Redress and Reparation Movements (RRMs) Following the United States Internments

Wolfe, Stephanie

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-9185-9_6

Stephanie Wolfe³

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Transitional Justice ((SSTJ,volume 7))

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Abstract

Chapter 6 examines the United States internments of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and 2,300 Japanese Latin Americans on the basis of race and wartime hysteria. The chapter then moves to examine the associated redress and reparation movement (RRM) and its impact on society.

During the period of internment, there were four legal test cases for civil liberties violations. These challenges covered the constitutionality of each stage of the internment process (the curfew orders, exclusion, and the internment itself). Immediately after the internment, the United States government offered various tokens of redress; however, it was not until the 1980s with the establishment of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Interment of Civilians that significant progress in obtaining reparations became possible. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 granted apology and reparations to Japanese Americans, while at the same time, denied Japanese Latin Americans on the basis of wartime citizenship. This act forced the creation of a separate RRM.

The achievements that have been made by these movements is significant as it represents a major power within international society offering redress and reparations without a regime change. The United States’ embrace of the redress and reparation norm, although at times flawed, has caused a tipping point, allowing a norm cascade to begin.

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Notes

1.
There were other groups interned; however, these individuals were selected based on alleged guilt, or in the case of the Aleuts, a genuine military necessity. Within the Latin American internees, I will focus primarily on those from Peru as 80 % of the internees came from this country.
2.
The internment ended in 1944; however, the War Relocation Authority closed the last camp in 1946.
3.
Articles of Confederation: March 1, 1781.
4.
“A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1875.”
5.
Dred Scott v. Sanford, 60 US 393, 1857.
6.
Quoted in Ozawa v. United States, 260 US 178, 1922.
7.
Asians born in the United States continued to be denied citizenship until the 1898 Supreme Court Case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. The courts found that the 14th Amendment applied to all those born in the United States, regardless of race and ethnicity. Thus, 30 years after the introduction of jus soli, it truly became the case. See United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 US 649, 1898.
8.
Ozawa v. United States.
9.
Ibid.
10.
United States v. Thind, clarified that individuals deemed Caucasian but not White were also ineligible for naturalization. United States v. Thind, 261 US 204, 1923.
11.
Comparatively, 2/3 of the yearly quota was given to Great Britain, Germany, and Ireland. Yamamoto et al. (2001, pp. 262–263).
12.
Ibid. pp. 37–38.
13.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 33).
14.
Transcript of Executive Order 9066
15.
Gordon Hirabayashi V. United States quoting Public Proclamation No. 3. 7 Federal Register 2543.
16.
Irons (1983, p. 70).
17.
Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (1982, p. 149).
18.
Ibid. pp. 180–212.
19.
The Department of Justice camps were administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Services and dealt with enemy aliens. Japanese Latin Americans were processed through these camps as they entered the United States, even though they were transported to the US against their will.
20.
United Nations Economic and Social Council Gardiner (1981, p. 29); Mochizuki v United States, 43 Fed. Cl. 97, 97 (Fed. Cl. 1999); and Personal Justice Denied (1982, p. 308).
21.
The WRA camps consisted primarily of Japanese Americans or Japanese permanent residents; however, some non-Asian spouses joined their families in the internment camps. Of the 120,313 people under the control of the War Relocation Authority, there were 1,118 individuals from Hawaii, 1,735 individuals from INS camps, and 219 voluntary residents (primarily non-Japanese spouses). For input-output data see Daniels (1986, p. 74).
22.
U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1940: Summary Population and Housing Characteristics (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1942). Of the 126,947 people residing within the United States in 1940 who were classified as Japanese; 93 % lived in three of the exclusion states: California, Oregon, and Washington; 79,642 of those were native born citizens. This excludes the territory of Hawaii whose ethnic Japanese population comprised 32 % of the populace. Hawaii’s population was not interned, with the exception of approximately 2,000 people who were brought in immediately following Pearl Harbor. Hawaii was however, under martial law after Pearl Harbor.
23.
Native Aleuts from the territory of Alaska were processed though the OIA camps. The Aleuts were interned for their protection and safety; 42 Aleuts had been previously captured by the Japanese and subsequently held as prisoners of war. The treatment of Aleuts in the OIA camps was deplorable and as such they also received reparations and apologies in 1988. See Personal Justice Denied.
24.
Saito (1999, pp. 12–13).
25.
United Nations Economic and Social Council, Question on the Human Rights Of All Persons Subjected to any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
26.
Gardiner (1986).
27.
History of the Japanese American Citizens League, JACL: Japanese American Citizens League,
28.
Masaoka and Hosokawa (1987, p. 61).
29.
Ibid. p. 59.
30.
Ibid. p. 75.
31.
Ibid. p. 92.
32.
Ibid. p. 353.
33.
Gordon Hirabayashi V. United States 320 US 81, 63 s.ct. 1375 (1943).
34.
Quoted in Irons (1983, p. 84).
35.
Irons (1983, pp. 81–84).
36.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 35).
37.
Masaoka and Hosokawa (1987, p. 96).
38.
Irons (1983, p. 85).
39.
Ibid. p. 114.
40.
Ibid. pp. 89–90.
41.
Irons (1983, pp. 92, 116).
42.
Ibid. p. 88.
43.
Quoted in Irons (1983, p. 88).
44.
Ibid. p. 159.
45.
Gordon Hirabayashi V. United States.
46.
Ibid.
47.
Hirabayashi V. United States, Art 1.
48.
Ibid.
49.
Irons (1983, pp. 94–96).
50.
Ibid. p. 97.
51.
Ibid.
52.
Ibid. p. 154.
53.
“Friend of the court” An organization that submits legal briefs and other information to the court; however, is not directly involved with the case. Irons (1983, p. 168).
54.
Toyosaburo Korematsu v. United States 324 US 885, 65 s.ct. 674 (1944).
55.
Korematsu v. United States, 323 US 214, 1944.
56.
Irons (1983, p. 100).
57.
Quoted in Irons (1983, p. 102).
58.
Irons (1983, p. 102).
59.
Ex parte Endo, 323 US 283 (1994).
60.
Ibid.
61.
Personal Justice Denied, (1982, pp. 227–236); Yamamoto et al. (1999, p. 232); and Irons (1983, p. 276).
62.
Irons, (1983, p. 348).
63.
Ibid.
64.
Personal Justice Denied (1982, pp. 240–243).
65.
Masaoka and Hosokawa (1987, p. 208).
66.
Irons (1983, p. 348).
67.
Masaoka and Hosokawa (1987, p. 209).
68.
Irons (1983, p. 348).
69.
Ibid. p. 54; Yamamoto et al. 2001, pp. 240–241).
70.
Irons (1983, p. 348).
71.
To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, Truman Library p. 30.
72.
Ibid. p. 31.
73.
Ibid. pp. 158–159.
74.
Masaoka and Hosokawa (1987, p. 207).
75.
Ibid. p. 208.
76.
According to the U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1960: Summary Population and Housing Characteristics.
77.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 65).
78.
Ibid.
79.
Ibid. p. 66.
80.
Irons (1983, p. 366).
81.
Ibid.
82.
Ibid. p. 370.
83.
Reprinted in Yamamoto et al. (1999, p. 290).
84.
Ibid. p. 294.
85.
Ibid. p. 290.
86.
Ibid.
87.
Ibid. pp. 300–309.
88.
Ibid. p. 290.
89.
Ibid. p. 290, 310–316.
90.
Ibid. p. 291.
91.
Yamamoto et al. (1999, p. 318).
92.
Ibid, p. 280.
93.
Ford(1976).
94.
This included four out of the five Japanese Americans who were serving in Congress; the fifth Senator Hayakawa was outspoken against redress and reparations; Hayakawa was not interned due to his living in Chicago. Maki, et al. (1999, p. 85).
95.
Quoted in Maki et al. (1999, p. 86).
96.
Quoted in Maki et al. (1999, p. 86).
97.
Maki, et al. (1999, p. 86).
98.
Ibid. p. 87.
99.
U.S. Senate, Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act, 96th Congress, S.1647.
100.
John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project
101.
U.S. Senate, Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians Act.
102.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 99).
103.
Ibid. p. 99.
104.
Personal Justice Denied, (1982, p. 459).
105.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 114).
106.
Personal Justice Denied, (1982, pp. 462–463).
107.
It was determined that the native Aleuts were relocated out of necessity; however, the treatment and conditions they had been subjected to were substandard. The Commission recommended a smaller amount of compensation for losses. Maki et al. (1999, p. 12.
108.
Quoted in Irons (1983, p. 114).
109.
Irons (1983, p. 115).
110.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 200).
111.
Ibid. p. 211.
112.
Ibid. p. 214.
113.
Murphy (1999, pp. 628–67).
114.
Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans!
115.
Maki et al. (1999, p. 225).
116.
Saito (1999, p. 73).
117.
In 2000, the NCRR would change its name to Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress as they felt it better reflected their current activities of “active participation in the broad areas of civil rights as well as continued commitment to redress for Japanese Americans and Japanese Latin Americans.” See “About NCRR,” Nikkei for Civil Rights & Redress, http://www.ncrr-la.org/about.html, accessed on 1 March 2010.
118.
Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans!
119.
United Nations Economic and Social Council Commission on Human Rights, Question on the Human Rights Of All Persons Subjected to any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, p. 2.
120.
Ibid.
121.
Mochizuki v United States.
122.
Ibid.
123.
Yamamoto (1999, p. 135).
124.
Mochizuki v United States.
125.
Yamamoto (1999, p. 135).
126.
Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans!; ACLU of Southern California, Japanese Latin Americans Imprisoned By US During WWII Win Bittersweet Victory From Department of Justice, June 12. http://www.aclu-sc.org/releases/view/100003, accessed on March 1, 2010; and Check for Compensation and Reparations for Evacuation, Relocation and Internment. National Archives. http://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans/redress.html, accessed on March 1, 2010.
127.
Yamamoto (1999, pp. 135–136).
128.
Campaign for Justice: Redress Now for Japanese Latin Americans!
129.
Ibid.
130.
Isamu Carlos Shibayama et al. v. United States, Case 434–03, Report No. 26/06, Inter-Am. Commission Human Rights, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.127 Doc. 4 rev. 1 (2007). As of June 1, 2013, no further information can be found.
131.
US House, Wartime Parity and Justice Act of 2000, 106th Congress, H.R. 4735.
132.
US Senate, Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Latin Americans of Japanese Descent Act, 109th Congress, S. 2296.
133.
See Chap. 3 for a discussion on defensive strategies.
134.
Yamamoto and Ebesugawa (2006, p. 275).
135.
Quoted in Personal Justice Denied, (1982, p. xi).
136.
“CLPEF Background” 2010.
137.
History, Campaign for Justice. http://www.campaignforjusticejla.org/ history/index.html, accessed on March 1, 2010.
138.
National Park Service (2012).
139.
George Takei, interview by Stephanie Wolfe on October 12, 2013.
140.
Ibid.
141.
On a personal note, the play and the performers were amazing.
142.
Brooks (1999, p. 160). The African American redress and reparation movement is another well-known RRM; however, has not yet obtained its goals. Lesser known movements include a Native American movement, the Japanese Latin American movement, and smaller movements for Italian and German Americans who were interned during World War II.
143.
Personal Justice Denied, (1982, p. 459).
144.
Department of Justice 1999.
145.
Yamamoto and Ebesugawa (2006, p. 272).
146.
See Appendix One.
147.
Inouye had not been subject to this indignity as he was a Hawaiian resident.
148.
According to the U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 1960.

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Stephanie Wolfe

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Wolfe, S. (2014). Redress and Reparation Movements (RRMs) Following the United States Internments. In: The Politics of Reparations and Apologies. Springer Series in Transitional Justice, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9185-9_6

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9185-9_6
Published: 22 November 2013
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