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Because they made up 1/3 of a multi-racial society, irrational fear fueled their prejudices which lead to the evacuation and interment of the Japanese-American communities.

Preexisting conditions started decades before the war. When Orientals started emigrating to Hawaii and the West Coast, which included people coming from China, Korea, the Philippine, and Japan, prejudices induced by fear permeated in American society. Ignorance of cultural differences and fears of taking jobs from the American population ignited violent outbreaks from the labor force as well as the American Legion. In 1907, the Gentlemen's Agreement between Japan and the US prevented further Immigration for men but allowed wives to immigrate. However, in 1924, the Immigration Act banned ALL Orientals from immigrating to the US.

When the Japanese military invaded China in 1937, the American public again began to feel uneasy having a population of about 120,000 people of Japanese origin living on the West Coast. And when Pearl Harbor ensued, it solidified people's fears and prejudices. Immediately after the news of Pearl Harbor, men without citizenship were hauled off by the FBI and sent to mock trails of espionage. Bank accounts were frozen for their families. They were required to turn in all items that were considered a danger to society such as short wave radios, guns, knives, and binoculars. A curfew was imposed. The Chinese had to wear a tag that stated they were NOT Japanese. Rumors plagued the media which insinuated espionage up and down the coast line.

Then on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed executive Order 9066 which allowed local military commanders to designate "military areas" as "exclusion zones," from which "any or all persons may be excluded." This power was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast, including all of California and most of Oregon and Washington. Thus the evacuation began and placed all people who had Japanese blood into internment camps, including those with only one sixteenth.

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