Essay: The Japanese immigrants in the United States

Throughout the history of the United States, immigration has become a part of our country’s framework.  Immigrants have had many different motivations to why they want to come to the United States.  Most had hope for a better life, for them and their family.  They all thought the new United States location would be better than their present life.  The Japanese first began to immigrate to the United States in 1868.  The Japanese did not ever expect or foresee something devastating to occur to Americans and the American soil, upon which they lived.  Most importantly, the Japanese immigrants never thought that their home country would cause the harm.
The Japanese immigrants in the United States longed for peace and prosperity with the hope of a better future.  Immigrants had the mindset that “what you think about yourself is not nearly as important as what other people think about you” (Gruenewald 4).  About eighty-percent of the Japanese living in the United States lived on the West Coast.  It was not until December 7, 1941 that Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, the author of, Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps had her life changed forever.  She was of Japanese descent and an American citizen.  On that day, Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, an American naval base, in Honolulu, Hawaii.  This was one of the first big terrorist attack on the United States.  The Japanese destroyed about 20 United States naval vessels, hundreds of airplanes and more than 2,000 Americans were killed and 1,000 were wounded.  This attack caused the United States to enter into the Second World War, WWII.
Many children of Japanese parents such as Mary Matsuda and her brother Yoneichi, were considered to be American citizens.  They were both born in the United States.  Their parents did not become United States citizens because of immigration laws.   Many of the Japanese Americans, including Mary’s family wanted to adapt to American ways but also follow their Japanese values.  The Japanese culture emphasizes “family and group-centered activities” while the American culture emphasizes “individuality first” (Gruenewald 15).  It was always challenging for Japanese families to grow up in America while still trying to hold their inherited family values.  Mary was challenged in this area for she went to school all day with Americans, however, after school her parents preferred her to associate with her Japanese culture and the Japanese friends and family.
In March of 1942, almost three months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States Government restricted freedoms by creating a curfew that “required all Japanese on the West Coast to stay in their home from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.”(Gruenewald 30).  They also “restricted the Japanese to traveling no more than fifteen miles from their home” (Gruenewald 30).   They “were allowed to withdraw up to one hundred dollars per month” to cover expenses (Gruenewald 30).  In addition, this terrorist attack on the United States supported President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to issue an Executive Order #9066 on February 19, 1942.  It stated “the mass evacuation of Japanese residents from the Washington, Oregon and California coasts” (Gruenewald 21).  The data, at that time, showed the Japanese people living in the United States had direct contact with the Japanese people living in Japan.  All Japanese people living on the west coast were considered a threat to the United States.  This was the beginning of the Japanese people being controlled and treated unfairly.
In May of 1942, almost five months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Americans were evacuated from their homes and sent to internment camps.  The purpose of the internment camps was for all the Japanese Americans to be in one location.  They were watched at all times and resided behind barbed wire.  Overtime, life in the internment camps became a routine with jobs and school.  At the school, the students were required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance which did not seem right since they were all forced to evacuate their homes to a prison camp.  Mary felt like she was ripped from her home and world she knew and thrown into a place that seemed like prison.  She felt like this was unfair and it was wrong because she was an American citizen.  Other American citizens, not of Japanese descent, were neither placed in camps nor were their legal rights taken from them.
In 1941, there seemed to be multiple contradictions between the United States Declaration of Independence and what Mary Matsuda Gruenewald revealed in her book.  Our Declaration promises “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” to all American citizens.  An American is considered a citizen when they are born in the United States.  In order for an immigrant to be protected by the Declaration of Independence they must also be faithful to the American constitutional government.  In addition, there are specific steps and regulation for immigrants to abide by.  Most Japanese immigrants did not enter through Ellis Island on their travels to the United States.  Most Asians came to the United States by ships that reached Hawaii or the California ports.
After reading Mary Matsuda Gruenewald’s book, I realized that her parents did not come to the United States under the legal premises required by all immigrants.  However, Mary and her brother were American citizens due to their birth taking place in America.  I believe the forced evacuation took place because even though they were considered Americans, they were still of Japanese descent and had contact with Japanese people that were not American citizens.  Her parents were not legal citizens and that may have also been a factor.  America had no prior experience with terrorism nor knew how to best handle this devastating crisis.  It seemed that they thought the easiest way to solve this threat was to combine all of the Japanese together, citizenship or not.  It stopped the Japanese from having contact with others.  It was to calm the threat to the Americans.  America and its people were emotionally and physically wounded by the Japanese.  I believe that President Roosevelt’s Executive Order tried to show Americans that our government is still in control and had the power to do what was needed to protect our people and property.  It may have also started the healing process of the many emotionally wounded Americans.
Unfortunately, Mary, her family and other Japanese Americans were not so lucky.  There are no excuses as to why any of the Japanese people had to endure these terrible living conditions.  Unfortunately, it was not until the year 2005, when Mary was 80-years-old, that she came forward and wrote this book.  She shared the truth of how she and others were treated and what they had to endure.
In 1988, the President at the time, Ronald Reagan and the United States government signed the Civil Liberties Act.  This Act gave an apology to the Japanese who were incarcerated in the internment camps.  This Act attempted to promise the Japanese that they would be personally protected for their rights of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.  Each surviving victim received $20,000 in compensation.  The apology was a good start, however, the small amount of money provided to the surviving, was too little and too late.  It would not ever compensate the Japanese for their emotional wounds.
I hope that our immigration policies and procedures have improved since the 1940’s.  More importantly, I hope that all American citizens, no matter where they came from, will be protected under the Declaration of Independence.  Furthermore, I would like to see all people have the opportunity for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness while living here in the United States of America.  This is our rhetoric of the United States Democracy.