Christopher Nicklin 1671595 4/25/12 #8 Thoughts on Japanese internment The Japanese internment was a horrible moment in American history.

It highlighted the fear the U.S. has and the length in which it will protect itself. It will take away the rights of its citizens and suspend any idea of what this democracy is about. The question I would like to delve into is: is it necessary and is it justified to take rights away from people even though they themselves have not done anything wrong to the country. By delving into these questions it will become clear whether the U.S. deals with these situations correctly or incorrectly. The Japanese internment during 1942 was about stopping any chance of having Pearl Harbor happen for a second time. I see no problem detaining people if it means stopping another catastrophic event. However, I think the problem that the United States showed is what approach they took. The United States took a gung ho approach where they would detain every Japanese person on the west coast. They assumed that every Japanese person was loyal to the emperor. However, this was not the case and they mainly detained people based on race. Because they did this race becomes tied to the issue of the government that is attacking. This only causes for fear and hatred toward the people. If the United States took a more systematic approach and thought things more there would not be so much of a problem than there was. The detainment of the Japanese and what happened to them out weighed the good that it did for the American public. That is how it should be measured. I could see internment of minority citizens happening again. I believe it has happened to certain citizens more recently after the 9/11 attacks. The CIA tries to keep things under wraps. However, I believe they have taken away the rights of some Arab citizens by taking them to other countries and then interrogating them there. In certain situations it may have been appropriate and then I believe should have been done. However, they should have never used harsh techniques of interrogation. In other situations they just racially profiled someone and then brought them in. In that case I believe it should not have been done. This hole detaining citizens is a fuzzy issue for me because it is different for every situation and there are always exceptions. If there was a proven epidemic that was actually going on, not swine flu, like bird flu I would separate citizens that had it from others that did not. However, the difference that would make it ok is to give those people the resources they need to give them the best chance to survive. It is just important to protect the other citizens as well. That is the difference compared to what happened during the black plague where people were shoved into sick houses to die. That does not sit well with me. That is why they would get the resources they need. Fear is not what should drive us as a country to make decisions. It has only leaded us to racism against every different race in this country from Chinese, Japanese, Africa, to Irish. Reason is what should be used. What will get the best results for the most people while not taking away the rights from minorities? That is the approach that the United

States should make. It would take a lot more careful planning and thought but I think it is where the country needs to go in order to be a place for everyone.