Rebellion
“As an impressionable 12-year-old in 1942, I had learned about the U.S. Constitution and what it meant. In that period of uncertainty after December 7, 1941, I felt that I could count on our government. The remotest thing on the minds of our family was to be incarcerated under some emotional decision contrary to the Constitution. I could not believe at the time that this was happening to us. This is my country, the land that I love, doing this to us. I hope that I might some day understand, but to this day, I cannot. I was jailed on a trumped-up charge. I was betrayed, not by individuals, but by our United States of America.” –Testimony of ALLAN HIDA, Chicago, Sept. 22, 1981
“In law, interment can only apply to aliens. During World War II, in the United States, internment was individual and presumably based on something the individual had done…Each person interned had the right to an individual hearing, which, in some instances resulted in release. Although the later mass incarcerations are referred to as ‘interment’s,’ that is not really the appropriate term” Daniel writes: The mass incarceration that took place was based simply on ethnic origin and geography… There would be no hearings for the incarcerated Japanese Americans. Their ‘guilt’ was their ancestry. (Oppenheim, 45).
“In law, interment can only apply to aliens. During World War II, in the United States, internment was individual and presumably based on something the individual had done…Each person interned had the right to an individual hearing, which, in some instances resulted in release. Although the later mass incarcerations are referred to as ‘interment’s,’ that is not really the appropriate term” Daniel writes: The mass incarceration that took place was based simply on ethnic origin and geography… There would be no hearings for the incarcerated Japanese Americans. Their ‘guilt’ was their ancestry. (Oppenheim, 45).
Court Cases
Fred Korematsu vs. United States
"In order for things like this to never happen again, we have to protest. Protest, but not with violence. Otherwise they won't listen to you. So don't be afraid to speak up." -Fred Korematsu
Fred T. Korematsu is a national civil rights hero. In 1942, at the age of 23, he refused to obey executive order 9066. Executive order 9066 commanded all Japanese-Americans, regardless of citizenship, to be relocated to government controlled internment camps. He was then arrested and convicted because it was unlawful of him to disobey the law. In a 6-3 decision, the first jury sided with the government saying that the order was considered constitutional. The verdict of the case was very controversial at the time. In 1983, the case was re-opened in a federal district court and Mr. Korematsu's 40 year-old conviction was vacated.
Hirabayashi vs. United States
Gordon Hirabayashi was born in 1918 in the United States from two Nisei (first generation) Japanese. Right after Executive Order 9066 was sent out , Hirabayashi turned himself into the FBI on May 16, 1942 with a written statement named, "Why I refused to register for evacuation," despite initial opposition against his refusal to evacuate his mother, provided moral support but wanted him to stay with the family. As an American citizen, he believed that the curfew and imprisonment of Japanese Americans violated his constitutional rights.
However, the federal grand jury in Seattle charged Mr. Hirabayashi with the violation of Public Law 503 for failure to report for evacuation and for curfew violation. In 1943, Mr. Hirabayashi’s lawyers appealed his case all the way up to the US Supreme Court in the first challenge to Executive Order 9066. Mr. Hirabayashi’s lawyers contested the constitutionality of the government’s wartime curfew and expulsion of Japanese-Americans on the grounds that they denied Japanese Americans due process and equal protection of the law. However, the Supreme Court unanimously voted 9-0 to uphold Mr. Hirabayashi’s conviction for violating the Executive Order.
Mr. Hirabayashi completed his initial sentence of 90 days in federal prison in Arizona, before being sent back to prison once again for draft evasion in refusing to complete the government-distributed “loyalty questionnaire.” While working for the American Friends Service Committee in Spokane, Mr. Hirabayashi refused the questionnaire administered to all Japanese Americans in camp, stating that its motivations were based purely on his ancestry and therefore was racial discrimination (Ng, 25).
However, the federal grand jury in Seattle charged Mr. Hirabayashi with the violation of Public Law 503 for failure to report for evacuation and for curfew violation. In 1943, Mr. Hirabayashi’s lawyers appealed his case all the way up to the US Supreme Court in the first challenge to Executive Order 9066. Mr. Hirabayashi’s lawyers contested the constitutionality of the government’s wartime curfew and expulsion of Japanese-Americans on the grounds that they denied Japanese Americans due process and equal protection of the law. However, the Supreme Court unanimously voted 9-0 to uphold Mr. Hirabayashi’s conviction for violating the Executive Order.
Mr. Hirabayashi completed his initial sentence of 90 days in federal prison in Arizona, before being sent back to prison once again for draft evasion in refusing to complete the government-distributed “loyalty questionnaire.” While working for the American Friends Service Committee in Spokane, Mr. Hirabayashi refused the questionnaire administered to all Japanese Americans in camp, stating that its motivations were based purely on his ancestry and therefore was racial discrimination (Ng, 25).