EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066: Japanese Americans Ready To Observe Infamous Evacuation-Incarceration, PART I
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Sacramento, Calif. —On Feb. 19, 1942, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 (E.O. 9066), which authorized the country’s military to roundup, transport, and incarcerate Japanese Americans and those of Japanese descent living in the western states.
What many groups and individuals thought was justified, the inhumane action was a response of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The early-morning attack of Pearl Harbor in Hawai'i led to the declaration of war against Japan, significantly, thrusting the U.S. into World War II.
The Federal Government, under the guidance of the War Relocation Authority (WRA), assembled the removal of 120,000 people from the south region of Arizona to the remote reaches of the Northwest into 10 detention facilities.
As written in Barbara Takei’s and Judy Tachibana’s book, Tule Lake Revisited: A Brief History and Guide to the Tule Lake Concentration Camp Site, “Absent a hearing or trial, all that was necessary to prove guilt was a Japanese face.”
Feb. 19, 2017, will mark the 75th year since the U.S. “Due process was suspended when orders for removal were carried out,” Takei and Tachibana wrote. Leading up to that date and beyond, Publicity Agents will publish a series of articles related to E.O. 9066.
The study will include a look at the detention centers, the people who were incarcerated there, and the effort to educate and bring about awareness to a subject that parallels the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. E.O. 9066 is an obscured subject, but is definitely one that should be etched in the books of America’s history.
Coming Attraction - EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066: WWII Japanese American Incarceration Site Seeks Public Input, Part II
— T. Ray (Antonio) Harvey is a Public Information Officer and Photographic Artist for Publicity Agents. Harvey is also the author of The HOMICIDAL HANDYMAN OF OAK PARK: MORRIS SOLOMON JR.
Segregated Japanese Americans from Manzanar concentration camp in California arriving at Tule Lake concentration camp in California in 1943. Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, No. G-575 (Primary Source: Densho ID : ddr-densho-37-237).
PRESS INFORMATION:
Transcript of Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942)
Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, the following order authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland.
Executive Order No. 9066
The President
Executive Order
Authorizing the Secretary of War to Prescribe Military Areas
Whereas the successful prosecution of the war requires every possible protection against espionage and against sabotage to national-defense material, national-defense premises, and national-defense utilities as defined in Section 4, Act of April 20, 1918, 40 Stat. 533, as amended by the Act of November 30, 1940, 54 Stat. 1220, and the Act of August 21, 1941, 55 Stat. 655 (U.S.C., Title 50, Sec. 104);
Now, therefore, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States, and Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, I hereby authorize and direct the Secretary of War, and the Military Commanders whom he may from time to time designate, whenever he or any designated Commander deems such action necessary or desirable, to prescribe military areas in such places and of such extent as he or the appropriate Military Commander may determine, from which any or all persons may be excluded, and with respect to which, the right of any person to enter, remain in, or leave shall be subject to whatever restrictions the Secretary of War or the appropriate Military Commander may impose in his discretion. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to provide for residents of any such area who are excluded therefrom, such transportation, food, shelter, and other accommodations as may be necessary, in the judgment of the Secretary of War or the said Military Commander, and until other arrangements are made, to accomplish the purpose of this order. The designation of military areas in any region or locality shall supersede designations of prohibited and restricted areas by the Attorney General under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, and shall supersede the responsibility and authority of the Attorney General under the said Proclamations in respect of such prohibited and restricted areas.
I hereby further authorize and direct the Secretary of War and the said Military Commanders to take such other steps as he or the appropriate Military Commander may deem advisable to enforce compliance with the restrictions applicable to each Military area hereinabove authorized to be designated, including the use of Federal troops and other Federal Agencies, with authority to accept assistance of state and local agencies.
I hereby further authorize and direct all Executive Departments, independent establishments and other Federal Agencies, to assist the Secretary of War or the said Military Commanders in carrying out this Executive Order, including the furnishing of medical aid, hospitalization, food, clothing, transportation, use of land, shelter, and other supplies, equipment, utilities, facilities, and services.
This order shall not be construed as modifying or limiting in any way the authority heretofore granted under Executive Order No. 8972, dated December 12, 1941, nor shall it be construed as limiting or modifying the duty and responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with respect to the investigation of alleged acts of sabotage or the duty and responsibility of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice under the Proclamations of December 7 and 8, 1941, prescribing regulations for the conduct and control of alien enemies, except as such duty and responsibility is superseded by the designation of military areas hereunder.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The White House,
February 19, 1942.
SOURCE: OurDocuments.gov
First published Dec. 16, 2016
