Japanese American Internment: Racism, War Hysteria, and Failed Leadership

Between 1942 and 1946, the United States government forcibly removed and incarcerated approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry—two-thirds of them U.S. citizens—in remote "relocation centers" (concentration camps, per FDR's own term). The vast majority lived on the West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington); 400 Japanese Latin Americans from Peru were also seized.

The Official Justification (Then)

"Military necessity." Lt. Gen. John L. DeWitt, Western Defense Commander, claimed Japanese Americans posed a sabotage/espionage threat. Executive Order 9066 (Feb 19, 1942) authorized exclusion zones. No evidence of disloyalty was ever presented for any individual.

The Real Drivers (Now Acknowledged)

The Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC, 1983) concluded the causes were:

1. Racism

• Centuries of anti-Asian exclusion (Chinese Exclusion Act 1882, Alien Land Laws, 1924 Immigration Act).
• DeWitt: "A Jap's a Jap... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen."
• No comparable mass incarceration of German/Italian Americans (individual hearings only).

2. War Hysteria

• Pearl Harbor shock → panic about "fifth column," invasion fears (none materialized).
• Press, politicians, military amplified threat: Los Angeles Times: "A viper is nonetheless a viper wherever the egg is hatched."
• Public opinion: 93% supported removal (1942 Gallup).

3. Failure of Political Leadership

• FDR: Signed EO 9066 despite FBI/ONI/AG advising no military necessity. Political calculation: 1942 midterms, West Coast pressure.
• Congress: Appropriated funds without hearings.
• Supreme Court: Hirabayashi (1943), Korematsu (1944) upheld exclusion (6–3). Ex parte Endo (1944) allowed release but dodged constitutionality.

The Human Cost

• Property loss: Homes, farms, businesses sold at fire-sale prices (~$400M in 2024 $).
• Health/education disruption: Camps in deserts/swamps (Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain, etc.).
• Psychic trauma: Intergenerational; "shikata ga nai" (it cannot be helped) silence.
• Loyalty questionnaire: "No-no" resisters segregated at Tule Lake; 5,589 renounced citizenship under duress.

Redress

• 1976: Ford rescinded EO 9066.
• 1988: Civil Liberties Act: formal apology + $20,000 to each survivor (82,219 paid).
• 1998: Clinton awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom to Fred Korematsu, Gordon Hirabayashi, Min Yasui.
• 2011: DOJ admitted Solicitor General suppressed evidence in Korematsu.

The Lesson

Internment wasn't a "wartime mistake"—it was the predictable outcome of racialized law, unchecked executive power, and democratic failure. The CWRIC's phrase—"race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership"—remains the definitive diagnosis.