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FEBRUARY 19, 2017 |
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MEDIACOVERAGEOFWORLDWAR II INCARCERATION:
F
TIMELINEOF JAPANESEAMERICANWORLDWAR II INCARCERATION
1941
TheUnited States entersWorldWar II after the
surprise attack onPearl Harbor inDecember. The
FBI arrests 5,000 JapaneseAmericans, mostly Issei
(first generation) community leaders. Newspapers
warn of a possible second attack ledby Japanese
American spies, and argue for removal as a
precaution.
1942
OnFebruary 19, President Roosevelt authorizes the
exclusionof JapaneseAmericans from theWest Coast
withExecutiveOrder 9066. Amonth later, Japanese
Americans fromBainbridge Island,Washington are
thefirst group taken to concentration camps. These
removals continue through the summer of 1942,
displacingover 110,000people.
Resentment over conditions in the camps boils over
intoprotests at several detention sites beginning in
August. OnDecember 6, militarypolicefire into a
crowd atManzanar, Calif., killing two inmates.
1943
All inmates 17 andolder are requir
.”Although
someuse it as anopportunity to c
The “disloyal” are sent to a special
Lake, California. Those cleared as l
outside camp, andm
Midwest or East Coast.
The army lifts abanon Japanese
forms a segregated, all-Japanese
National Archives &RecordsAdministration
National Archives &
RecordsAdministration
Most JapaneseAmericans spent up to three years in the camps—although somehad
from theWest Coast to avoid confinement, whileothers arrested as potential spies andheld in
special “enemy alien” campsweredetained for longer periods of time.
News coverage focusedon thequestionofwhether JapaneseAmericanswere loyal to theUnited
States. Themedia spread reports of JapaneseAmericans being “coddled”with special treatment,
whichproved tobe false. Inmateswereencouraged toprove their loyaltybynot complaining.
Thosewhoparticipated in strikes andother forms of protestwere called traitors.
Theheadlines reprintedhere are a samplingof TheS
incarceration. Notice thedifference in thewords use
Americans—like the slur “Jap” for those consideredd
to Japan rather thanAmerica. Howmight this have a
photos tell the same story as theheadlines?
FBI Ousts Nipponese
