Citizen Internees: a Second Look at Race and Citizenship in Japanese American Internment Camps by Ivey Linda L.; Kaatz Kevin W.;

Author:Ivey, Linda L.; Kaatz, Kevin W.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4819123
Publisher: ABC-CLIO, LLC

Problems While at Topaz

The WRA also produced the pamphlet “Policies Governing the Operation of Relocation Centers.”78 Again, this was published almost too late for many of the internees, but it was still useful in that it described the role of the U.S. government in internment and what it was doing to protect those in the relocation centers. The duties of the governmental bodies included the provision of nutritious food; housing; medical coverage; paid employment; clothing allowances; a way for the internees to partially govern themselves; education, preschool through high school and, in some cases, adult education courses, though education proved to be very difficult for the WRA to provide, especially when it came to personnel and materials. The government also facilitated the formation of an evacuee police force, civil-service organizations, stores, self-published newspapers, and legal-aid services, plus access to public assistance grants, recreation, places for religious practices, and, in case of death, burial services.79 The Relocation Program: A Guidebook mentioned the property-assistance program, which covered everything from helping internees to lease their property while they were interned to helping with claims in case of damage. It also listed items that the internees could not have in the camps, including radio transmitting sets, short-wave radios, and cameras (among other things). People who were not American citizens could request to be taken back to Japan, and American citizens could be expatriated to Japan as well. Finally, the guidebook stated that some internees still had the right to vote by absentee ballot and that all internees, despite being taken away from their communities, were still liable to pay their federal income taxes, “the same as all other residents of the United States.”80

Despite the efforts of the U.S. government to treat these citizens and aliens carefully, it was not enough to keep them healthy (both mentally and physically) while they were held in the camps. Nor did it do much to help with all of the problems they were having with their businesses and properties back home. Those members of the Morrish Collection encountered numerous issues while they were at Topaz, and many of these problems could have been successfully dealt with if the internees had not been removed or if the U.S. government had been more organized. The following section will discuss four concerns the Japanese Americans had while they were at Topaz: despondency, sickness, troublemakers in the camps, and rental problems with their houses back home.

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