As most students from this demographic setting suffer from a lack of background knowledge that hampers their desire to put the “pieces together,” it is important to have a “hook” to help engage these students. Arguably one of the most egregious examples of institutional race-profiling in the United States in the Twentieth Century was the decision during the Second World War to set up internment camps for Americans of Japanese descent. As the years of passed, the federal government has even gone so far as to make reparations to the victims of this racial profiling brought on by the hysteria following the turbulent days after the Imperial Japanese attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor. Representatives of the United States government have gone on record admitting that this was blatant racial profiling. As this topic will most likely be new to the majority if not all of the students, it can be presented in a way in which students will be able to empathize with the government’s reaction. This should be achieved through careful selection and utilization of primary source documents.
Students will require at least one and possibly several background lessons focusing on the causes of the war between the United States and Japan. The speech delivered by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Congress on December 8, 1941 should be used as a primary source to explain the events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor. This seven minute long audio clip can be found with a simple search on the internet. It is further recommended that clips from the movie “Pearl Harbor” be shown to the students. While not a primary source and certainly colored through the lens of a Hollywood camera, the movie can work as an important tool for the more visually oriented students.
It is at this point that students should be introduced to MAGIC. MAGIC is the codename that the United States government used to identify decoded Japanese messages sent via Japanese cipher machines. These machines allowed for messages to be encrypted and then decrypted, thus keeping the transmitted information secret. The idea is that only the people who possess the special code sheet to which each cipher machine is set will be able to understand each other. These machines were widely used by the Axis powers (Germany and Japan) during the Second World War. Neither side knew that the Allies had broken their codes and were actively intercepting their secret messages. Only the highest ranking people in the respective Allied governments knew this information. Using a web browser, MAGIC intercepts from Japan can be found online. The definitive online source for this subject can be found on the website http://www.internmentarchives.com. It should be noted that the analysis provided by this website has a distinctly reactive interpretation to the events surrounding the Japanese internment during the Second World War. The website also takes umbrage with figures in a display at an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute. The website uses a list of decorations awarded to members of the all Japanese-American regiment. This was the official regimental list and does not include the medals and awards given out by President Clinton in 2000 AD. This invalidates some of the criticism of the website. Regardless, the MAGIC messages are authentic and they stand on their own merit. These intercepts were originally top secret documents which were only declassified during the 1970s.
Depending on the ability of the students, the instructor should print out specific messages which detail attempts by the Japanese at espionage (spying) and sabotage. These messages are wide-ranging and quite specific concerning attempts by Japanese at covert operations on American soil. Students should be tasked to discuss the transmissions and their possible effect on the American war effort. The instructor should also pose the question for the students to answer: What should the United States government have done at the time to protect America and its citizens? As students are making this list, the instructor should remind them that if the existence of these transmissions was publicly revealed then the Japanese government would have changed their mode of secret transmissions and the United States would have lost this vital advantage in their war effort. The entire purpose behind this exercise is to create within the students the problem that plagued President Franklin Roosevelt and to understand the war hysteria that engulfed America and particularly the Western shores during those early days after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.
Once the students have begun to empathize with the government’s reaction then the teacher can begin to break down this perspective by illustrating to the students that this can be seen as an example of massive race profiling and the infringement of basic civil liberties guaranteed to all Americans. By fostering an environment in which students empathize with the government’s actions and then breaking it down, student interest should be sufficiently piqued in a way that will allow the teacher to show that civil liberties are universal to all. This in effect becomes the “hook”.
At this point, the instructor should explain or have the students research the actual events surrounding the rounding up and detention of Japanese and Americans of Japanese ancestry into camps located throughout the United States. Again, online resources and interviews from detainees are abundant and can be easily found through a search on the internet using any web browser.
There are particular words that are used to describe the various generations of Japanese living in America. As students are doing research, the instructor should be aware so they can help with comprehension. The first generations of immigrants from Japan to North and South America are called issei. The second generation of immigrants who are born in North and South America are called nisei. The third generation who are the sons and daughters of American-born Japanese are called sansei. Each of these names is a variation on the first three Japanese numerals, ichi, ni and san. Kibei was the name of the thousands of Japanese-Americans, who although born in America, were sent back to Japan to be educated.
The instructor should spend some time reviewing the various Constitutional Amendments that pertain to the detention of Japanese and American citizens of Japanese ancestry. Below is a list of the particular Amendments that could pertain to the Japanese internment:
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Amendment:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Just over three weeks after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, federal agents began randomly searching the houses of people of Japanese ancestry. They were acting on no specific evidence.
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Amendment:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger … nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Japanese-Americans were forced to relocate to the internment camps beginning in March, 1942. When the Americans citizens of Japanese ancestry were ordered to the internment camps, they were forced to sell their property, (land, houses and businesses) at prices reflecting their situation. This meant that the Japanese-American community lost billions of dollars. While the United States government may not have confiscated the property, they were the cause of its loss to the Japanese Americans. The 5
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Amendment guarantees against American citizens being deprived of liberty and property, both of which the Japanese-Americans were subjected to.
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Amendment:
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
” The Japanese Americans were not afforded a trial before they were forced into the internment camps. The 6
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Amendment guarantees American citizens of the right to a speedy trial.
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Amendment:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The Americans of Japanese ancestry or naturalized Japanese-Americans were deprived of their basic rights as Americans. During the weeks and months following the attack at Pearl Harbor, the United States armed forces discharged many servicemen who were of Japanese ancestry. Local Californian governments discharged people of Japanese ethnicity from their employment.