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K-State First Book: They Called Us Enemy
This guide provides resources and material related to George Takei's They Called Us Enemy, a memoir of his family's internment during WWII.
Library Research Guide
Japanese Exclusion from Immigration and Citizenship before WWII
The exclusion of Japanese and other Asian peoples from the US goes back much further than World War II. The seeds for what would ultimately lead to the Exclusion Orders and Internment of Japanese Americans were planted in the 1920s.
- Ozawa vs. The United States - Supreme Court 1922
The Ozawa decision closed the citizenship path for Issei and also justified later discriminatory policies, such as the Immigration Act of 1924, which barred all further immigration from Japan. - The Immigration Act of 1924 - Johnson-Reed Act
Section 13. Subsection C, effectively banned Asian immigration to the United States. It forbid the immigration of anyone ineligible for citizenship. As we saw in Ozawa v. The United States above, Japanese people were ineligible for citizenship and therefore under the new law, banned from immigrating to the US.
13 (C) No alien ineligible to citizenship shall be admitted to the United
States unless such alien (1) is admissible as a non-quota immigrant under
the provisions of subdivisions (b), (d) or (e) of section 4, or (2) is the
wife, or the unmarried child under 18 years of age, of an immigrant
admissible . . ., and is accompanying or following to join him, or (3) is
not an immigrant as defined in section 3.
Government Orders
- Executive Order 9066
Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the forced removal of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to "relocation centers" further inland – resulting in the incarceration of Japanese Americans. - Civilian Exclusion Orders
A nearly comprehensive list of posted Civilian Exclusion Orders directed against Japanese-Americans. This collection is provided by UC Berkeley. This link will open a .PDF file.
- Evacuation Order May 5, 1942
This is the order that required all persons of Japanese ancestry to be forcefully evacuated from the West Coast of the United States. This file will download as a PDF. - Loyalty Questionnaire
This is the infamous Loyalty Questionnaire that George's parents, like all other internees, were forced to answer. The last two questions, 27 and 28, would be the determining factor in their fate. This file will open as a PDF.
Government Films
The films below represent efforts by the US Government and the military authorities of the time to justify the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans. It is important to remember that 64% of those relocated were US Citizens. The films below differ slightly in the extent of coverage and point of view.
- Audio TranscriptClick the link above for an audio transcript of "Japanese Relocation."
- A Challenge to Democracy
Login using K-State Credentials Required. Full audio transcript available within database.
Narrated by John Baker, Produced by United States. War Relocation Authority (District of Columbia: United States. War Relocation Authority, 1943), 18 minutes
This documentary discusses the how the internment camps challenged American democracy.
