The FBI and J.E. Hoover was opposed to the internment of Japanese Americans. To say that Japanese Americans were not assimilated, is like complaining that blacks didn't vote in the Jim Crow South. It was illegal for asians to become Naturalized citizens in the United States till the 50's. Further, many western states passed laws that made it illegal for non citizens to own property. Samuel Gompers forbade any asians joining his union (so they couldn't hold a union job, couldn't own property, and couldn't become a citizen). And actually, while individual members of the ALCU were opposed to internment, the National ACLU was not opposed to the internment of Japanese Americans.
You should understand the price of racial/ethnic stereotyping. The commanders of American forces in Hawaii were warned that war was eminent. In 1940, close to 40% of the population in Hawaii were of Japanese ancestry. Over 1000 Japanese Americans were members of the Hawaiian National Guard - with duties including guarding U.S. military bases in Hawaii. So thinking that Japanese Americans were probably not really THAT loyal, and not really assimilated as REAL Americans, the Commanders made a decision. They decided that sabotage was a greater threat than an attack by the Japanese Imperial Navy. They parked their fighter aircraft in neat rows on the tarmac, and away from Japanese Americans, out at the perimeter of the bases.
re: "That is what happened in 1942. We were in a state of war. All logic and common sense pointed to the non-assimilated JA populations on the West coast as a potential threat to national security. Certain of their civil liberties were then abrogated, temporarily. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court decreed that the measure taken was necessary and appropriate.
In the wake of 9/11, we now face some of the same difficult choices and decisions. We have already taken measures not very dissimilar to those in 1942." |
