This project will examine the United States propensity in renouncing the civil rights and civil liberties of minorities. Additionally, it will exemplify recurring instances when minorities were forced to give up protections granted in the Constitution. The minorities examined are: Blacks between the time of Reconstruction (circa 1877) to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, Native Americans between 1877 and 1960, and Japanese Americans during World War II (specifically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor) from 1942 to 1946.
The common procedure of the United States government retracting rights is a practice that greatly disagrees with the framers of the constitution’s ideals. In a letter to the Governor, Benjamin Franklin proclaimed, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” (Franklin 1755, 21). This position conveys the importance of civil liberty and demonstrates that being coerced into giving up civil liberties, members of American minorities would not gain safety. In essence, this would devalue rights and make people vulnerable to internal and external threats. Unfortunately, the United States has overstepped their jurisdiction by means of disabling minorities with a vision of false protection. Rights that have been granted to all citizens, but withheld from minorities include the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments.
The 13th amendment prohibits slavery as both a form of punishment and as an institution in its own (United States Constitution 1865, Amendment XIII). This amendment was added to the Constitution in January of 1865, several months prior to the end of the Civil War, and before President Lincoln’s death. Slavery surpasses historic concept of labor, it is the elimination of choice and freedom. The thirteenth amendment is relevant in the case of Japanese American internment prisoners, since mass quantities of racial groups were apprehended without reason it can be concluded that the motivation was racial profiling.
Japanese Relocation During World War II chronologically overviews the events that led up to the foundation of internment camps. Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized Executive Order 9066 on February 19th 1942. Between the signing of this Executive Order and March 20th of 1946 almost 120,000 Japanese American Citizens were imprisoned in Internment Camps. The main reason for the camps creation was Pearl Harbor. In addition, multiple other causes included the concern for national security, a mass influx of Asian American immigrants, and rising tensions in diverse areas. These Internment camps spanned the coastal region of the western United States from Washington state to Arizona and acted as holding stations for innocent Japanese Americans. Executive Order 9066 directly conflicts with several amendments; the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, and thirteenth. Freedom of assembly, freedom of religion (the practice of Shinto was prohibited), freedom of press (newspaper content was filtered), freedom to petition, protection against searches and seizures, the right to counsel, and the protection against cruel and unusual punishment were all disregarded. When World War II ended in 1945 captives were released from the restricted military zones and returned to where they previously resided. Some internment camp survivors were compensated for the heinous act but not all were remunerated (National Archives 2018, Japanese Relocation During World War II).
All naturalized immigrants, freed slaves, and persons born on American soil were granted security of their rights after the passing of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Passed in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment should have given citizenship, rights and liberties to all men, rather than only white men. This includes Native Americans, Japanese Americans, and freed Blacks. The Equal Protection Clause reads,
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (Amendment XIV Section 1, 1868).
The government imposed laws that dually restricted and inhibited the rights of members of minorities. Chief Joseph admits he and his people lack trust in the government from failed past agreements. He dissents with government officials and restates the constitution as protection for his tribe, since their standing as citizens merits refuge (Chief Joseph 1879, pp. 412-434). The remainder of his tribe was not given the chance to assimilate and were relocated onto the Colville Reservation in Washington.
The Fifteenth Amendment, established in 1870, granted the right to vote to all American men, specifically those of African American decent (United States Constitution 1870, Amendment XV). After the crafting of the Jim Crow laws and the Black Codes in the late 19th century, Black voices were silenced. Jim Crow was a set of de jure apartheid in southern states. The Black Codes included the white primaries, grandfather clause, literacy tests, and poll taxes. White primaries allowed only whites to vote in the primary elections, therefore limiting the black vote to the general election. The grandfather clause granted the right to vote only if your grandfather could vote, which excluded the descendants of slaves and non-land owning men. Literacy tests required a reading of part of the constitution, again targeting uneducated or illiterate black, and the poll tax was a charge on those who wanted to vote. These established limitations on the impacted Blacks had in politics.
The corrupt outdated practice of abandoning the principal law of the nation during chaos has proven again and again to attack minorities. Each time with more consequence than benefit. This has led to a huge lack of trust in the government from many minority groups and gives a negative connotation to figures of authority and power. These factors beg the question as to why the government continuously preys on the fears of Americans and criminalizes minorities.