I'm curious to know what people think are reasonable actions for Japanese-Americans to take against their oppressors during the WWII internment? Thanks!

I'm curious to know what you think since you started this thread.

The Japanese Americans have moved on, so should you.

I do not believe this to be true. Especially among those who were at Tule Lake.

I've been too lazy to educate myself on this subject, but I've wondered about it. Any good links? Did the US torture these folks? Having admitted my ignorance, the US had been sneak attacked and pulled into a WW, so it probably wasn't too terrible an idea to mistrust Japanese people living in the US at the time, and even those who may have recently become citizens. But how far did it go, under what types of conditions were they detained and for how long? This would determine how much of a gripe they had, imo.

No spying or sabotage to speak of were ever connected to the Nisei community, so the concentration camps were totally pointless. I believe it included pretty much everybody in continental US.

It was just racial hysteria and maybe an effort by Washington to appear like it was doing something and hype the war effort.

Japanese of Hawaii were not rounded up, I think because they were so integral to the island. If there were a real security issue, that would be the place to take action -- the remaining Pacific bastion.

California racial politics was a big part of it. Pure greed, seizing property.

The "sneak" attack wasn't. FDR expected war since summer when he cut off most of Japan's oil. Several days before Pearl, right after emergency diplomacy halted, the Pacific forces were warned war was imminent. It's just that no one expected such a large attack so far east.

There really was a constituency of fascist sympathizers among German-Americans, but nothing like that among Japanese. Yet no mass roundups of the Krauts or Italians. So it was totally racial.

I know less about conditions within the camps. My impression is it was degrading and ugly and they lost their homes and businesses, but not deadly, for the most part.

There's a radio interview out there somewhere with George Takei, it would be informative.

It was war and a time of hysteria. Was it a mistake? Of course. Was it done with malice? No. America had self preservation on its mind.
My ex wife's grandparents were visiting from Italy when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Very few people know this and fewer discuss it, but citizens of italy were interned in the USA because of japans attack of Pearl Harbor. I knew them for years, they got over it and realized war is war. God knows japan has a colorful ( nice word for brutal) history when it comes to the treatment of enemies and civilians in WW2.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian...can_internment


12% of the us military in WW1 were italian Americans

Over 500,000 Italian Americans were in the US armed forced during WW2 fighting against their former homeland. This if I recall correctly is the largest segment of any immigrant population.

The reason for this is 4 million Italians emigrated to America from 1880-1920 which is a huge number when you realize the US population in 1880 was only 50 million.

33000 Japanese Americans served in WW 2. The 442 a Japanese unit was an extremely effective unit that suffered horrific casualties.

It's been 70+ years. Parties responsible for the wrongdoing are dead and gone. The sins of the father do not vest to future generations/

What is reasonable and proper is:

1. Find out the truth and make that truth public
2. Reconcile to the fact that bad things happened and ensure they do not happen again.
3. Move on.

This is, like tons of other things, an issue of deferred responsibility. No one affected should be held responsible for forceful actions by ancestors in the past. If your father killed someone, should you have to pay for it?

Also, violent subjugation of people and acquisition of territory goes back indefinitely so it makes 0 logical sense to have a "response".