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They were not a threat anymore than German-Americans and Italian-Americans were a threat. These were people who were mostly 3 generations into America.
But hey, they looked different, so it was ok to lock them up.
You are applying contemporary viewpoints to a time frame in the past.
Hindsight proved that the Japanese-Americans were not a threat to the United States. But this was not known at the time. What WAS known was that many of the Nisei spent years in Japan, under the social and cultural influence of that nation. Given the ruthless and dishonorable (in Western eyes) ways in which Imperial Japan fought, I don't blame the powers-that-be for being suspicious of those of Japanese descent.
And as far as the "Hey, they looked different" line, as if that's all the justification that was used for the internment, perhaps you've forgotten that Chinese-Americans looked different too, but they weren't locked up. What aroused our suspicions about Japanese-Americans was not their looks, but their heritage.
Incidentally, the early to mid 1940s was a great time to be a Chinese-American actor, because all of a sudden lots of roles opened up for them in movies about the war. Sure, they'd be cast as the enemy Japanese; but hey, it's a paycheck, right?
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Originally Posted by silverkris
Again, stop conflating Japanese Americans with the actions of Imperial Japan!
The Germans and Italians were rounded up in Britain, in order to both protect them from attack, as feelings were running high, and also in order to stop any potential spies or attacks.
These rounded up were generally given a catergory according to the rish they posed, Catergory C being the lowest threat, Catergory B some threat and Catergory A, a significant threat, some were sent to the Isle of Man, where they were housed in hotels and boarding houses and some were shipped to Canada and Australia.
They were treated humanely indeed some captured Germans even decided to stay after the war. In all there were nearly half a million prisoners of wars from Germany, Italy, Ukraine and other such countries in British camps during WW2.
Those British and American civilians rounded up in other countries, as well as military pow's were treated terrible in comparison, and I fail to see what the US has to apologise for.
FUKUOKA.
BATAAN.
PEARL HARBOR DAWN SUNDAY MORNING
12 YEAR OLD GIRLS WITH PUNJI STICKS AT OKINAWA.
on dec. 7 1941 japanese children marched in the streets to celebrate their national holiday.
Toyota never paid compensation to the POWs they used for slaves.
They were fanatical, with no respect for laws of war, compassion toward prisoners, or anything we consider civilized.
Gavin engages in revisionist history. It was all out war, nations fought for their very survival and now some condemn the actions of leaders they took to win the war. They won it but some seem to regret this?
We fought against Imperial Japan, not people of Japanese ancestry living in the United States.
The Germans and Italians were rounded up in Britain, in order to both protect them from attack, as feelings were running high, and also in order to stop any potential spies or attacks.
These rounded up were generally given a catergory according to the rish they posed, Catergory C being the lowest threat, Catergory B some threat and Catergory A, a significant threat, some were sent to the Isle of Man, where they were housed in hotels and boarding houses and some were shipped to Canada and Australia.
They were treated humanely indeed some captured Germans even decided to stay after the war. In all there were nearly half a million prisoners of wars from Germany, Italy, Ukraine and other such countries in British camps during WW2.
Those British and American civilians rounded up in other countries, as well as military pow's were treated terrible in comparison, and I fail to see what the US has to apologise for.
I can't speak for the British case, but internment camps for Japanese Americans weren't necessarily for their own "protection". That's not a direct analogy with the Japansee American experience.
It is relevant because Americans of Japanese descent were spying on America for Imperial Japan.
It is an undisputed fact that Americans of Japanese descent living in the Hawaiian Islands and California were transmitting data on ship, troop and aircraft movements.
It is also relevant because there's a cultural component here absent in other cultures.
Most immigrants severed their ties with their former governments and gave their undivided loyalty to the US, while still maintaining ties to family and friends in the Old World.
Not so for Americans of Japanese ancestry who still revered the emperor.
I have no problem rounding up Japanese and putting them into camps. It's always best to err on the side of caution.
My problem is the government also confiscated their personal belongings, property and assets, then refused to return those to them, while refusing to compensate them for their losses.
One of them, Manzanar, is now a National Historic Site. It's out in the middle of nowhere. Far from the best site if your goal would be to stabilize and reintegrate as many mentally ill people as possible into the general population. But great if your goal is to lock them up forever. Would require a lot of money for refurbishing and bringing up to code.
I can't speak for the British case, but internment camps for Japanese Americans weren't necessarily for their own "protection". That's not a direct analogy with the Japansee American experience.
That may not have been the official reason for the internment, but I do believe that it was an incidental side benefit. Anti-Japanese feeling was running very high after Pearl Harbor, and individual Japanese-Americans did indeed find themselves on the receiving end of some "inflamed passions" in some cases.
Nice, but shouldn't it be a federal apology? Or was there one already?
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