America's Japanese Internment After Pearl Harbor

In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, giving the military unprecedented power to forcibly remove anyone deemed a security threat. Within weeks, over 120,000 Japanese Americans—two-thirds of them U.S. citizens—were tagged, searched, and imprisoned in assembly centers and internment camps across America. They had as little as 48 hours notice to sell everything they owned or abandon it entirely.

The order came in the wake of Pearl Harbor's attack, fueled by wartime fear and racial prejudice. Families lost homes, businesses, and dignity overnight, herded into horse stalls at racetracks and fairgrounds before being transferred to remote camps surrounded by barbed wire. Despite widespread fear of sabotage, not a single Japanese American was ever accused of espionage during World War II—the threat was never real.

This is the story of Fred Korematsu, who defied the evacuation order and fought his case all the way to the Supreme Court, only to lose in a decision Justice Murphy called "falling into the ugly abyss of racism." It took 40 years and a groundbreaking legal motion to overturn his conviction and another five years for Congress to formally apologize and provide reparations to survivors.

Discover how fear, prejudice, and wartime hysteria led to one of America's darkest chapters—and why the lessons of Executive Order 9066 remain urgent today.

EPISODE SUMMARY

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast. This episode explores how wartime fear following the Pearl Harbor attack led to one of the greatest civil rights violations in American history—and how it took four decades for the nation to acknowledge its mistake.

KEY TIMELINE

- December 7, 1941 - Japan attacks Pearl Harbor naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii

- February 19, 1942 - President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066

- March 22, 1942 - Forced evacuations begin from West Coast

- 1942-1945 - Over 120,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned in internment camps

- December 18, 1944 - Korematsu v. United States Supreme Court decision (6-3 against Korematsu)

- December 17, 1944 - Public Proclamation 21 rescinds exclusion orders

- November 10, 1983 - Fred Korematsu's conviction overturned in U.S. District Court

- 1988 - Civil Liberties Act signed, providing formal apology and $20,000 reparations to survivors

KEY FIGURES

- President Franklin D. Roosevelt - Signed Executive Order 9066

- Fred Korematsu - 23-year-old Japanese American who defied evacuation order

- Justice Hugo Black - Wrote majority Supreme Court opinion upholding internment

- Justice Frank Murphy - Dissented, calling policy "falling into the ugly abyss of racism"

- Dale Minami - Attorney who led legal team to reopen Korematsu case

- Peter Irons - Legal historian who discovered concealed government evidence

- Congressman Norman Mineta - Former internee who sponsored Civil Liberties Act

- President Ronald Reagan - Signed Civil Liberties Act in 1988

LEGAL CONCEPTS EXPLAINED

- Executive Order 9066 - Presidential order giving military authority to designate exclusion zones and remove anyone considered a threat

- Public Law 503 - Congressional act supporting Executive Order 9066

- Coram Nobis - Rare legal motion allowing case reopening when serious factual errors are discovered

- Fifth Amendment - Constitutional protection against deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process

RELATED HOMETOWN HISTORY EPISODES

Looking for more stories about civil rights, wartime America, or hidden chapters of WWII history? Check out these episodes:

- More episodes exploring forgotten WWII home front stories available in the Hometown History catalog

SOURCES & FURTHER READING

This episode draws from historical records including Executive Order 9066 documentation, Supreme Court transcripts from Korematsu v. United States, legal filings from the 1983 coram nobis case, and the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Contemporary newspaper accounts and survivor testimonies provide firsthand perspectives on the evacuation and camp experiences.

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