World War Two was one
of the most significant sculptures of the history of the United States.
However, it did not possess the joy of victory and patriotism in all its
citizens. Thinking back on what I know of the war, I realized that I knew very
little about what happened at the home front. Like many other American children
before me, I was taught of what the Germans were doing to the Jewish
communities, but left ignorant of the racist battle within our own boundaries. I
asked the question of how many personal liberties are taken from citizens in
times of war. I was yet to know of the answers that would emerge. Doing some
research on national security in the United States, a pattern emerged. In times
of war, the liberties of specific groups are often ignored and/or unrightfully
taken away.
Over seventy years
after the end of the Civil War, blacks were still being discriminated against
in the army. This did not surprise me since there is still so much racism
today. However, what I learned about the Japanese-Americans did. While Jews
were being persecuted for their religion and existence in the Europe, we were
persecuting American citizens based solely on their race. I believe it is
important to educate my peers on how devastating this treatment is to how high we
hold our government. I’m not saying our government is the worst system out
there, but what happened to this group of individuals is a tragedy.
The Japanese internment
camps took away personal liberties given by the constitution because the
government needed a way to calm the general public after the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor. They were forced out their homes and businesses, forced to sell
everything but a small suitcase of items. Herded into assembly centers, they
slept in makeshift barracks that every whisper could be heard throughout.
Communal showers/baths, toilets were mostly reduced to latrines, and a single
mess hall for meals made privacy and sanitation very poor if existent. Girls
went to great extremes to have some form of privacy by wearing underwear or
bathing suits in the baths or even trying to use them late at night when no one
was around. Babies did not keep just the parents up at night, but awoke
everyone in the entire building. This was caused by the lack of real walls
(these only had pieces of wood that did not even meet the ceiling) between
cells of one or two families. The wind would whistle loudly through the
non-solid walls, causing drafts and dirt to build up on the ground. The lack of
privacy and humiliation is a form of torture used by the military today.
This mistreatment
violated many amendments of the Constitution we hold dear. The fifth, sixth,
and seventh amendments were ignored as the Japanese-Americans were held in
camps for no reason other than that they were of Japanese descent. I firmly
believe that my peers should understand that the world that they hold dear came
at a price to someone. The government that we trust has done some horrible
things in the past and we allowed it. In times of public weakness, they
exploited our fears and racism, more so in times of war. I fear that history
will repeat itself as I look upon the situation today. Arab-Americans are
discriminated against just because of the world in the Middle East that they
may not be a part of. Muslims are discriminated against because the public
believes that only Arabs are Muslim, making them more dangerous. If you are
Arab and a Muslim, then you have the double whammy as the public hates you for
no reason. Racism is a sad part of American culture. Children today should
learn of how racism leads to the abuse of another race to cause a false
security.
