Essay On Japanese Internment

The treatment of Japanese Americans in America did not improve immediately after the war ended. The Japanese were still kept in camps six months after the war ended and unfavorable opinions lingered on the Japanese until the 1950s. They had a difficult time recovering after leaving the camps, as they had lost all of their money and land prior to their internment. The physical and mental impact this experience had on the internees was very detrimental to their lives and trust of Americans. This era in American history is now rightfully recognized as a violation of citizens’ rights to civil liberties. Americans did not stop putting Japanese in camps until 1944, and internment did not officially end until early 1946, as previously stated. Upon exit of the camps, prisoners were given a mere bus ticket home and a few dollars. Three years after the war ended, President Truman paid a total of $38 million dollars to compensate those who were imprisoned, however, the amount of money each internee received was so little that the
It was not until President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988 that the Japanese internees were given any meaningful reimbursement. Under the Civil Liberties Act, each individual internee was given $20,000 dollars, which was tax free. Upwards of 1 billion dollars went towards reimbursement. The payment ran on a basis of age, meaning that older internees were given a priority because they were closer to dying. Despite this being the largest attempt to reimburse the internees, it was not as successful as it could have been. Though it was an improvement from President Truman’s attempt, $20,000 was not enough to cover all of the money lost, nor did it cover losses from estates and lands. Although the government did eventually pay the former prisoners and recognize their wrongdoing, it was still not enough to fully compensate the