Japanese Internment: Struggles Within the Newspaper

Abstract

Japanese Internment: Struggles Within the Newspaper By Chul Wan Solomon Park T he United States entered World War II, on December 7, 1941 when the Empire of Japan attacked the naval base at Pearl Harbor. The entrance to the war was not the only thing that resulted from the attack. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Executive Order no. 9066. This order allowed the United States to “designate areas from which any or all persons may be excluded,” 1 ultimately making it legal to forcefully detain the Japanese Americans in the States. The relocation of the Japanese Americans was a result of wartime hysteria; however, racism deep within the American community and history played a significant role. Anti-Asian ideals and laws from the late 19 th centuries up to the Japanese relocation became the stepping-stones of Japanese internment. As a result of the Executive Order no. 9066 and exclusion laws, the camps where the Japanese were detained established their own culture and way of life ra- cially excluded from the rest of the world. Some of the larger camps such as the Manza- nar and Tule Lake had their own newspapers. These newspapers reveal the life of exclu- sion and struggles of identity of the Japanese Americans detained in internment camps in respect to the culture and history of the United States up to that time. The Tule Lake newspapers were the source of information within the camp for the residents of Tule Lake. At first glance, the newspaper seems like any other papers from anywhere in the United States. The newspaper itself has an article from issue ten of volume three published on July 27, 1942, explaining, “the editorial policy of the Tulean Dispatch is no different from any other American newspaper published outside in this time of war.” 2 Meaning that the newspapers could be censored. In order to retain citizen support, news- papers were often censored and consisted of positive propaganda during wartime. By stat- ing that the Tule Lake newspapers were no different from any other American newspaper, means that the government was in control of what was being published. The article contin- ues to explain the paper’s primary goal of helping the community attain social order in their time of confusion and perplexity. The newspapers seem perfect, with information about all the major categories in a society including sports, economics, and politics. The papers made the internment camps seem like a well-functioning happy society, even calling it a colony, however the newspaper only includes news within the internment camp, ex- cluding the camp from outside news. Carefully examining the articles reveals a life of ex- clusion and an attempt to create a new society of Japanese Americans loyal to the United States. The newspaper contains articles of education, sports, and opportunity of entertain- ment, which all factors into creating a culture within a community. Although the govern- ment censored the newspapers, it shows an attempt by the Japanese Americans to live nor- mally within the camps. Similar to that of the Native American reservations, the government tried to create a new society of people within a certain boundaries in order to exclude them. The Japanese Americans seemed to make the best of their situation by recreating a community. Dance classes, sports teams, religious buildings, and schools were all implemented into the camps while job opportunities were also given to qualified individuals. By bringing together all ethnically Japanese people and giving them a chance to create a new culture, the society of