlement camps, however even president Franklin D. Roosevelt privately referred to the camps as prisons. When the inmates arrived to the resettlement camps they found they were more like prisons than anything, with armed guards and barbed wire fences.

Did the War Relocation Authority take measures to protect family life and privacy?

     The WRA tried to protect family life by incorporating many recreational activities; family privacy was another matter. Families were overcrowded single rooms with no furniture and no way of having privacy with facilities such as bathrooms and showers.

Questions of Loyalty
How did Japanese Americans respond after being incarcerated without due process of law, to questions asking them whether or not they were unquestioningly loyal to this country?

     In an attempt to divide the loyal and disloyal Japanese-Americans the government composed a test that had two questions in particular that enraged many internees. For first generation interness, or Issei, felt they could not answer because they were not given citizenship to the U.S. and were now asked to be absolutely loyal to a country that did not recognize them as true citizens. Second generation internees, Nisei, felt outraged. They felt they had proved their loyalty and were being questioned again to prove how loyal they were to their country.

Tule Lake Segregation
Were those who answered "no" to the loyalty questions clearly "disloyal" or were they voicing discontent with their treatment?

     Camps that answered "no" to  the loyalty questions were taken to Tule Lake Camp and were labeled as disloyal. However, many of the internees that were moved to Tule Lake were under the age of 17 and could not be separated from their parents, so they were forced to answer "no" to the loyalty questions. Older internees answered "no" as a way to voice their opinion on their treatment at the camps.

Draft Resisters
Why did these young men resist being drafted into the military? Write or improvise a conversation between two brothers in an internment camp who make two different opposing decisions on the draft: one enlists, the other resists. What are their points of agreement, if any? How do they differ? Is one brother more patriotic than the other ?

     When the government issued a military draft many young male internees refused to be drafted, because they felt their constitutional rights and those of their families were violated. 

Nikito: I can't believe they expect us to go to the drafts.
Yoshi: I know your upset, but if we sign up we can get us out of here.
Nikito: They force us into these camps and now they want us to fight for them. I won't do it.
Yoshi: Look, if your not going I will.
Nikito: Your really going to leave us.
Yoshi: If I make it out, I will come back for you.

     In this case the two brothers see differently on enlisting to fight. The brother that decides to fight would be patriotic, not only for fighting for his country, but for fighting for his family.

Military Service
What did it take to fight for a country that kept your family interned behind barbed wire?

     Many Nisei internees volunteered to fight in the war. Many fought out of their desire to prove that they were loyal citizens of the U.S. and some volunteered in response to the Army and the Japanese American citizens League.

Post War & Impact Today
How do we prevent the injustice of internment from happening again? Perhaps it starts with learning about this historic mistake, as well as working to eliminate the causes for continuing racial prejudice today?

     There is no was to completely eliminate racial prejudice and injustice in the world. As long as we are human we will make mistakes. The best we can do is learn from our mistakes and learn how to make this world a better place, and the only way we can make those steps is to know our past. Learn our past so that we will not make the same mistakes our ancestors have made. Their will always be racial prejudice and injustice, the best we can do is to try and lessen its presence everyday.

What do you think? What is your responsibility?  What can you do as one individual? Your voice and actions can be an important part not only of preventing the gross injustice of internment from happening again, but also preventing the other negative effects of racial hatred and prejudice?

     We all have an responsibility to stop racial profiling and injustice. A common misconception is that racism no longer exist. Racism is alive and strong in all parts of the world. It is our duty to stand up and voice against the negative effects of racism.

Grandfather and Grandson

  A grandfather holds his grandson inside one of the internment camps.

Manzanar Relocation Camp

Photographer: Dorothea Lange

Lined Up for a Meal
A women and children shade themselves with parasols.

Manzanar Relocation Camps

Photographer: Dorothea Lange




First Manzanar Grave
A mound of dirt with stones around it.

Manzanar Relocation Camps

Photographer: Dorothea Lange