(ominous piano music plays) - Hi, friends. How are you today? I hope you're having a
wonderful day so far, 'cause I'm about to ruin it, with another dark story. Welcome to Dark History. This is a safe space for all
the curious cats out there who think, hey, is history really as boring
as it seemed in school? Oh, nay nay. This is where we can learn together about all the dark,
mysterious, dramatic stories that, maybe, you didn't
learn about in school, 'cause I sure didn't, that's for sure. So, I have my dark history book here, and we're gonna open it
up to another dark story. Yay. Sorry, let me... Hold on. Oh... Yep. This one's pretty dark y'all, so this, actually, people have been putting on
my radar for quite some time. And, so, I was like, what is this? I've never heard of this before. Naturally, I went down
a Google rabbit hole and... (Bailey sucking in air) It's pretty dark, yeah. It's pretty dark. It's fitting. It's fitting for the show. Today's topic is about the
Japanese concentration camps, also known as Japanese internment camps. But, we'll talk about
that a little later on. We'll explain the difference, why the names, all that stuff. I'm not farting. It's my couch. It's the couch making this noise. (couch fabric squeaking) Great, okay. Let's go back in time to 1942, (trilling) in Los Angeles, California, George Takei is like any
five-year-old American boy, just doing five-year-old stuff, like playing outside, playing baseball, running through the sprinklers. I'm just kidding. I've never been a
five-year-old boy before, but he did typical five-year-old stuff. Well, one night, as the
family was eating dinner, they hear bang, bang, bang, like an intense knock on the door. So, George's father, his name was Norman, he gets up and he answers the front door. Standing there are soldiers, decked out in full on military outfits. Now, George's mother tells him to quickly grab some of his belongings, and get ready to go, because they're going on vacation. Now, George is thinking, this was like, this is a little weird
because his mother was crying. So, for going on vacation,
why is mom crying? That doesn't make any sense. Well, friends, just like George, you probably guessed that
this was not a vacation. These soldiers were taking them to the Santa Anita racetrack
in Southern California, which wasn't too far from their home, but why were they taking them to an area to go watch horse races? Well, they weren't going
to watch the ponies. This racetrack was being
used as a holding area for Japanese Americans that the American
government was imprisoning. Oh, my God. Imprisoning? What? What crimes did they do? The U.S. government was afraid they were all secret spies
for the emperor of Japan. What? Yeah, that's a wild assumption. Big jump they made, but it was made. When the Takei family
arrived at the racetrack, they were told to move
into a single horse stall, the whole family in this one,
small-ass, little horse stall with all their belongings. To five-year-old, little George, sleeping with the horses
seemed pretty cool, but he had no idea what
was really going on. There were actually a lot of things about this strange vacation that George didn't quite understand. One of them being that they had
to put tags on their clothes with random numbers on it, or not long after, they were sent to another
location in Arkansas, halfway across the country, instead of going back home. And, lastly, there was a lot of angry men
looking at them with guns, patrolling them all the time. Why was all this happening? From a kid's perspectIVe, this didn't make sense, but his family knew what was happening. So, why were they even going through this in the first place? Well, like so many other
families in America, they were being targeted
by the American government, because they were of Japanese descent. What does that have to do with anything? Well, get this, the American government, at this time, truly believed that the
Japanese Americans were a threat to national security. AKA, they must be spies, Mk Ultra robo cats. The spark that set everything off was an event you may have heard of called, enter to the scene, Pearl Harbor. (hands clapping) And, no, not the 2001 American
romantic war drama film, directed by Michael Bay. I'm talking about the actual Pearl Harbor. The government used this to imprison over 100,000
Japanese Americans. And, honestly, just amplified the racism that they were experiencing. America started as a place
that welcomed immigrants with arms wide open. It would promise immigrants
a fresh start, a new life. And, during the late
1800s and early 1900s, America was thriving. She was on the up and up. People wanted to come in and go after that thing called the American dream. So, many Japanese immigrants
took this opportunity to board the boat and take
the three week journey to America, specifically, the west coast, because if you look at a map, Barbara, it's closer to Japan. You get it. Now, unfortunately, Americans, weren't super pumped about
this influx of people who didn't look like them. California was pretty new
to America at this time, like as a state. And, when people from
east of the Mississippi would come to the west coast, they would suddenly see
a lot of Asian people. Even though the Japanese
immigrants came here to start a new life for themselves, there was a lot of tension
building between the communities. Despite all of this,
Japanese Americans persisted. They opened businesses, said the pledge of allegiance, and wanted to send their
kids to good schools. But, that didn't change the fact that seeds of racism were sowed, and all it would take is
a little outside pressure to make everyone turn on
their Japanese neighbors. So, let's talk about World War II. You ever heard of it? Shock, me neither. Kidding. We all heard about it, at least I hope. There were Nazis, America dropped nukes, just really awful stuff. Now, I'm not minimizing the
importance of those stories, but, today, we're talking
about one specific thing, and what's important for
this story is what happened in early December of
1941 during World War II. So, let's paint the scene. It's the early 1940s. The war is going on, and there is a lot happening in Europe. At first, America was doing her
best to stay out of the war, minding her own business. But, the United States
ended up sending supplies to France and England to help them out. And, Japan had sided with Germany, since Japan seemed to be
an ally of the bad guys, the United States was like, well, I guess we'll stop doing
business with you, Japan. And, when money is involved,
or businesses are tarnished, or whatever, people get real pissed. So, the Japanese government is like, well, bitch, welcome to the war. Game on. So, on December 7th, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States
military base in Hawaii called Pearl Harbor. Early in the morning on December 7th, an army private was looking at a radar, bebop, boop, and he sees a big cluster
of blips on the screen. So, he calls to superior officer and he's like, hey, I think there's a bunch
of planes coming at us. And, the officer, is like, no, relax. That's us. We're just running some
military exercises. Well, the officer was very wrong, okay. He was not right with that call, and it was going to cost a lot of lives. So, around 7:55 AM, hundreds of Japanese
bombers appeared in the sky. No one on the military base was prepared, and by 8:10 AM, just 15 minutes later, one of America's most powerful battleships was fully destroyed. Destroyed. Over 1100 soldiers were
killed in a flurry of bombs falling from the sky. Suddenly, there was
just chaos, everywhere. Ships, planes, and
entire stretches of lands are being blown up by
Japanese fighter pilots. And, since the United States
wasn't prepared for this, almost all of their ships
and soldiers were on the land at the time, which was making them sit in ducks. More than 2,400 soldiers
ended up dying that day, including 68 civilians. At the time, no country had attacked
America like this before. It was almost unheard of. And, many believed America
had the biggest, baddest army in the whole world. So, when this went down, people
were absolutely terrified. Like, are we next? Are we next? I mean, our own military
wasn't even prepared for this. So, me, as a civilian, what should I do to protect myself? Or, chaos, scared, scary. The day after the Pearl Harbor attacks, President Franklin D
Roosevelt made a speech to the American people, declaring war against Japan. It was super famous. You could say it was infamous. It's a deep cut joke. Maybe, you get it. Ad break. (piano keys playing) Today's episode is brought
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wickedclothes.com/darkhistory. A big thank you to Wicked Clothes for partnering with me on today's episode. Now, let's get back to the story. (piano keys playing) So, you know earlier how
I mentioned that people were not really feeling
the Japanese immigrants that came to America? Okay, well, now this Pearl Harbor attack gave them a reason to let
their racist flag fly. Not only that, the media
was instilling fear into the people that Japan was... They were coming for you and people were believing it. In January of 1942, a report came out that
claimed the Japanese Americans were actually spies for
the Japanese government. There were over a 100,000
Japanese Americans in the United States at the time. And, there was no way they were all spies, but people ran with it. Soon, journalists started
claiming things like all Japanese Americans were
secretly waiting for a moment to sabotage that country. Another journalist said, "If making one million
innocent, Japanese uncomfortable would prevent one scheming Japanese from costing the life of an American boy, than let one million
innocent Japanese suffer." So, that's not good. Unfortunately, a lot of American people
were listening to this guy. The people are putting
pressure on the government to do something, right? They're like, hey, you failed
to protect Pearl Harbor from the Japanese. Now, you better do something
before it happens again. Right? So, the FBI would start
to lead raids on the homes of well-known Japanese Americans, trying to prove that they were spies, like maybe they would
find a little receipt from the local spy store that would prove they were
indeed spies or something. Japanese communities started
to whisper amongst each other about the type of behaviors that could like make you look suspicious. And, they started to act
extra American and patriotic in the hopes they wouldn't be targeted. A woman named Marielle
Tsukamoto said in an interview that families would burn
or hide family heirlooms that they brought over from Japan. Honestly, they were just trying to
distance themselves from Japan, like it seemed like the right thing to do, but to the FBI, this seemed like something a spy would do, like only a spy would
try to act like that. I don't know. It just like damned if you
do damned if you don't. So, what happens when you
combine racist paranoia with the military raids to solve this issue at all costs? Question mark. Well, it results in hundreds
of thousands of people forced out of their homes and into camps out in the middle of nowhere for years. For years. (hands clapping) So, we all know about these camps, but the World War II camps you're probably thinking about aren't the ones I'm talking about. Oh, nay nay. The camps I'm talking
about were right here in the good old US of A. Yeah, this one seems to
get really glossed over in history class. I don't remember anything about... I didn't... I never learned this. Did you? (crickets chirping) Crickets, I hear crickets. So, just about two months after
the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D Roosevelt
signed an executive order to round up Japanese Americans. Most of them, regular American citizens. This executive order was to
remove them from their homes and put them into camps. Essentially, the United States' version of a concentration camp. Gasp. Concentration camp here in America? Bailey, you traitor. (Bailey clearing her throat) According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of concentration camp is, "a place where large numbers of people, especially political prisoners, or members of persecuted minorities are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area
with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labor, or to await mass execution," which is exactly what you're gonna see. That's what's happening
at these camps, Barb, call it what it is. People tiptoe calling
these concentration camps for some odd reason, and I don't know why. Just call it what it is. So, if you've heard of these camps, you may have heard of them
as called internment camps, but that does not even really encompass how awful these places were. So, we will refer to them, we, me and my pillows here. Oh, and Joan. So, we will refer to them
as concentration camps. And, there's this weird thing where people don't want to
call them concentration camps, but it is what it is. It fits the definition. Hello? It doesn't minimize anyone else's trauma, but, also, let's not be little the trauma these Japanese Americans went through, and I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming America, because America over here is
like, oh, we didn't do that. It's not a concentration camp. But, it is. So, just call it that, okay? Great. We solved it. Well, unlike actual prison, these concentration camps are a place where people are sent when they haven't actually
been convicted of a crime. There's not really any
intention to charge them with a crime either. During any war, these are places that the
military can put people who they consider a threat. I'm using quotes here. It's more of a way to
prevent possible crimes. If that sounds a little suspish, it's because it is. Now, the craziest part about this is how certain areas of the
United States defined Japanese. California, for instance, defined anyone who was
at least 1/16th Japanese, they qualified to be sent away. 1/16th. Think about how crazy that is. So, if you're looking at a pizza, and it has eight slices, it's half of one slice. So, I don't know about you, but that's not enough pizza for me, right? What about you? Probably not. So, what are you supposed
to do with so little pizza? Well, according to the government, it was enough to throw
you in pizza jail over, but first let's pause for an ad break. (piano keys playing) So, hi. Popping in here for an
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history at LiquidIV.com. Thank you, Liquid IV
for partnering with me on today's episode. Now, let's get back to the story. (piano keys playing) Hi, there. Did you have a nice break? Me too. At this time, there were almost 140,000
Japanese-Americans in the United States, and almost all of them were
forced into these camps. Marielle, from earlier, said that her grandfather had been in the United
States for over 50 years, when the United States government put him in one of these camps, mind you, at this point, he was an American citizen, who had minded his own damn
business for over 50 years. But, according to America, he was now put in a category
as an enemy of the state. This poor man, he was in his 70s. What's he going to do? Leave him alone. He's an American citizen. But, Bailey, American citizens can't just
be imprisoned for no reason. We have rights, innocent
until proven guilty. LOL. This is dark history. The process of removing
these American citizens from their homes went like this, some people were gathered by soldiers, some were gIVen summons like in the mail, asking them to show up at a... To a specific place at a specific time, then they would arrive at the location, which was said to have
very inhumane conditions while they waited to be processed. These were called assembly centers, and there was zero privacy, and rumor has it, it was just very... It was very unsanitary, small, dirty, just not great, obviously. From the very start, it just seemed to be very dehumanizing, but this wasn't their final stop. From this place, families are
then shipped off on trains to one of the 10 camps set
up all over the country. And, after the train ride, the families would arrive at these camps. These were huge areas, with hundreds of poorly
made wood buildings, just packed into a fenced
area behind barbed wire, where American soldiers with guns could keep their eye on them. And, the rooms in these
buildings were small. I mean the boring answer is
that they were 16 by 20 feet. But ,to put that in perspective for you, it's basically like a very
tiny-ass studio apartment. These rooms, if you want to call them that, sometimes would be filled
with one or more families. And, sometimes as many as
three to four families. When it got cold, the wood was so weak on these buildings that the boards would shrink, and then snakes was
slipped through the cracks and get inside. So, now there's snakes too. I mean, what the hell? Why? I don't know. Others remember having to wear masks while they were sleeping, because the wind was so strong it would send sand into
their mouth and nose when they slept. So, what did they do
all day at these camps? I mean, they were
probably going to be here as long as the war was going on. So, they had to do something. Well, a lot of the jobs adults did here were about maintaining this new community. The government wasn't
supplying the funding needed to have a normal functioning mini society. So, the people were
employed by the government, for very little money, of course, to run the place themselves. For example, every
block had kitchen staff, including a chef, who would cook for their neighbors, which is bizarre, because they snatched
them from their homes, to put them in small spaces, to then try and lead a normal
life, managing a mini society. I just don't understand
what the goal was here. It just... It doesn't make any sense, right? I know. I don't know. I don't know. Well, with hundreds of
thousands of people, you're gonna need like a lot of stuff to support the lives of everyone there. Within the community, they started newspapers,
shops, schools, hospitals, and even their own police
and fire departments. But, the government
would send a white person to be the head of each department, and then employ Japanese
people to work for them, for way less than minimum wage. People also had their own farms where they could grow
produce and raise livestock for the markets as well. At one relocation center, in Arkansas, Japanese American high school students had their own band, sports
teams, and activities like prom and the student council. I mean, they even had their own yearbooks, but I know this sounds like, oh, that's cool. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Okay? You could see, in the yearbooks, you could see in the
background of the photos, the horrible barracks, the guard towers, the barbed wire fences. I mean, the whole... It's just depressing. I want to say they were making
the most of what it was, but it's like that also
just sounds not right. And, some people's whole jobs
were just digging trenches, for when people had to use the restroom, because these buildings
didn't have proper restrooms. At one camp, it was said that the
only furnishings provided were a stove, one hanging
light bulb, cots, blankets, and mattresses filled with straw. So, people would look around and try to figure out ways to
make it a little more homelike and make it more comfortable
for their family. At least as best as they could considering everything they were up against. Now, it might sound like
the Japanese Americans took the situation and made it their own, but they were still prisoners
in their own country, okay? They were not allowed to
leave the camp at all. And, as we discussed, they were living in beyond
horrible conditions. But, I say all this to show you just how strong these people were in the face of their own
country betraying them. Because, for most Japanese Americans, they considered themselves Americans, and these concentration
camps weren't going to get in the way that they were
indeed American citizens. As America's involvement
in World War II continued, the United States government
realized that these camps couldn't be maintained forever. So, they had to figure out what to do with all the Japanese Americans they had locked up. I mean, I know what you're thinking, 'cause I'm thinking it too, like you could just let them go, step one. No? We're not doing that? No, they're not doing that. So, they came up with another plan, and they called it a
loyalty questionnaire. This questionnaire would help the United States government decide if they can start releasing
some of the captives at the camp, because they were deemed
safe, AKA, not a spy, just a normal American citizen, but let's pause for an ad break. (piano keys playing) Hi, popping in here for
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and three free gifts. Now, let's get back to the story. (piano keys playing) So, remember that quote
earlier from the journalist, who said he was willing to
let 1 million people suffer to prevent one spy from attacking America? Yeah, that guy? Unfortunately, that was the
government's mentality as well. But, now, they were starting to think maybe we should tone
this down a little bit. They knew that not all of
these people had to be spies. They were just worried
about the potential spies that may be amongst them. So, nothing like a multiple choice test to determine if someone is a
highly trained government spy, because spies fail tests. Of course, everyone knows that. So, a year into their time at these camps, every resident was given a questionnaire, and I kinda just glossed over the fact that I said a year, a
year into these camps. This wasn't like, just, hey, we're gonna hold you here for a week, not that it makes it any better, but they were there for a long time. Anyways, they gave them
this stupid questionnaire. It's like, hey, what's your age? What's your sex? Are you registered to vote? Do you pledge undying allegiance
to America and not Japan? Basically, are you team
Japan or team America? And, it turns out the questionnaire was meant to establish just
how loyal each of them were to the United States government. Seems simple, right? Well, it wasn't just a harmless test. People knew that this test
was a big deal for them, because depending on your answers, they might let you leave the camp. This questionnaire got really confusing with questions 27 and 28, okay? Question 27 asked if you
would be willing to serve as a combat soldier or nurse, which doesn't sound that weird, but it was a kind of weird question. And, most of the people taking the survey thought it was a trick question. They were like, I'm a school
teacher, not a soldier, but does that mean I'm
not American enough? Like, were they asking them
to literally join the military right then and there? And, what if you answer, yes. Then, would you have to join World War II to fight for our country that just fricking
locked you up for years? And, even if you did join the war, at this time, the military was racially segregated, and many Japanese men found
this completely disrespectful. So, generally the real answer
would be, no, thank you. Maybe, before the war, maybe before you
imprisoned me in this camp, but definitely not now. I mean, that's what they
wanted to say, right? But, it's like, is this a trick question? But, question 28 really takes the cake. I'll just read to you and you
could try to make sense of it. Okay? Question 28. Will you swear unqualified
allegiance to the United States and forswear any form of
allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, to any other foreign government,
power, or organization? I mean, that's really confusing. I mean, no. What are they asking? It's just a weird question. I mean, in case you forgot, most of the people at
these camps were born as American citizens. So, it's really weird to have to denounce an emperor
that's never been your leader in the first place. And, also, this was just the questionnaire for Japanese-Americans born in America. There was a whole other load of confusion for Japanese Americans
originally born in Japan. It was like two separate
tests, different questions. It was just a lot. This whole questionnaire
thing was so messed up, it could be its own episode, but the main takeaway is the same country that ripped these people from their homes and businesses is now saying, answer these simple questions
and you could be free. I would be very suspicious too. So, understandably, most of the people in the
camps thought this was a trap and it started to create problems within the Japanese American community. Some believed not answering yes and yes to two final questions
would hurt the community. It would be better for everyone if they all obviously supported America, don't give them anything
to be suspicious about. Others felt not being fully
honest with the questions was also un-American. What to do? what to do? Most of the people in the
camps answered, yes, yes, to those questions. A woman named Rose says she answered yes, because, honestly, she just
wanted to get on with her life, just play along with their
dumb little questionnaire, and just let me go home. Do you blame her? Absolutely not. Many of the people she
was in camp with agreed, because, to them, this
wasn't about loyalty. It was about survival, but there were some who felt like, wait a minute, we are Americans. All of this is against
our constitutional rights. And, so, on principle alone, these people voted, no, no. No, I don't want to join the army. And, no, I don't want to swear
off the emperor of Japan, because I shouldn't have
to, since I'm American, and I don't know the guy, so
fuck you and your questions. In fact, these people are
known today as the no-nos, not no nose, no-nos, and this sent red flags a
flying for the government. So, what did the government do with the "disloyal" no-nos? Well, they got sent to
another fricking camp, an even worse camp, Tooley Lake was created at the same time as all the other concentration camps. But, after the questionnaire, Tooley Lake transitioned
to a maximum security camp with the sole purpose of keeping the dangerous
Japanese Americans at bay. At its peak, the Camp Tooley Lake had
around 18,000 people in it, making it the largest of the camps by far. It also had the biggest military presence, with 1,000 military cops
and around 20 guard towers, like just really extra. Unlike the other camps, Tooley Lake was a full-blown
maximum security prison, where no one there was
convicted of anything. Their crime? Well, it was just existing, I guess. But, this was where the
government sent the people they considered the worst threats. The conditions here were even
worse than the other camps. I mean the government didn't
consider these people American and basically didn't even
consider them human, either. People were forced to work in
the fields to harvest crops for the rest of the camp. And, if you refused to work, you were fined $20 per month. And, when you're making,
basically, no money, that's a huge-ass fine. And, within the prison, when people stepped out of line, they ended up in the stockade, which is basically a
prison within a prison. So many prisons going on. Oh, my God. And, what landed you there? Being a "general troublemaker", or being too well-educated. Too well-educated? Gimme a fricking break,
point blank period, cap on deck, print receipt, reverse, print, ink, inkjet, HP ink jet. Okay. Like the rest of the camp, the stockades were disgusting
and absolutely barbaric. So, prisoners were growing angry and combine this with food
shortages and forced labor. People were pissed, rightfully pissed at the government, and weren't just gonna
sit there and take it. So, the feds enforced martial law, which basically means the military is completely
in charge of the camps and what the prisoners did. No more social gatherings
or school for the kids. It was full on prison mode. People couldn't have any type of privacy. And, everyone was subject
to searches by guards, almost daily. So, tensions were high
and people were angry. So, eventually, peaceful
protests broke out within the camps. But, I'm gonna say honorably
peaceful protests broke out within the camps, because honestly they are
being treated like animals. And, they still had peaceful protests. Incredible. Right? Right? That's amazing. Well, of course, the
media got word of this and they were like, oh, my God, there's riots and armed
insurrections going on. These people are nuts. It's just so stupid. And, only fueled the flames of
Japanese distrust in America. What a let down, huh? Who can you trust around here? 'Cause it sure ain't America. You little nasty-ass bitch. Two sided, backstabbing, little bitch. You little fake-ass bitch. Let's pause for a quick little ad break. (piano keys playing) Hi, friends. Just popping in here
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was at its peak, in 1944, some of the other camps
were slowly being taken down and the people who
lived there were slowly, emphasis on slowly, were being released. The people that answered yes,
yes, on that questionnaire, they often got to leave after that. But, the real reason this ended was because Japan surrendered
in August of 1945. This only happened after
America dropped nuclear bombs on them, not one, but two nuclear bombs. I've been sitting here for
like five minutes trying to say nuclear. It's not going that well. I can't say that word. Let me add it to my list of
words I cannot say, nuclear. This event should be a
whole episode in itself, because hundreds of thousands of people, many of them civilians, and even... And, not even soldiers were killed. It's tragic, not to mention the lasting
side effects of radiation. Yeah, we got to... Let's save that for another episode, huh? But, anyway, now the war was over. America had no reason to keep its Japanese American
citizens locked up anymore. Not like they had much of a
reason in the first place, but they were like, yeah, I
guess we can let them go now. By the time they were released, a lot of people had lost
everything back home. They had been gone for
three or four years. So, when they left, they didn't have the
same place to go home to. And, they, for sure, lost their
jobs and their businesses. And, there are some nice stories out there about people protecting their
Japanese neighbors' homes the whole time they were away, to prevent them from
getting robbed or something. But, the vast majority of people had to completely start over. And, now, America has about
110,000 people who needed jobs, homes, schools, their whole lives back. Okay, so, the camps are closed, and people have been released, but you don't just get
over being imprisoned by the government for no reason. Well, the United States
government, eventually, got around to recognizing
this injustice in 1988, a whole 40 years later. There had been somebody advocating for the
United States government to take accountability
for these horrible choices that were made. Somebody who lived in the camps and knew what was happening
in them firsthand. And, after the war had ended, he dedicated his entire life to making sure nobody would ever forget about the atrocities committed
to Japanese Americans on US soil ever again. This man, his name was Mr. Fred Korematsu. Way back in 1942, Fred was walking down the
street in central California with his girlfriend, police pull up, and suddenly surround him, and arrest him just for being Japanese. This was actually a few months
after the evacuation order that put Japanese Americans away. But, Fred, he had ignored the order, because he wanted to start a life and settle down with his girlfriend. So, Fred, he was basically avoiding the government all in the name of love, and
principle, but mostly love, but getting arrested, put a damper on Fred's plans, and he would end up being sent to one of these concentration camps. However, right before
being sent to the camp, Fred met a lawyer who had a plan to sue the United States government, and put a stop to this whole damn thing. Fred was completely on board, but the government was
still sending him to a camp. So, the lawyer promised him he would handle it while Fred was away. Everything we described about
the conditions in the camp, Fred lived through it and worse. Because, of the fact that he
had ignored the government, he was scolded by his family
who viewed his actions as dishonorable. Fred's case made it all the
way up to the Supreme court, but, sorry to be a downer, it didn't result in any
immediate change for him. The Supreme court said the police were right to arrest him and they were just acting
the way they had to during war time. Well, a few years later, Fred would ask his
conviction to be overturned. And, this time the department of justice said his conviction should be overturned, because it was part of
a "unfortunate episode in our nation's history." Unfortunate episode is how you
describe getting a nosebleed during a make-out sesh
and not a whole-ass period of American civil rights being violated. Either way, Fred led the charge
against the inhumane actions of the United States government
throughout World War II toward its own citizens. And, he went on to lobby for the passage of the 1988 Civil Liberties Act. This basically forced the
government to apologize and take some kind of accountability. And, it also said the
government should pay money to every affected person, $20,000 each. Yay. Eye-roll. I mean, it's something, but it's not like that makes up for years of generational trauma
that many would experience. Remember the Takei family from earlier? They would get out of these
camps in the late 40s, just like everyone else, and would struggle for a long time after. They would end up having
to live on skid row in Los Angeles for a time until they could get a
house of their own again, but by sheer determination
and persistence, they got back on their feet, and were able to provide
George the confidence he needed to pursue his dream as
an actor in Hollywood. Turned out he was good at it, and eventually would grow up to become one of the most
famous movie stars ever. He starred in Star Trek,
and countless movies, and continues to be an
advocate for LGBTQ plus rights, and speaks up against anti-Asian hate. (Bailey squealing) I can't even tell you how
many people fell in love with George through their TV screens while having no idea the type of horror that this family had to go through at the hands of the government. Pillow fight with the government. Well, none of the money, or
apologies, or famous survivors would make up for the fact that the entire Japanese
American community was permanently affected by this. Before the war, most of them had closely
followed Japanese traditions and customs, but after this, many Japanese people
doubled down on the idea of fully blending into American society. This wasn't even for
patriotic reasons either, one person who survived
the camps called it psychological barbed wire, meaning that there was a fear that if you stepped out of line, something like this would
definitely happen again. After years of America being at war with the country of Japan, do you think that when the war ends, and you have Japanese
Americans coming back, the rest of America welcomed them with open arms? ♪ with arms wide open ♪ Hell no. For decades, Asian Americans
would face all kinds of hate. Partly because it was so
normalized during the war, and took years for the
government to acknowledge it. Many Americans of the Japanese descent have talked about their own families not teaching them about their
family history and traditions so that they would only
learn about American things, and not have a hard time
blending in with their peers. The older generation never wanted them to feel like outsiders. Isn't that heartbreaking though? I mean, that they worked so
hard to give them a better life and they don't even feel safe
celebrating their own culture and tradition? Now, remember, no one's experience in the
Japanese concentration camps were exactly the same. And, I mean, this happened to over
100,000 American citizens. So, this episode attempts to cover thousands of unique stories
across 10 locations. But, what they all have in common is that Japanese concentration camps are a stain on American history. And, for too many people,
this is a story of betrayal, misery, and destruction. The American dream, whatever
the hell that means, was so difficult for Japanese
Americans to get ahold of, but after this, it felt damn near impossible. Homes were ruined, businesses were sold out
from underneath them, and the community bonds
they once cherished were fully destroyed. All this undercut any
generational wealth being built. So, this not only impacted
people at the time, but generations into the future, because Japanese Americans had to start their lives completely over after these camps closed, and the psychological consequences are still being felt today. The thing that keeps
coming up in these stories is that it seems, from the start, that this is a bad idea. And, then, by the end, there's a grim lesson to be learned. And, it's always something like don't trust
so-and-so, the government, people in charge, whatever, but we should know that this
can happen to any of us. Any group can suddenly become a target of a grand scheme like this one. And, we have to look
out for our neighbors. Even if it's... They're not actually like you, understand a perspective
different than your own. I mean, it builds some character. And, at the end of the day, we are all humans, and we should care
about our fellow humans. It's easy to look the other way when this isn't happening to you. But, if it does happen to you, you sure as shit are gonna hope there is some Fred Korematsu's among you. Let me close my dark history book, 'cause this chapter sucked ass. Well, thank you, everyone,
for learning with me today. Now, don't be afraid to ask questions or to get the real story, because we deserve that, right? Now, I'd love to hear your
reactions to this story. So, make sure to use the
hashtag, dark history, over on social media so
I could follow along. Also, I'm so sorry that history, American history sucks ass. I've said it before. I'm gonna say a million times more. American history sucks ass, but when we learn it, and we acknowledge it, we could do better in the
future together, right? That was a high five. Join me over on my YouTube, where you can watch these
episodes on Thursday, after the podcast airs, and also catch my murder mystery make-up which drops on Mondays. I hope you have a
wonderful rest of your day. You make good choices. Be a good person today. Try it out. And, I'll talk to you next week. ♪ goodbye ♪ Dark history is an Audio Boom original. This podcast is executive
produced by Bailey Sarian, Kim Jacobs, Dulia McNeily from Three Arts, Ed Simpson and Claire
Turner from Wheelhouse DNA, and my dog Saint. Produced by Lexxi Kiven, Derrial Christon, and Spencer Strasmore. Research provided by Ramona Kivett. Writers, Jed Bookout, Michael
Oberst, Joey Scavuzzo, and me, Bailey Syrian, and Kim Jacobs. We all worked on it. Saint was there too. Shit. We want to thank the organization, Densho. If you are interested in learning more about the Japanese concentration camps, come on and check out Densho, which is an organization
dedicated to preserving, educating, and sharing the stories of
Japanese concentration camps. I've included the link in the
description box down below, and I'm your host, Bailey Syrian. Thanks for hanging out with me. I'll see you later. Bye. That was cute. Oh, my God. (laughing) Ghost hand.
