Introduction
Some Japanese Americans refused to relocate to internment camps during World War II, and they also challenged government orders to do so in court. These individuals correctly contended that the government violated their civil liberties by denying them the ability to stroll outdoors at night and reside in their own houses (Kenney). Following Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor, the United States government detained Japanese Americans, but Fred Korematsu disregarded the instructions. These heroic individuals were arrested and imprisoned for refusing to do what they were ordered, and they ultimately appealed to the Supreme Court—and lost. Although the Supreme Court ruled that the principle of separate but equal violated the Constitution, thus abolishing Jim Crow in the South, the court proved extraordinarily blinkered in instances involving Japanese American incarceration (Kenney). As a result, before the Supreme Court, Japanese Americans who contended that curfews and imprisonment violated their civil rights were not vindicated until the 1980s (Kenney). While the Supreme Court decisions sometimes are good, the United States Supreme court decisions have influenced Japanese American culture and lifestyle by violating Japanese American society’s civil liberties, resulting in the removal of large numbers of inhabitants from their homes.
Farewell to Manzanar
Following Commodore Perry’s visit, the Japanese government abolished its emigration prohibition, allowing residents to relocate to other nations. However, in the years that followed, the United States made it increasingly difficult for the Japanese to enter the country. For example, the United States Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization said that citizens must be descended from white people or African Americans, supported by the US Supreme Court (Douthat). As a result, Japanese Americans were not permitted to own property in California. Additionally, the FBI categorized all Japanese Americans as dangerous opponents after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the United States’ involvement in World War II. These decisions led to the government’s arresting and detaining Japanese American citizens against their will (Douthat). A good example is Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s account of her time in the Manzanar internment camp when the US government forcefully evacuated Jeanne and her family and tens of thousands of other Japanese-Americans from their homes to the harsh deserts of California.
Korematsu vs. The United States
Supreme Court decision Korematsu v. the United States established the constitutionality of Japanese American displacement and imprisonment during World War II. The lawsuit would preserve the wartime treatment of Japanese Americans and deny them compensation for their treatment. Due to Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 in 1942, many Japanese-Americans faced the terrible possibility of departing their homes during WWII (Kenney). The order empowered the military to restrict and oppress people of Japanese ancestry. Whether in or out of the military, every citizen feels the effects of war to a greater or lesser extent. Citizenship entails responsibilities and privileges, and the burden is always heavier during war. The compulsory removal of large groups of citizens from their homes, except in the direst of emergencies and danger, is incompatible with our fundamental governmental institutions (Kenney). However, when hostile forces in modern warfare threaten our shores, the ability to protect them must be proportionate to the threat.
The Artwork “Three Boys Behind Barbed Wire”
Pain is one thing; living with documented pictures of suffering is another, and living with them does not always increase one’s conscience or capacity to be sympathetic. During World War II, Toyo smuggled film into the camp and built his camera out of discarded wood (Thomas). The watchtower indicates a constant danger to the boy’s personhood. This is a beautiful shot, with the three individuals perfectly framing one another, the watchtower dominating the foreground, and the realism of the desolation of desert bush in the front. There has been an uptick in hate crimes and violence against Japanese Americans in several US cities in recent years. This is not a new kind of discrimination against the AAPI populations since the forceful removal of US citizens to concentration camps was purely and expressly based on race. It was objectively illegal and outside the reach of Presidential power (Thomas). As with the opinions of many white Americans toward Japanese Americans, legislative and institutional changes have been made in recent decades. A combination of legal and cultural developments and the higher levels of education acquired by Japanese Americans than whites have reversed the unfortunate situation of overeducated and underemployed Japanese Americans (Thomas). While many Japanese Americans work for businesses and are members of occupations that require a college degree, they continue to face difficulties due to racial stereotypes held by certain members of the majority community.
Critical Analysis of the influence of the Supreme Court
Although cultural revival has nothing to do with racial sentiments, it remains a critical concern for many Japanese Americans. Because of Japan’s outstanding economic achievement after World War II, the annual number of Japanese immigrants has been much lower than the 20,000-limit allotted for Japan. In recent years, the number of Japanese immigrants has accounted for less than 2% of the total number of Asian immigrants (Kenney). Many second and third-generation Japanese Americans have moved to the suburbs due to the lack of cultural revitalization in large American cities’ Japanese populations. Similarly, many third- and fourth-generation Japanese Americans are illiterate in the Japanese language. Unlike residual biases against Japanese Americans, the issue of excessive assimilation may very well have no definitive answer since Japanese Americans established Buddhist temples and Christian churches in the United States. Buildings for language schools and theaters, film screenings, judo lessons, poetry readings, and other social gatherings were developed in the neighborhood. The settlers constructed sum ring constructions, baseball fields, and bathhouses. In addition, they built hotels, restaurants, bars, and pool halls, among other establishments.
The Japanese Americans faced several restrictions due to Supreme Court rulings, including being excluded from employment, unable to acquire land, denied citizenship in the United States, and enduring discrimination and prejudice. Japanese Americans developed big, close-knit families despite poverty, prejudice, and persecutory methods. They urged their successors to pursue higher degrees and white-collar employment rather than remain in rural communities. This compelled Japanese Americans to develop strong connections and intimate ties with Caucasians. Japanese Americans were educated in public schools in the United States and acquired an affection for white middle-class values. Japanese culture’s hierarchical structure imposed pressure on students to excel intellectually and compete effectively in a wider Caucasian-dominated society.
The Supreme Court’s decision resulted in a dramatic fall in the population of Japanese Americans residing in mostly Japanese American neighborhoods. However, after World War II, Japanese Americans developed a Japanese culture compatible with American civilization (Kenney). This was more out of need than choice, given the limited options for early Japanese immigrants to assimilate into the larger community’s social structure. Currently, most Japanese Americans are eligible to participate in such a system. Nisei and Sansei retain their Japanese American identity. Their ethnic origins, however, are irrelevant to them as members and participants in a wider community that is not antagonistic to them, as the Issei group was. Japanese Americans have achieved an astounding level of integration as a minority population. Japanese and American cultures have coexisted well because both civilizations are adaptable to one another.
While some members of the majority population complained about the government’s forced treatment of loyal Japanese American residents and citizens, most Americans supported or were indifferent to our government’s actions due to Supreme Court decisions. American propaganda against the Japanese reflected many Americans’ long-held racial prejudices throughout the war. In contrast to the Germans, who were typically shown as buffoons, the Japanese were frequently depicted as apes or monkeys. Because of postwar changes, Japanese Americans now have a considerable presence in professions and business. Prewar discrimination against Japanese Americans with a college degree has all but vanished. Japanese Americans now have a higher average education level and a slightly higher median income than the majority group.
Conclusion
The critical analysis delves into how the United States Supreme Court has affected Japanese Americans. Several Japanese Americans refused to be incarcerated in internment camps during WWII. They said curfews violated their civil liberties, and forcefully removing large numbers of inhabitants from their homes during the unrest was incompatible with their leading governmental institutions. Similarly, Japanese immigrants accounted for less than 2% of overall Asian immigration in recent years (Douthat). Numerous Japanese communities in large American cities have not seen a cultural revitalization, and many second and third-generation Japanese have relocated to the suburbs. Following World War II, Japanese Americans built a Japanese culture acceptable to American civilization. While their ethnic origins are irrelevant to their membership in a non-hostile community, Nisei and Sansei continue to identify as Japanese Americans.
Works Cited
Douthat, Ross Gregory, et al. Farewell to Manzanar: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. Spark Pub., 2003.
Kenney, Karen Latchana. Korematsu v. the United States: World War II Japanese-American Internment Camps: World War II Japanese-American Internment Camps. ABDO Publishing Company, 2012.
Thomas, Gregory. “The Boys Behind Barbed-Wire, 1944.” By Gregory Thomas, 2021.