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History
History:: Experience:: Redress Act At the end of 1937 Japan invaded
Nanking, the capitol of nationalist China. In affect, the United
States broke off all commercial relations with Japan. Three years
later Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning
of World War II. In August of 1941, representative John Dingell
of Michigan wrote a letter to President Roosevelt suggesting that
he incarcerate 10,000 Hawaiian Japanese-Americans in an effort
to keep them on their "best behavior." Despite the fact that FBI
investigations proved that Japanese-Americans living in the U.S.
were loyal and posed no threat to the government, on November 12,
1941, fifteen Japanese-American business men and community leaders
were arrested. All fifteen cooperated with the FBI. One of the men
arrested later stated, "We teach the fundamental principals and
ideals of American democracy. We want to live here in peace and
harmony; our people are 100% loyal to America." However, later it
was discovered that to the American government these words meant
nothing. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese
orchestrated an attack on Pearl
Harbor. This attack took the Americans posted at Pearl Harbor
completely by surprise. U.S. intelligence intercepted a coded message
by Japan stating that an attack on the United States was inevitable.
The government was then able to figure out the location in which
the attack was to take place, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Roosevelt
sent a message via telegraph to Pearl Harbor but it was too late.
They had no notice of what was to happen to them. The Japanese attacked
in two waves. They destroyed many military vessels and killed many
people. This outraged Americans all over the country and Roosevelt
felt that he had to do something about it. The answer came through
a man named John Dingell. He suggested that President Roosevelt
place Japanese-Americans in internment camps to control their behavior.
The official titles of these camps were "relocation centers" Though
the Axis powers who threatened the Allies included Japan, Germany,
and Italy, only Americans of Japanese--not German or Italian--descent
were forced to move to the relocation centers. The conditions of
these centers were deplorable and U.S. guards killed every now and
then internees "accidentally." On May 7, 1945, Germany surrenders
thus ending the Second World War. However there was still not definite
peace going on in the world. The same year that WWII ended the United
States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. This attack killed many
people. Two years later (June 30, 1947), U.S. District Judge Louis
E. Goodman ordered that the petitioners in Wayne Collins' suit of
December 13, 1945 be released; native-born American citizens could
not be converted to enemy aliens and could not be imprisoned or
sent to Japan on the basis of renunciation. Three hundred and two
people were finally released from Crystal City, Texas and Seabrook
Farms, New Jersey (places of internment camps) on September 6, 1947. One of the things that America definitely needed was to hear what happened to people who were in actual internment camps. In history situations such as the Holocaust desensitize people to the experiences and feelings of the people who were perpetrated. The government took this into consideration and on July 14, 1981, The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) held a public hearing in Washington, D.C. as part of its investigation into the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. These hearings were duplicated on several occasions through 1981. The emotional testimonies by more than 750 Japanese American witnesses about their wartime experiences would prove cathartic for the community and a turning point in the redress movement. Finally people began to realize that what they did was wrong and in August 10, 1988, H.R. 442 is signed into law by President Ronald Reagan. It provides for individual payments of $20,000 to each surviving internee and a $1.25 billion education fund among other provisions. Each person who was sent to an internment camp was sent an official letter of apology from the president. However though the intention was genuine a letter of apology could not measure up to the injustice, racism, and animosity that they faced from their "fellow Americans." Even to this day many ex- internees are distressed by it:
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