The Japanese Concentration Camp at Poston, Arizona: City in the Sun

This is a 1971 book that takes a very harsh look at the internment of the Japanese Americans in general, and at Poston in particular.

A term I have not seen elsewhere that is about the internment is the “big roust.” The author compares this to what was done to various Native American tribes when they were moved off their original territories and forced to relocate elsewhere.

“It was greed. A century later, Japanese Americans were to taste a little of this greed. It was mixed with the hysteria. In eviction and evacuation, there was historical precedence.”

He goes on:

“Hate and discrimination, unfortunately, have been with the nation from its beginning.”

A lot of groups felt the sting of prejudice.

The book later moves into the time just after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and talks about Terminal Island, which was a Japanese fishing community. Then he goes on to describe what happened:

“As the afternoon progressed, things began to happen. Shore patrols from the Navy base-helmeted sailors, with rifles-began herding the Fish Harbor residents off the streets and into their homes. Jeeps, with armed Navy men, began patrolling the town..”

Some of the Japanese fishermen were attacked by mobs when the docked their boats.

Then the F.B.I. went through the houses and confiscated a bunch things, totally ignoring the concept of search and seizure and having no warrants at all to do this type of thing. They also took various Japanese prisoners, usually men who were leaders of the community in some type of manner, also doing this without any warrants. They men were not formally arrested, not tried, not given a chance to defend themselves in court.

People lost their jobs, being fired by the canneries. Their bank accounts were frozen, making things even worse for them.

Attacks on anyone Japanese continued.

Filipinos who did enter the stores owned by Japanese that were still operating were beaten by other Filipinos. Former customers and co-workers now proved hostile to the Japanese.

On February 14, 1942, the Harbor Commissioner announced that all Fish Harbor contracts and rentals were now under his control.

Then the people were told to leave.

Without mercy.

The kick-off of the roundup.

A newspaper article is quoted, and then reality is noted.

The author notes that some of the stalls still smelled like horse manure when the people moved into them. It took only sixty days to make Santa Anita the 32nd largest community in the entire state of California. Considering that it was just supposed to be a race track, that's quite an accomplishment.

“Though anger and hurt smoldered deeply in their hearts, the people in every center accepted their lot with willingness and cooperation.”

“Of all the 'reception centers,' Santa Anita was probably the most adaptable and workable.”

The author points out that, despite the need for materials and workers for the war effort, millions of feet of lumber were used for the camp, and construction workers who should have been doing other things for the war effort were put to work building the camps, thus making it a misuse of men and material.

Poston was built on Native American land and was nominally under the supervision of the Indian Bureau. It also happens to be in one of the hottest and most arid areas in the country.

When the people arrived, they were greeted by the sight of barbed wire, guard towers, and men with guns. The author uses the term “concentration camp” in reference to Poston.

Poston was divided into three parts, actually, each part several miles from the other part. The nearest town was seventeen miles to the north.

The author also notes that there were plenty of materials for building the Caucasian supervisor dwellings, but severe shortage of materials for the dwellings of the internees.

The Issei in particular had a negative reaction to all of this, making them “more stubborn and uncooperative.”

The type of document they were expected to sign, which basically gives away all their rights and makes them slaves of the government.

Health problems the camp had included amoebic dysentery, measles, TB and lung problems caused by the ever-present dust. There was also occasional food poisoning.

The book talks about people not just being paid a very small wage, but often ending up being paid way after they should have been. This is something I have seen in newsletters from almost every single camp. The same problem; wages due in April, say, might not be paid until the end of June or early July. A one or two month delay seemed to be very common.

Camouflage nets were to be made at the camp. Problems arose over this, leading people to feel they were being exploited.

Workers began to stop showing up for work. “Directives against the malcontents were posted on the block bulletin boards.” The anthropologists, sociologists and others who were studying the internees suggested a more understanding approach, but the camp management went for a get-tough policy.

The F.B.I. got involved in all of this, and that set up another problem. People who seemed to be chummy with the F.B.I. were called inus, a Japanese term for dogs. That could lead to threats and physical attacks. The community rapidly became divided against itself.

The outside press ate all this up and proof that their anti-Japanese stance was totally justified.

This also radicalized the community, with some people who might have taken a more moderate stance becoming ultra-pro-Japanese.

Dillon Myer visited the camp and tried to get things back to normal. Two nights before he got there, a 30-year-old Kibei was almost killed by hooded assailants. He was considered an inu. The response of management was to round up fifty suspects and put them into jail.

The next night, though, another Kibei was beaten, and others were warned and threatened. Myer got there. The author says it is entirely possible that he was never even told of the problems of the camp, since, when he did speak, it had nothing to do with what was going on.

What he did say to camp managers that the object was now dispersal of the internees, and the camp should not be made too attractive.

The men in jail were released There was a group of men that tried to meet with the director to discuss the problems, but he told them to meet with the assistant director instead. Later a group gathered in front of the jail and urged a general strike. Loudspeakers blared out Japanese music, and things got rapidly worse.

The military was ready to move in.

There was trouble at Manzanar, too, and it developed in a similar pattern to the trouble at Poston, except that, in this case, there were two deaths.

The author notes that maybe 10% of the camp internees were actually involved in the troubles; the other 90% watched.

The author goes on to talk about how some people in the camps chose to give up their American citizenship, wanting to return to Japan. He also talks a lot about the 100th and 442nd units and their impact on how people thought about the Nisei.

Eventually, the camps were to be shut down and the people were free to leave. Returning to their original homes, though, would prove to be very, very difficult and at times totally impossible. He discusses the extreme anti-Japanese prejudice still in California and other West Coast states.

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