The historical experiences of the Native Americans can be directly compared to the experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II. During this time, Japanese Americans were being interned in War Relocation Camps due to fear of continued Japanese attacks on the United States, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This is similar to the effect of white individuals on Native Americans, who forced them out of their native lands and on to new territories. Both ethnic groups were forced to leave their private lands in order to move to new areas that were predetermined by the American government. When the settlement of the western United States occurred, Americans forced Native Americans to move onto reservations so that their prior land could be used for settlement and development. This was done through treaties between individual Native American tribes and the United States government. These treaties gave land to the U.S. government, and the land that was retained by tribes became the reservations.
During World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to move onto internment camps after fears arose of internal attacks on the United States by Japanese Americans. Despite the fact that these people were U.S. citizens, they were looked down upon and forcibly removed from their homelands. A total of 127,000 of these Japanese Americans were imprisoned because of their Japanese heritage and ancestry. Despite the lack of any evidence, these people were suspected of remaining loyal to their homeland and against the United States in the war. Paranoia about Japanese Americans grew because of the large Japanese population in California and throughout the west coast. President Roosevelt signed an executive order in February 1942 ordering the relocation of all Japanese Americans to one of ten concentration camps throughout the United States. Evacuation orders were posted in communities with large Japanese American populations informing them of the procedures necessary to comply with the order.
Once at the camps, Japanese Americans were overcrowded and had poor living conditions. They were housed in small barracks without plumbing. There was no heat in these barracks and food was rationed out and served in mess halls. Japanese Americans were eventually allowed to leave the concentration camps if they joined the U.S. Army, but doing so would force them to pledge their allegiance to the United States, the country that had forcibly jailed them without justifiable cause. The concentration camps were later closed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. In retrospect, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a forceable act by the United States government who acted with only their concerns and priorities in mind and without consent from the targeted group. It required a major change in culture, tradition, and practice for the interned Japanese Americans, as they were forced to give up their typical lives to move to the concentration camps.
The Japanese American internment can be directly compared to the move of Native Americans onto reservations. In both cases, the United States government forced a group of people to leave behind their lives and move to a new place. It was difficult for both groups to resume their typical lives in these locations. The conditions for the Japanese Americans in concentration camps were poor, preventing them from enjoying their lives. Native Americans were never able to regain the freedom and sacred traditions of their past once they became restricted and influenced by European settlement in America. Sherman Alexie writes in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, “‘I was reading this book about old-time Indians, about how we used to be nomadic. [...] So I looked up nomadic in the dictionary, and it means people who move around, who keep moving, in search of food and water and grazing land. [...] Well, the thing is, I don’t think Indians are nomadic anymore. Most Indians, anyway’” (229). This quote shows how the lives of Native Americans have changed as a result of American influence and the creation of reservations, as the Native Americans are no longer nomadic.
During World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to move onto internment camps after fears arose of internal attacks on the United States by Japanese Americans. Despite the fact that these people were U.S. citizens, they were looked down upon and forcibly removed from their homelands. A total of 127,000 of these Japanese Americans were imprisoned because of their Japanese heritage and ancestry. Despite the lack of any evidence, these people were suspected of remaining loyal to their homeland and against the United States in the war. Paranoia about Japanese Americans grew because of the large Japanese population in California and throughout the west coast. President Roosevelt signed an executive order in February 1942 ordering the relocation of all Japanese Americans to one of ten concentration camps throughout the United States. Evacuation orders were posted in communities with large Japanese American populations informing them of the procedures necessary to comply with the order.
Once at the camps, Japanese Americans were overcrowded and had poor living conditions. They were housed in small barracks without plumbing. There was no heat in these barracks and food was rationed out and served in mess halls. Japanese Americans were eventually allowed to leave the concentration camps if they joined the U.S. Army, but doing so would force them to pledge their allegiance to the United States, the country that had forcibly jailed them without justifiable cause. The concentration camps were later closed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. In retrospect, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a forceable act by the United States government who acted with only their concerns and priorities in mind and without consent from the targeted group. It required a major change in culture, tradition, and practice for the interned Japanese Americans, as they were forced to give up their typical lives to move to the concentration camps.
The Japanese American internment can be directly compared to the move of Native Americans onto reservations. In both cases, the United States government forced a group of people to leave behind their lives and move to a new place. It was difficult for both groups to resume their typical lives in these locations. The conditions for the Japanese Americans in concentration camps were poor, preventing them from enjoying their lives. Native Americans were never able to regain the freedom and sacred traditions of their past once they became restricted and influenced by European settlement in America. Sherman Alexie writes in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, “‘I was reading this book about old-time Indians, about how we used to be nomadic. [...] So I looked up nomadic in the dictionary, and it means people who move around, who keep moving, in search of food and water and grazing land. [...] Well, the thing is, I don’t think Indians are nomadic anymore. Most Indians, anyway’” (229). This quote shows how the lives of Native Americans have changed as a result of American influence and the creation of reservations, as the Native Americans are no longer nomadic.