How the Americans felt about the Internment Camps
"The Japanese race is an enemy race and while many second and third generation Japanese born on United States soil possessed of U.S. citizenship have become “Americanized” the racial strains are undiluted. It then follows that along the vital Pacific Coast over 112,000 potential enemies, of Japanese extraction, are at large today. There are indications that these were organized and ready for concerted action at a favorable opportunity. The very fact that no sabotage has taken place to date is a disturbing and confirming indication that such action will be taken...” - DeWitt’s Final Report: Japanese Evacuation from the West Coast, 1942, and the government’s brief to the Supreme Court defending Ex. Order 9066
This was one American justification behind the internment camps. They claimed that even though there were third generation Japanese citizens living in America, weren't actually American, they were just Americanized.
"We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons. We do. It's a question of whether the white man lives on the Pacific Coast or the brown men.... If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, we had never miss them in two weeks, because the white farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we do not want them back when the war ends, either," said Austin Anson, the managing secretary of the Salinas Vegetable Grower-Shipper Association. He told this to the Saturday Evening Post in 1942.
"I am for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior. I don't mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd 'em up, pack 'em off and give 'em the inside room in the badlands. Personally, I hate the Japanese. And that goes for all of them," columnist Henry McLemore wrote in support of the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans, at the same time reflecting his prejudice.
"I don't want any of them here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty.... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty.... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map," DeWitt testified to the United States Congress.
Through the previous three quotes, we can see that though the Japanese were put in these camps for U.S. safety reasons, racism was also a key element in their mistreatment. Not only were they put in camps, but most Americans at this time just wanted all Japanese to get out of "their" country.
This was one American justification behind the internment camps. They claimed that even though there were third generation Japanese citizens living in America, weren't actually American, they were just Americanized.
"We're charged with wanting to get rid of the Japs for selfish reasons. We do. It's a question of whether the white man lives on the Pacific Coast or the brown men.... If all the Japs were removed tomorrow, we had never miss them in two weeks, because the white farmers can take over and produce everything the Jap grows. And we do not want them back when the war ends, either," said Austin Anson, the managing secretary of the Salinas Vegetable Grower-Shipper Association. He told this to the Saturday Evening Post in 1942.
"I am for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior. I don't mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd 'em up, pack 'em off and give 'em the inside room in the badlands. Personally, I hate the Japanese. And that goes for all of them," columnist Henry McLemore wrote in support of the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans, at the same time reflecting his prejudice.
"I don't want any of them here. They are a dangerous element. There is no way to determine their loyalty.... It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen, he is still a Japanese. American citizenship does not necessarily determine loyalty.... But we must worry about the Japanese all the time until he is wiped off the map," DeWitt testified to the United States Congress.
Through the previous three quotes, we can see that though the Japanese were put in these camps for U.S. safety reasons, racism was also a key element in their mistreatment. Not only were they put in camps, but most Americans at this time just wanted all Japanese to get out of "their" country.