Internment of Japanese Americans

In this episode, we examine the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, when the U.S. government forcibly removed and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry under Executive Order 9066 in the wake of Pearl Harbor. We explore how racial prejudice and wartime hysteria shaped the policy, the harsh realities of life inside the camps, and the legal battles that challenged the government’s actions all the way to the Supreme Court. The episode also looks at the lasting emotional and social consequences for Japanese American communities, the long campaign for redress and reparations, and the continuing debate over how this history should be remembered and described.