Japanese Canadian Internment
Over the last several decades, Canada has become well known for our multicultural society, evident by the extremely diverse population. However, any racial equality that exists today is only possible from the result of difficult battles of discrimination; these stories of our past are often kept hidden when exploring our history. The internment of the Japanese Canadian population throughout World War 2 is a topic that many believe is still overshadowed today, as people struggle to accept this darker part of the past.
The History of Anti-Japanese Sentiment in Canada
Japanese-Canadian relations began in 1877, when the first known Japanese immigrant, Manzo Nagano, landed in British Columbia. From 1900-1910, the arrival of most of the first generation of Japanese immigrants, known as the issei, brought a huge wave of prejudice. Racism was a widespread and accepted reaction to xenophobia, recognized as a fear of the unknown; minority groups were automatically considered to have a lower status in society. As well, many Canadian immigrants had previously come from different parts of Asia, including the Chinese who arrived in the 19th century to partake in the British Columbia gold rush and to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway. These groups had already experienced extremely harsh treatment and hostilities throughout their time in Canada.
Many of the immigrants settled in British Columbia in two main ghettos, found in Vancouver and the fishing town of Steveston; the issei started to develop their own communities and become successful. The immigrants began to take jobs, making the general population feel threatened, and so the white majority began their attempt to force the issei out of Canada. Mobs were sent through various towns, and there were large protests to the government to stop any Asian immigration. The government proved their large fear and distrust of the racial group with the laws that were soon put in place; any citizens of “Asiatic” origin were denied voting rights, the issei were excluded from many job opportunities and were paid less than the white population, the number of Japanese immigrants were restricted, and fishing licenses were taken away. Anti-Asian sentiments were displayed in politics; during the federal election of 1935, the Liberal and Conservative parties campaigned against the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, accusing them of being pro-Asian. The second generation of Japanese Canadians, known as the nisei, were well-educated, spoke English, and most significantly, were Canadian born. They therefore believed that they would be considered more equal in the Canadian society, however they still faced the same prejudice as the previous generation.
Increasing Hostilities
By the 1940s, over 20 000 Japanese Canadians were living in British Columbia, and many were experiencing large amounts of success. However, as the Japanese became enemies overseas, there was increasing anti-Japanese sentiment at the home front. Over 200 Japanese-Canadians served for Canada in WW1, but none were allowed to join the forces during WW2. There was a widespread fear of the possibility that Japanese Canadians were serving as spies with the thought that if the Japanese invaded, the Japanese Canadians would possibly aid them. In August 1941, everyone of Japanese descent had to carry registration cards with photos and thumbprints. However, the RCMP had been carefully surveilling the group since before the war started, and had confirmed that there was no existing threat whatsoever to national security.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, causing panic throughout North America; the Canadians often followed the American courses of action to take measures against Japanese citizens. On December 8, Japanese-Canadian fishing boats were taken possession of, and Japanese-language newspapers and schools were stopped and closed. As of December 16, anyone of Japanese origin was required to register as an Enemy Alien. The War Measures Act gave the government unlimited power to do anything needed to support the war effort, showing the lack of a true democracy in Canada. The new actions against the Japanese Canadian took away their lawful rights, including the freedom of speech and “habeas corpus”, which is the right to be brought before a judge and tried only with physical evidence.
(photo — http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/world-war-ii-pearl-harbor/100117/)
Action Towards Internment
On January 16, 1942, an 100 mile long “protected” zone along the coast of British Columbia was created. All Japanese Canadian males were immediately forced to clear out, and anyone of Japanese descent was officially forced to evacuate and relocate on February 26. The act impacted approximately 22 000 citizens; 75% were nisei or issei Japanese Canadian citizens, and 25% were non-citizens. The men were generally seperated from their families and sent to work on road camps in Ontario and on the border of British Columbia and Alberta. Some families agreed to work on sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba, where there were many labour shortages, in order to be allowed to stay together. Anyone who resisted or challenged the evacuation orders were sent to prisoner of war camps in Ontario that were surrounded with barbed wire.
It was established on March 4 that citizens in the protected area would be allowed to carry one suitcase, and would have to give the rest of their belongings to the “Custodian of Enemy Property”. They were under the impression that their property, including everything from personal possesions to businesses, would be kept safe and waiting for their return. However, everything was sold for extremely low prices with rarely any benefit for the owners. Part of the proceeds earned were used to pay for any storage or handling fees, basically making the Japanese Canadians “pay for their own incarceration” (http://imagi-nations.ca/?p=13#_edn31). Occasionally, the little remainder of profits were given to the people in the internment camps. However, the Japanese Canadians were all forced to pay for their own internment.
Life in the Camps
On March 16, the first group of Japanese Canadians arrived at Vancouver’s Hastings Park hold centre, and from this date all mail was censored. The holding centres were originally used to hold livestalk, and so people were living in spaces meant to be animal stalls. They were later transported in cattle cars and railways and relocated to hurriedly built shacks with little or no electricity or running water.
The Japanese Canadians lived in horrible conditions and were demoralized by the careful supervision, strict schedule and dusk to dawn curfew that everyone was forced to follow. Government propaganda displayed the camps to the public as a benefit for the people living inside, with opportunities for fun, improving health and learning.
The Return Home
As the war was ending, the Japanese Canadians were still banned from returning to their homes. All internment camps except for one in New Denver were closed and bulldozed on Septmeber 2, 1945, directly following the Japanese surrender. However, after the war, the government decided to remove all Japanese Canadians from British Columbia. The citizens were asked to show their “loyalty” to the nation by choosing to move east of the Rockies, or signing repatriation papers. If they agreed to repatriation and went immediately back to Japan after the war, it would mean that they were deported to a country that many had never seen before. This was an extreme violation to the Canadian birthright, and 4000 Japanese Canadians were deported, half of whom were Canadian born. However, public protests stopped the deportations on January 24, 1947. On April 1, 1949, all restrictions against Japanese Canadians were lifted, and they gained the right to vote and to live anywhere in Canada. However, if any were looking to return to their former homes in British Columbia, the Japanese Canadian community had essentially been destroyed.
Post War Effects and Reparations
It is a fact no person of Japanese race born in Canada has been charged with any acts of sabotage or disloyalty during the years of war.
-Prime Minister Mackenzie King (http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/2012/11/17/liberal_party_needs_to_return_to_the_tradition_of_mackenzie_king.html)
The effects of the internment of 22 000 Japanese Canadians had effects lasting far after they were given the rights to return home. Everyone invovled was effected economically, as they lost the life that they had previously built up, including any personal property, money or businesses. The social effects of the deportation meant that families were split up for years, and existing communities were destroyed from vandalized property and temples. One of the most drastic changes is that many citizens lost the opportunity to seek a better future for themselves, especially considering how many students were unable to complete their education.
The difficulties endured by the Japanese Canadians have slowly made their impacts on the values and structure of Canadian’s lives today. In 1967, the Canadian government made a new point system for immigrants, with “race” no longer a part of the application. In 1984, there was a call to rectify the injustices of the Japanese Canadian internment, with a review of the War Measures Act to ensure that such wrongdoings will never occur again. After large amounts of rallied support and 43 years after the end of the war, acknowledgement, apology and compensation finally occured. In 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney acknowledged the Canada’s wrongdoing, offered $21 000 for each person directly affected by the internment, gave $12 million to a community fund, and gave $12 million to the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to help fight racism.
In May 2012, the University of British Columbia recognized the detriments to the lives of 61 students who were unable to complete their post secondary studies, and 15 who missed their graduation when they were sent to internment camps. 76 students received degrees at the graduation, and family members came for those who had passed away before they could be recognized. The University has promised to educate students about the “shameful period in history”, saying that they will preserve historical records.
If these students had been allowed to continue living in their communities, then they would have finished their initial plans for education. These people’s lives haven’t been completed in the way they had planned and that is the great injustice. -Mary Kitagawa (who headed the campaign for the students to get their degrees)
Why the Japanese?
Germany and Italy were both enemies of Canada during the war, but no actions of internment were taken against citizens with these backgrounds. The common belief with the Japanese, especially shared with PM Mackenzie King, was that they were unable to assimilate into Canadian society as easily as the Europeans were. Many members of the population said that the Japanese culture was too deep-rooted and their appearance was too different to become truly Canadian, especially considering that they only lived in close communities. Was the war an excuse to get rid of a group that ingrained sentiments of hate had been expressed towards? It was proven that the Japanese Canadians posed no real threat to the nation, even if there was a large paranoia associated with the group. If the government had a vision for a perfect or assimilated Canadian society, the ultimate goal does not fall far from Nazi Germany’s belief in the Aryan race and willingness to take any measures to achieve this.
“Let our slogan be for British Columbia: No Japs from the Rockies to the seas”. -Ian MacKenzie, federal cabinet minister from British Columbia
Government’s Perspective
It is possible to understand the reason that the government had a large fear of interaction between the Japanese Canadians and the Japanese enemies. Politically, under the War Measures Act, it was legal to take any measures to ensure the safety of your nation, and so it is plausible that the government believed that this was the right thing to do at a time. It is stated that there was also a safety concern of the Japanese Canadians from fear of any attacks from anti-Japanese groups of Canadians. Therefore, the situation with the internment is more of a moral debate and violation of human rights, especially considering that the Japanese Canadians posed no validated threat whatsoever to the nation. However, even if the government can try to find some sort of a justifications for the actions that they took during the war, there was absolutely no reason for the treatment of the Japanese Canadians after the war. The decision forced upon the population to choose between deportation or resettlement outside of British Columbia was only a response to the ongoing racism. This left the Japanese Canadians with the notion that they were not treated the same way as the rest of the population, and did not have the same rights as an average Canadian citizen.
Significance in Today’s Society
I believe that the internment of the Japanese Canadians is still something that many find difficult to talk about today, as we still have not completely accepted the consequences of our actions. Even in history class resources and curriculum, there is still a biased perspective; the government’s role in the internment is somewhat overshadowed, as if they have not fully acknowledged the situation and they still have something to hide. In the footage of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney redressing the internment of the Japanese Canadians, the event is considered to be the “largest mass exodus in Canadian history”.
Racism still exists in parts of our everyday lives today, and many believe that this is somewhat inevitable. However, statistics show that racial minorities are becoming increasing larger parts of our population. Thousands of immigrants come to Canada annually, the largest amount being from Asia. I believe that there is only one way to most effectively honour and recognize the detriments made to the lives of 22 000 Japanese Canadians: we must ensure that actions are taken so that morally unjust events do not occur in our society again.
