Japanese Internment

Imagine being sent away
Because of how you look,
Because of where you came from.
Then they took your family.
We will never let it happen again.
(x2)

Let’s take it back to history.
December 7 is a day that lives in infamy.
1941 — the year when the missiles hit.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to start the misery.
We call it World War II. It was the US versus
Japan, Germany and Italy, too.
But for the Japanese Americans who lived in the States,
They were faced with racism and discriminating views.
Just imagine if your country thought the enemy was you.
The hate was fueled by propaganda.
Japanese Americans accused of being spies, but
Were only regular people: men, women and their families.
So in 1942, they forced them all in camps.
Presi FDR signed the order, made the plans.
They couldn’t pack and only carried what was in their hands,
And this was all because their families were from Japan.
If they were born out there, they were Issei.
And most of them were Nisei, American-born.
Even Issei elders been in the States for 20 years,
But no one really cared. Americans hate and fear.
Internment camps surrounded in barbed wire,
Military police patrolling outside of.
Not a lot of good food, medical help, plumbing
Or doctors or teachers in them for the kids to be schooled.
But even then, they would fight hard,
Creating all the things that were not given.
They even made the uniforms and food for the US soldiers
To prove they were on the same side with them.

Imagine being sent away
Because of how you look,
Because of where you came.
And then they took your family.
We will never,
We will never let it happen again.

Some Japanese Americans rebelled,
’Cause they refused to be inside a camp and live in there.
Fred Korematsu was a man in California.
He changed his whole name and face so he could never leave home,
But he was caught and convicted of violating the order.
And instead of giving in, Mr. Korematsu fought the court.
He told them it was wrong
And violated Fifth Amendment law:
Citizens should never be denied freedom.
Korematsu v. United States in the Supreme Court:
He fought them all the way but government won,
Said the military was protecting people from espionage.
But nah, Korematsu wasn’t involved.
Japanese Americans denied basic civil rights,
But 1946 was the end of the fight.
Internment camps were shut down.
The war was over,
But don't forget the damage that it did to the culture.

Imagine being sent away
Because of how you look,
Because of where you came from.
Then they took your family.
We will never let it happen again.

In 1988, the government finally got it right when they acknowledged
that they had been wrong and issued a formal apology to the internees and paid them each $20,000 in reparations. But that’s just talking about money. You can’t erase the history.