Essay about Japanese Canadian Internment

Submitted By lacar16
Words: 805
Pages: 4

Japanese Canadian Internment

Friday, June 12, 2015
Laura Carleton
CHC2D
Forsyth In Canada today, we have a wide variety of cultures all over our country such as the Japanese, Chinese, Natives, and others. In the early 1900's, many Japanese immigrated to Canada for jobs such as fishing, mining, and logging (Hickman and Fukawa 21). Despite needing Japanese immigrants, in the year of 1907, Canada was not very accepting of immigration. Canada was an extremely racist country, especially those who lived in British Columbia (Hickman and Fukawa 18). Once the Japanese came to our country and started to create families, they were nothing but loyal to Canada. Despite that, the Canadians treated the Japanese-Canadians unjustly in numerous ways. The internment in Canada of innocent Japanese Canadians was a violation of civil rights. The British majority in Canada was extremely biased and did not welcome immigration from Asia. Canadians had an opinion in which British Columbia must be a white man's country. They did not want their province to be taken over by Japanese, Chinese, or any colour but their own. "We are an outpost of the Empire, and that outpost we have to hold against all comers" (Adachi 63). Although, there were still a lot of Japanese immigrating to Canada. This threatened some of our jobs and Canadians began to blame the unemployment rate on them. They did not want the Japanese to dominate. There were rumours of more immigrants which led to the Vancouver Riot of 1907(Hickman and Fukawa 28). 9000 white demonstrators attacked Chinatown and Japantown in Vancouver. Businesses windows were smashed and it was only the Japanese Canadian merchants that defended themselves according to some report (Hickman and Fukawa 30).Canadians wanted nothing but their own race in their country. The Japanese Canadians were dedicated to Canada from the beginning. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, some of them were sent to a Prisoner of war camp for various things. Some were there because they protested leaving their families, others were accused of being Japanese military sympathizers, and some were there for minor things, like missing curfew. "None of the prisoners were ever found guilty of disloyalty to Canada" (Hickman and Fukawa 113). Japanese Canadians were not allowed to enlist in the war until 1945. When Canada went to war with Japan, they needed people who could speak fluent Japanese. Japanese Canadians went to war against their native country fighting for Canada. When the war was over and they returned home, they still were not treated with respect, while other veterans were (Hickman and Fukawa 122). Howard Duncan, a counsel for the Japanese government, had said, "The Japanese have no feeling but kindness and regard for the people of Vancouver" (Adachi 79). The Japanese Canadians never turned their backs on Canada despite what they had to suffer. Canadians were unfair to the Japanese Canadians and had made them live a miserable life. After the attack on Pearl Harbour, many Japanese Canadians had lost their rights. They had no freedom or any other rights that we have today. School students were shunned by their classmates and some college students could not continue their