Baseball in Japanese American Internment Camps

     Early on the morning of December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval base in Hawaii.  Americans had been conflicted about entering World War II up until that moment.  Some Americans wanted to stay out of the War completely while others urged the president to join the Allies in fighting Hitler in Europe.  The shock of the bombing brought Americans together, and President Roosevelt declared war on Japan and her allies, Germany and Italy.  (Partridge, 1998, p.81)

     The Japanese military moved quickly.  They won a series of spectacular victories in the Pacific.  By February 15, 1942, the Japanese had captured Guam, Hong Kong, Manila, and Singapore.  (Partridge, 1998, p.81)

     Anti-Japanese hysteria increased in America with every Japanese victory.  Americans were afraid Japan would attack the West Coast.  They thought large numbers of Japanese and Japanese Americans living on the West Coast would help the Japanese take over the United States.  (Partridge, 1998, p.81) 

     The Japanese living in America (the Issei), and their children, Japanese Americans (the Nisei), were intensely loyal Americans.  (Kerber, De Hart, & Dayton, 2011, p.537)  The Nisei immediately tried to prove their patriotism.  Many Nisei burnt their family photos of relatives dressed in kimonos, destroyed books written in Japanese, and threw away their stunning ceremonial kimonos and Samurai swords.  The five thousand Japanese Americans who were in the military at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor continued to serve.  The Japanese American Citizens’ League sent a telegram to President Roosevelt stating they were prepared to fend off the invasion along with their fellow Americans.  (Partridge, 1998, p.82)

     All of their efforts made no difference.  On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066.  (Partridge, 1998, p.82)  This order called for the forcible removal of all people of Japanese descent living on the West Coast.  All persons of Japanese ancestry were to go to relocation centers for the remainder of the war.  These centers were set up in isolated, far-away places with barrack-like housing surrounded by high barbed wire fences, tall towers, searchlights, and armed guards.  (Partridge, 1998, p.82)

     These people had not committed any crimes.  They had not broken any laws.  They did not receive any trial, yet they were going to be imprisoned.  It was popularly referred to as an internment.  It was legally an incarceration.  These American’s civil liberties were snatched away.  Their basic freedoms had been taken from them even though these rights had been guaranteed to all Americans by the Bill of Rights.  America was also at war with Germany and Italy, but Americans of German and Italian ancestry were not being relocated.  (Partridge, 1998, p.83)

     Each family of Japanese descent was assigned a number and told to prepare for departure in just a few days.  They had to store or sell their cars, furniture, and personal belongings.  Homes had to be rented or sold.  Businesses had to be closed, farms were deserted, and family pets had to be left behind.  They departed with only the items that would fit into suitcases.  These victims had no way of knowing where they were going, how long they would be staying, or how they would be treated.  When departure day came they stood in long lines for hours waiting to be checked in by the military police.   (Partridge, 1998, p.83)

This YouTube video gives some insight to what Executive Order 9066 meant to Japanese Americans.