De Haro, Jonathan

Hale & Baldauf

American Studies

02/7/17

Not To Be Forgotten

Just over 2 months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, then president at the time,

Franklin D. Roosevelt, signed and enacted executive order 9066 which ordered the relocation of

over 120,000 Japanese-Americans, regardless of citizenship, alongside the west coast

(History.com). Many of those who were interned faced a discriminatory act which challenged

their rights. Fast forward to present day and we see the indistinguishable face of a nation with a

continuous fear of the unknown and to those who pose a threat, or in this situation Muslims.

With the inauguration of President Donald Trump, it is important to examine and compare his

similarly proposed plans to the regrettable events which Japanese-Americans were subjected to

during World War II.

Soon after the legislation of Executive Order 9066, the United States War Relocation

Authority was created to concentrate populations who were deemed as a threat, which was

constituted by a majority of those of Japanese ancestry (History.com). Many people were left

with no choice but to leave their homes and belongings intended to which led to the loss of their

property as they were unable to make payments on their homes and businesses (Roth). Some

viewed putting up with these injustices as a necessary sacrifice in order to prove their loyalty to

the United States, one of those people was Mary Matsuda. Mary Matsuda was just seventeen

years old when she and her family were interned in Tule Lake internment camp; In Looking Like
The Enemy, Mary shares her account of imprisonment in a Japanese-American internment camp.

“ “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty” I sang, but I wondered, Liberty for whom?”

loyal or not, people were interned regardless; that is until a few brave Japanese-Americans stood

their ground in defiance against their illegal detainment.

Gordon Hirabayashi, Fred Korematsu, and Mitsuye Endo were 3 Japanese-Americans

whose trials were presented before The Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of

Executive Order 9066 and Japanese internment. Gordon Hirabayashi V. United States was the

first of the 3 cases to be presented before the Supreme Court, in this case, Hirabayashi believed

that the government's actions

Were “racially discriminatory” and asked for the vindication of not only himself but for the other

120,000 others wrongfully interned(Goldstein). Instead, the Court upheld the constitutionality of

the exclusion order and curfew in a state of war. A year later in the case of Korematsu V. United

States, The Supreme Court found themselves in a similar situation. Fred Korematsu knowingly

violated Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34 and justified his actions by contesting that Executive

Order 9066 was unconstitutional and violated his Fifth Amendment but the court thought

otherwise. They once again upheld the constitutionality of the government's actions and

proclaimed that “the power to protect must be commensurate with the threatened danger

.(Konkoly)” However, unlike all other previous contentions in court, the case of Mitsuye Endo

V. United States resulted in the verdict favoring “the people” rather than the government. In her

statement of habeas corpus, Endo claimed that she was being wrongfully held against her will

without sufficient reason as she was a “loyal and law-abiding citizen of the United States.” This

led to the review of the primary functions that the WRA(War Relocation Authority) served,
which was to separate the disloyal detainees from the loyal and to continue the detention of

disloyal populations. The court came to a consensus that it was beyond the ability of the WRA to

subject concededly loyal citizens to its agenda, as those who are loyal pose no security threat,

and that Mitsuye Endo was to be released from the WRA’s custody(Justia.com). Soon thereafter,

this case led to the reopening of the west coast to internees from almost all if not all internment

camps organized by The WRA. It was revealed that the FBI knew that people of Japanese

ancestry did not threaten security and in 2011, the Solicitor General’s office admitted to

suppressing evidence which would display the lack of a threat Japanese-Americans

pose(Justice.gov). Judgments based on fear, insufficient evidence, and personal interests is what

led to the tragedy that is Japanese Internment and it's these traits that seem to be embodied in the

presidential term of Donald Trump.

After being elected into office, Trump did not hesitate to keep his word on the

implementation of his proposed policies and forged several executive orders within his first

weeks in office. One of the documents enacted was an executive order which “banned” entry into

the United States from 7 predominantly Muslim countries, discriminating and targeting an entire

religion while prioritizing his own, as he suggested that refugees of Christian faith would be

prioritized in these regions. Just as the U.S developed a fear of the “Japanese” after the bombing

of Pearl Harbor, today Americans fear the threat of another terrorist attack due to the horrendous

event of 9/11. History tends to repeat itself if we do not learn from it and it seems that is more

applicable now than ever before. Like the United States during World War II handled the threat

of the Japanese, Trump generalized an entire population without justifiable evidence of their

danger. The judicial branch allowed Mitsuye Endo to contest and grant freedom to those
interned, much like modern day federal judges are temporarily halting and dissenting Trump's

executive orders in an attempt to preserve equity for those seeking entry to the U.S.(Pri.org).

We as a nation must be aware of the mistakes we have encountered in our history in order

to evade the possibility of such events to recur as they seem to be doing now. We must stand up

in solidarity for those who aren't able to, like Mitsuye Endo did, to achieve justice and equal

rights for all. This is why it is important that future generations learn of these events and figures

as they are not to be forgotten if we will want to advance and prosper.

Work Cited:

"Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066." History. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 07 Feb.

2017. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/roosevelt-signs-executive-order-9066>.

"War Relocation Authority is established in United States." History. A&E Television Networks,

2009. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/war-relocation-authority-

is-established-in-united-states.>.

Roth, Robyn. "Property Loss." History of Japanese Internment: Property Loss. N.p., 28 Nov.

2008. Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <http://aasreadingoutline.blogspot.com/2008/12/property-los.html>.

Goldstein, Richard. "Gordon Hirabayashi, World War II Internment Opponent, Dies at 93." The

New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/us/gordon-hirabayashi-wwii-internment-opponent-dies-at-

93.html>.

Konkoly, Toni. "Korematsu V. United States." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/personality/landmark_korematsu.html>.

"Korematsu V. United States." Infoplease. © 2000–2015 Sandbox Networks, Inc., n.d. Web. 07

Feb. 2017. <http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar18.html>.

"Ex parte Endo 323 U.S. 283 (1944)." Justia Law. © 2017 Justia, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

<https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/323/283/case.html>.
"Confession of Error: The Solicitor General's Mistakes During the Japanese-American

Internment Cases." OPA | Department of Justice. U.S. Department Of Justice, 20 May 2011.

Web. 07 Feb. 2017. <https://www.justice.gov/opa/blog/confession-error-solicitor-generals-

mistakes-during-japanese-american-internment-cases>.

Yuhas, Alan, and Mazin Sidahmed. "Is this a Muslim ban? Trump's executive order explained."

The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 31 Jan. 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/28/trump-immigration-ban-syria-muslims-

reaction-lawsuits>.

"Federal judge puts much of Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees on hold."

Public Radio International. N.p., 03 Feb. 2017. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.

<https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-02-03/federal-judge-puts-much-trumps-executive-order-

immigration-and-refugees-hold>.

Gruenewald, Mary Matsuda. Looking like the enemy: my story of imprisonment in Japanese-
American internment camps. Troutdale, Or.: NewSage Press, 2005. Print.