Hawaii Internment Camps

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There are many occurrences in United States history in which we look back not in pride, but the need to remember the rights of humans and remember those who were unjustly oppressed. After the attack on Pearl Harbour racial prejudice was on the rise along with fear of Japanese American betrayal. Paranoia worked against the Japanese community as officials assumed that some of those Japanese were still loyal to their native land and would disrupt the war effort. Near Hawaii, The Niihau incident occurred where a downed Japanese pilot from the attack on Pearl Harbour was saved by two Japanese Hawaiians. And later going on to attack other Hawaiians which factored into the decision to intern. The Roosevelt administration was pressured into executing …show more content…
A high percentage of nisei had never even been to Japan. The internment camps were established in the states of California, Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Colorado. Most of the west coast camps were in California where the majority of interned Japanese were from. Hawaii was more resistant towards the movement as their population was one-third Japanese. The internment would have caused Hawaii a major decline in the population and working force and left the state in an economic quandary. Fortunately however, fighting through legislation, Hawaii only saw around 1,500 out of 150,000 interned. Economics excused Hawaii from interning a considerable portion of its population. In Latin America, some 6,600 Japanese, German, and Italian were deported to the U.S and placed under …show more content…
This formed the all-Japanese battalion, the 442nd regimental combat team that fought in the European theatre. The Japanese regiment is the most decorated regiment in all of U.S history earning about 18,000 medals. Korematsu v. United States was a Supreme Court case in which opponents argued against the internment. Fred Korematsu was a major opponent of the internment claiming it “unconstitutional”, although he failed in the court as the Supreme Court ruled the internment as “justified” and “necessary”. In early 1945 those of undoubtable loyalty were allowed to go to their homes, due to the Ex Parte Endo case. The Supreme Court Case of Ex Parte Endo was one in which the court voted that detaining Mitsuye Endo, who was a clerical worker, and had a brother in the U.S military, was unjustified. The last internment camp was closed down in 1946. In 1980, an investigation was launched by the CWRIC (Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians) to find out if the interment was justified, it was not. 8 years later, $1.6 billion in reparations were given to interned survivors, $20,000 for each. German and Italian internees never received