Guilty by Association

Hopefully everyone who reads this blog knows what happened at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japanese-Americans were as shocked and angry as their Caucasian neighbors were. But the government saw only what it wanted to see and reacted quickly to suppress imaginary threats in Hawaii and the continental U.S.

On that same day, December 7, 1941, the FBI began arresting Japanese-Americans who maybe might have possibly had either an opportunity or reason—however slight—to cooperate with Imperial Japan. Most of the people arrested were Issei (first generation in America) men, but some were women and there may have been a few Nisei (second generation) as well.

How could the FBI act so quickly? Paranoia about the threat from Japan had begun months and even years earlier, and the government already had a list of those Japanese-American aliens (the Issei) who maybe might have possibly had either an opportunity or reason—however slight—to cooperate with Imperial Japan. Most had emigrated to America decades earlier and would have applied for citizenship if the law had allowed it.

The arrest list included:

• commercial fishermen (because they had short-wave radios and could theoretically make contact with submarines off the coast),
• community leaders and journalists (who might have influence in the Japanese-American community),
• Buddhist priests and Japanese-language teachers (i.e., those who worked to maintain Japanese religion, tradition, and culture),
• Issei employed by U.S. branches of Japanese businesses, and
• those who had visited Japan within the last few years.

Although many people were rounded up that first day, the arrests continued for several weeks. All of those arrested were sent to prison without a trial. Some of them were “released” after months or a year to join their families in incarceration camps, but many were not released until the war ended. And none of them were ever proved to be disloyal to the U.S.

You can imagine the effect this had on innocent men and their families. Many households were now fatherless, and some were even parentless. In the Kikuchi family, for example, a teenager was left to care for her four siblings, ranging in age from eight to twelve, after both her parents were taken away.* And all Issei bank accounts were immediately frozen, leaving many families with neither a wage-earner nor access to their savings.

These arrests occurred in Hawaii as well as in the continental U.S. The military also imposed martial law in Hawaii as part of an earlier plan on what to do if the U.S. was attacked. But most Japanese-Americans living in Hawaii were spared the worst of what was yet to come.

That began with Executive Order 9066, which I will cover next week.

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* See page 27 in Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim.

Second-Class Citizens

I am currently researching a historical middle-grade novel based on the Japanese-American incarceration during World War II, and I believe it is important for all Americans to understand the appalling things we did to loyal citizens in the name of patriotism. (A subsequent post will explain why I use the word “incarceration.”) Since it will be a while before the book is written and finds a publisher, I have decided to dedicate a number of posts to the subject.

It actually started before Pearl Harbor. First-generation Japanese Americans, called Issei, were not allowed to become U.S. citizens, no matter how loyal they were or how long they had been in this country. In the Pacific states they were also prohibited from owning land, although many got around it by buying the land in their children’s names. Those same states, and some others, also made it illegal for anyone of Japanese ancestry to marry outside their race.

The second generation, called Nisei, had it somewhat better. They were born in the U.S. and became citizens at birth under the terms of the U.S. Constitution. As mentioned above, they were also allowed to own land, but they still couldn’t marry outside their race.

The Nisei (and some of their parents) tended to be well-educated. They spoke English as well as other native-born Americans, and they often had advanced degrees. Getting an education was easier than finding a job, however, and the West Coast was populated with engineers working as dish washers and store clerks.

Why this prejudice? Some of it was undoubtedly economic. The Japanese were accepted in Hawaii, where Japanese labor and Japanese businesses were vital to the island economy. They were largely ignored in the Midwest and on the East Coast, where their numbers were so small that they had little effect on the workforce. But they were often hated on the West Coast, where their hard work and business savvy made them serious competitors to many Caucasians.

Still, it was probably more complicated than that. It takes effort to identify with people who are different than we are, and the Japanese stood out because of their looks as well as their work ethic.

Whatever the reason, the prejudice was felt most strongly by the Issei. The Nisei had Japanese ancestors but considered themselves 100% American. No, they didn’t just consider themselves 100% American. They were 100% American.

That’s why subsequent events hit them so hard.

Next week I’ll write about the reaction to Pearl Harbor.

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If you would like to learn more about the experience of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast at the start of World War II, here are some books I recommend.

 

·         Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston;

·         Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim;

·         Nisei Daughter by Monica Sone; and

·         The Children of Topaz by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat.

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The photograph at the top of this post was taken by Dorothea Lange in Oakland, California during March 1942. It appears to have been taken as part of her official duties while employed by the United States government, thereby placing it in the public domain.