Dear Fellow Americans:
I am a member of the Young Diplomats club and we read a book on Japanese internment called Farewell to Manzanar. My purpose for writing this letter is because I am very sorry about what happened to you during World War II. What happened to you back then was wrong. By putting you in internment camps the government took away your rights and liberties as an American. There are many reasons why the government did this and why it was wrong.
Internment was wrong because this hurt the Japanese business. By being put in internment camps, the Japanese who had shops had to close them down. Also because of all the prejudice against Japanese, less people bought things from stores owned by Japanese. (Document #6)
Another reason why the internment was wrong is because so many Japanese fought for the US Army and for the American cause.
Map of internment camps during the internment of J...
Los Angeles (vicinity), California. Baggage of Jap...
Map of internment camps during the internment of J...One example of this was the all Japanese-American 442nd Combat Team. This unit became one of the most decorated unit in the entire United States Army. They won seven Presidential Distinguished Unit Citations, one Congressional Medal of Honor, forty-seven Distinguished Service Crosses, 350 Silver Stars and 810 Bronze Stars. President Truman also said that they had fought "not only the enemy, but also prejudice." So why were the Japanese being interned after they proved that they were on our side? (Document #9)
In the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 the congress realized that the wartime relocation and internment of civilians was motivated largely by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership. Also the Congress and President Clinton apologized for the wrongs done to the Japanese-Americans during World War II. (Document #10)
During the World War, internment might have been important for American security. But after...