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u.s. concentration camps
Japanese American Relocation Camps:
A Historical Reflection
Sixty years ago the Japanese bombed the U.S. Naval port at Pearl Harbor. Indeed Hollywood has used this anniversary to make a sizeable profit off of their new romantic drama Pearl Harbor. In the media much is made of this Japanese offensive and yet very little discussion is made over the atrocious bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki perpetrated by the United
States and even less discussion is heard on the imprisonment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans during WWII. At a time when America has over 2 million people in prison, the majority of them coming from minority racial communities, it may serve us well to reflect on the United States' history of incarceration of poor and innocent peoples.
In the spring of 1942 between 110,000-120,000 Japanese Americans were sent to live in relocation camps throughout the Southwestern United States.
Stripped of their land, professions, homes, and possessions these folks made their way to the camps taking only what they could carry. In Arizona,
California, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Utah camps were set up to hold innocent, working folks for three years. The laws passed by Roosevelt and his fellow
capitalists calling for this imprisonment were designed for all people born of Japanese parentage, even if they were born in the United States or legal
U.S. citizens.
After Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor the American media played up the stereotype of the Japanese spy. This created a small frenzy among the reactionary white population of California, where the majority of Japanese Americans had settled. These whites organized small bands of vigilantes to beat up innocent Japanese folks and destroy their property and were allowed to go free by the police.
In the shallow history text books of today we read that these are the real reasons the Japanese Americans were sent to the relocation camps. Many
were considered to be spies and the rest, even though they may be innocent, needed to be isolated from other U.S. citizens. This, however, is a very
undialectical explanation of history and hardly takes into account the class/economic motivations behind such undemocratic measures.
In 1941 the majority of Japanese Americans living in California ran small family farms. In fact, they had filled this niche so well that they made over 70 million dollars/year, which was about 35% of California's total crop production. In all there were around 6118 small farms that operated on
roughly 250,000 acres of rich, fertile crop land.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor the ruling class of California had a "justifiable" reason to evacuate the Japanese American population and would stand to make much money off of their imprisonment. The California Chamber of Commerce, the Bank of America, and the reactionary white Farmer's organizations campaigned heavily for the removal of these Japanese farmers
once they realized how much they would profit from eliminating the competition. The way it worked out was that after the Japanese Americans were relocated the Lowery Act was passed allowing the banks to take over all "unused land and machinery." Since the white farmers were still on their farms and using their tractors, it was an act that was passed specifically against the Japanese Americans. The Bank of America took over the property and sold it to large Agricultural businesses who sought to make much profit off of their cheaply acquired land. In the end, it was California's upper class that benefitted from the removal and imprisonment of thousands of
innocent people.
Once in the internment camps the Japanese American's watched their labor supply the U.S. war machine with loads of produce to fuel the soldiers and masses both abroad and nationally. In 1944, between four camps, over 2 million dollars worth of supplies were produced for the U.S. war effort. The U.S. capitalist class was better prepared for WWII than it was for WWI. It understood the intense economic strains that war caused and how important it was to have food and supplies available at a cheap cost. By enslaving the Japanese American labor power they were able to obtain large amounts of produce without paying for the labor. In this way the relocation camps satisfied another aspect of the ruling class' desires.
Needless to say, life for the Japanese Americans in the camps was not easy. Many times families were split apart and the stress of relocating caused much sickness and death. Men, women, and children were ripped from their communities and hauled out into unfamiliar places to work in fields. At many camps there was no schooling for children or work, other than farming, for adults. In many ways, life there was full of drudgery, idleness, and depression. But, the imprisoned population did not just roll over and die or take their situation politely, as some historians would like us all to think. There was a large amount of political activity in the camps. There were strikes, protests, and petitioning going on the whole three years of their internment.
In 1945 most of the relocated population was released. Some returned to California while many went to settle in the Midwest and East. But in the end these camps were a source of psychological trauma and confusion. The young men who did not sign up for the Armed Forces were dubbed "no-no boys" and were looked down upon by those Japanese Americans who fought to prove their patriotism to white America. Still, those who fought were forced to deal with the fact that they had killed many Italians, Germans,
and Japanese to prove themselves to a nation that had enslaved those of their own race. These contradictions that confronted a whole generation of young Japanese American men and women resulted in bifurcated identities and an unclear understanding of themselves. Naturally, questions of racism arose and what it would mean to be a person of Japanese parentage born in America. These are questions that the Japanese American community is still dealing with today.
In conclusion, the U.S. capitalist class became involved in WWII for purely economic reason (to gain control of new and emerging markets.) The archetypal battle between democracy and fascism was a figment generated by the media. In the end the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Japanese American internment camps, and the legacy of class oppression in the U.S. gives valuable testimony of the democracy that the American ruling class is interested in.
The article above is based on a talk by Rob Welsh of Northland College Youth for Socialist Action.
