Roosevelt’s Imprisonment of Japanese Citizens
Known officially as Executive Order 1066, the internment of Japanese citizens remains one of the biggest blights on American history to date. At a time when the U.S. and Japan were heavily invested in warring with one another, Roosevelt signed off on a badly-thought-out order to imprison anyone with Japanese heritage in work camps.
Considered by many to be little better than German work camps, internment wasn’t just difficult for many of these people, it led to long-standing racial issues and cost many people their lives. It took away civil liberties and, in the end, did very little to help the Americans win. Many of the very people interned have spoken publically about the fact that they would have served the U.S., and not the Japanese, if given the opportunity. Well-known celebrity George Takei has spoken out about his experience while interned as a child.
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