Ep. 143 Internment: How the US Government Forced Japanese Americans Into Its Own Version of Concentration Camps

After talking about the Pearl Harbor attack last week and how it prompted US involvement in World War II, I realized I glorified the aftermath pretty hard. Yes, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor did directly lead to the US declaring war on both Japan and Germany. Yes, US involvement in World War II undeniably helped bring that war to a close. However, the US reacted in other ways at home that weren't quite as glorious. This week I'm talking about the ugly side of the Pearl Harbor aftermath, when the US government forced some 120,000 Japanese Americans, two thirds of them US citizens, into "relocation centers" or "internment camps" that could just as easily be called concentration camps. Mistakes were made, lessons were learned... lessons we can't afford to forget, especially now. 

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Sources: 

• densho.org
• National Archives "Japanese-American Incarceration During World War II"
• Densho Encyclopedia "Picture Brides"
• Densho Encyclopedia "Executive Order 9066"
• National World War II Museum "Japanese American Incarceration"
• Wikipedia "Internment of Japanese Americans"

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