{OPINION} Japanese American Camps of WWII: How would it have felt?

Metal machines falls out of the sky over the breaking sun of Pearl Harbor. Lead fills the sky. Tora, tora, tora. The Pacific fleet is utterly decimated in merely 75 minutes. The engagement of Midway looms closer. Consecutively, another tragedy looms closer. Executive Order 9066 is signed into order.

Signed by President Roosevelt, a tremendous population numbering about 12 with 4 zeros are ripped from the life they cherish and tried to build. 120,000 Japanese Americans, all American citizens...their freedom snatched by a government that advocates for freedom. Some seized on Pearl Harbor. Some weeks before the order. Some after the order. In all populations, people suffered.

As the military victories rose over the government, internal corruption dawned over the government simultaneously. Leader of the Western Defense Command, Lieutenant General John Dewitt, lead the charge of corruption with obvious false ideas in his report. False sabotage of power lines, later revealed to be cattle damaging power lines.

It was unfortunately enough to back the suggestion of military zones and detainment of Japanese Americans. To further the corrupt effort, California Governor Culbert Olson and State Attorney General Earl Warren declared the removal of Japanese American citizens. Though Attorney General Francis Biddle widely supported the targeted security measures rather than mass incarceration, corruption took over and Roosevelt signed the order.

States receiving the respective American citizens of Japanese descent were met with racism.

Life in the Internment Camps...what we know.

Food shortages plagued the people of the internment camps, or "mini-city". Sanitation near to none played along with the problems that troubled the mini-cities. The false vision of allowing the same life as the outside world blocked those outside from amassing crowds to express thoughts against the establishment of the camps. In truth, there was no such attempt to mimic the life outside to Japanese Americans who were incarcerated on a whim.

No more pay than an Army private despite work that seemed to even out the level of hierarchy between the prisoner population. The even hierarchy in this case deteriorated the population...not because everyone was the same level, but because everyone suffered the same. 1000+ were sent to other states to do farm work and merely 4000 were able to attend college...a contradictory action of the American Dream to many.

Some prison camps in Arizona that invaded Native American land met native resistance, but corruption struck again to overrule the fact. In the camps, including those in Arizona, workers had chances to work in the factories producing military equipment and machines. Just the thought of being unwillingly and unjustly imprisoned and producing equipment for those who falsely imprisoned them. A true tragedy and shock that Japanese Americans still chose to work in such factories.

Through all the camps and people, atrocious conditions haunted the Japanese Americans, and yet they still put up with it. Congress issued an apology and $20k to those incarcerated in 1988, not enough as a reparation for many in comparison to what happened. Yet, there is not much that can fix what has already happened. The least we can do is respect those who have suffered through the cruelty of these camps. So, let's do so whenever we have a chance.