Interviewer: What was the U.S.'s reason for interning the Japanese-Americans?

Meredith Adams: I think fear was one main reason, but third in line after anger at Pearl Harbor
and greed. The Japanese farmers and businessmen were forced to sell off their assets at
ridiculous prices. This reminds me of how the Nazis impoverished the German Jews before they
were placed in ghettos, then removed "to the east". It was not unusual for a country to intern
enemy aliens during wartime. What was unusual was that U.S. citizens were interned. Also, no
Japanese in Hawaii were so treated. Furthermore, although German merchant mariners and
diplomats were interned, ordinary Germans had only to register and give up their radios. I put
that down to racism. Germans were "normal" and Japanese were not. Furthermore, important
Germans were interned in such beautiful tourist spots as Asheville, NC (my home town), not in
disused horse stables or behind barbed wire.
Interviewer: Did our country act out of fear?
Meredith Adams: The fear was grossly overblown, as proven by the fact that there was NO
Japanese resistance, nor attempts to commit sabotage, and so many joined our armed forces. As
for direct attacks, the only one I know of was a bomb launched by balloon from a Japanese
submarine which greatly startled some picnickers--was that in Oregon? If there was any trouble
from the Japanese residents of Hawaii, who were free to go about their business, I do not know
about it.
Interviewer: Was is challenging for this country to get all of the Japanese-Americans into the
internment camps?
Meredith Adams: No. I do not know of any example of resistance, armed or unarmed. Nor do I
know of any concerted effort by Americans to defend their Japanese neighbors. Perhaps the
government's only challenge was providing isolated prison camps to hold them all.
Interviewer: What is the most shocking fact you know about the internment camps?
Meredith Adams: The shocking thing, in my opinion, was that our "free" government did such
a thing with little or no opposition. People who are afraid do not act well. Governments
routinely get by with a lot of things during wartime that they would not dream of doing in
peace. I find it equally shocking that white Americans forgot about the whole thing almost
immediately, and information about it came into public consciousness decades later. I fervently
hope that one lasting effect will be that our government will never do such a thing again.
Interviewer: Was the responsibility the US government had towards their peoples safety impact
why they interned the Japanese-Americans?
Meredith Adams: I am sure that many people, from ordinary folks to members of congress,
bought into the notion that we had to defend ourselves. Whether this was due to real fear or
convenient propaganda, who can say? Then again, remember that interning enemy aliens during
wartime was a regular practice.

Interviewer: What lasting impact did the internment of the Japanese-Americans have on
America?
Meredith Adams: The lasting effect was mainly upon the victims, though they settled down
after the war and went about their business.