NISEI INTERNMENT

                On Feb. 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order #9066 which called for the internment of Japanese-Americans as a matter of strategic military necessity.  110,000 – 120,000 were rounded up on the West Coast and shipped to the ten camps that were located in drab areas.  In the process, the families lost their homes and property or sold out for well below value.  Here are some interesting facts:

1. In early 1941, the State Department (with the help of the F.B.I.) conducted numerous interviews with Japanese-Americans. The Munson Report, named after the State Department official in charge, found that the vast majority of the interviewees were patriotic and loyal.  Only a small percent was deemed threats.  A follow up study by Lt. Commander K.D. Ringle got the same results.  The government and military disregarded the results.
2. The head of the Western Defense Command, Gen. John DeWitt, was an avowed racist. One month after Pearl Harbor, there had been no significant activities against the U.S.  However,  DeWitt claimed that the round-up should occur because the lack of sabotage was a sign that the Nisei were holding back for a mass action!
3. There was very little opposition to the policy. Most Americans favored it.  Just a few newspapers wrote editorials against it.  Only one Congressperson, Sen. Robert Taft, spoke against it.
4. The policy was popular with white farmers and landowners on the West Coast because of resentment toward Japanese-American farmers who had thrived using new irrigation methods. Ironically, the policy was limited in scope in Hawaii because whites needed the Japanese workers.
5. The largest and most famous camp was Manzanar in California. It held 11,000.
6. The famous photographer Ansel Adams made a trip to Manzanar because a family friend had been shipped there. He took hundreds of pictures of the facility.
7. The government told the prisoners they were being held for their own protection from racist neighbors. One internee responded by asking why the machine guns were pointed inward.
8. The families were technically not mistreated. There were schools for the children.  There were recreational activities.  The food met military standards.  Adults were paid to work in the camp.  The barracks were simple with the biggest hardship being lack of privacy.
9. 20,000 Japanese-Americans enlisted in the military, many to refute the claims of disloyalty. The 110^th/442^nd Regimental Combat Team served bravely in Europe and became the most decorated unit of its size in the war.
10. In 1983, a congressional commission determined that the internment was a “grave injustice” motivated by racism, not military necessity. This led to passage of the Civil Liberties Act signed by Reagan.  Besides an apology, each surviving internee was given $20,000 in reparations.

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