Rounding-up of “The Enemy”: Civil Liberties and National Security
Grades: 8-12
Subject: U.S. History, Civics, Historical Understanding, Language Arts, Thinking and Reasoning
Estimated Time of Completion: One week of class periods.
- Summary
- Objectives
- Materials Needed
- Procedure
- Classroom Assessment
- Extensions and Adaptations
- National Standards
I. Summary
During World War II, 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were removed to concentration camps in the inland states. Two-thirds of the people were U.S. citizens with the mean age of 17 years who were classified as “nonaliens.” This immigrant generation was not allowed to become citizens due to racist laws, and were immediately classified as “enemy aliens” upon the declaration of war. The Japanese Americans were removed by the military under the charge of “military necessity,” despite the fact that there was no record of sabotage or spying, and their loyalty had been attested to by the FBI and Naval Intelligence. In 1988, Congress passed redress legislation which issued an apology to Japanese Americans, symbolic monetary compensation and the public funding for research and educational programming relating to the Japanese American internment experience. This tragic episode is regarded as one of worst violations of the Constitution in U.S. history.
After the attacks of September 11, the enemy is “terrorism”. Many persons of Arab/Muslim/South Asian descent were — and continue to be — rounded up. The Department of Justice refuses to release information about the exact number, their names, nationality and location. Ten months after the terrorist attacks, the Justice Department claims that most of the 1200 people detained in the September 11 dragnet have been deported and only 73 people remain in custody, none on the charges related to terrorism. These claims have not been verified.
How do we handle this “terrorist” threat, aware of the need not to repeat the problems of the past while maintaining national security and preserving civil liberties?
II. Objectives
- Experience profiling first-hand through creation of a Class ID, and daily “persecution” of a selected group of students.
- Learn about the tension between the concern for national security and for the preservation of civil liberties during times of crisis, including the issue of racial/ethnic profiling.
- Learn about the wartime experiences of Japanese Americans following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.
- Learn about the experiences of Arab/Muslim/South Asian Americans after the attacks of September 11.
III. Materials Needed
IV. Procedure
A. Lead a class discussion, introducing the following questions:
- What is “racial profiling” and what purpose does it serve? [The American Civil Liberties Union describes: “racial profiling” occurs when the police target someone for investigation on the basis of that person’s race, national origin, or ethnicity. Examples of profiling are the use of race to determine which drivers to stop for minor traffic violations (“driving while black”) and the use of race to determine which motorists or pedestrians to search for contraband.]
- What are some examples of “racial profiling”? Other types of profiling? [eg., profiling of teenagers, the use of profiles to catch serial killers, etc.]
- Have you or any one you know been subjected to “profiling” by the police or government? What were the circumstances and how did you respond and what did you feel about the experience?
B. At the beginning of a school week, create a Class ID for each student, using a Polaroid Camera.
Have them write their name, and add a fingerprint to their ID card. They must bring it to class everyday for the week. Each day, decide who is to be the “enemy,” based on criteria such as who has spiral fingerprints? Who is wearing non-laced shoes? Who has on a black shirt? Who was born east of the Mississippi? Whose first name begins with a vowel? Be creative, but impersonal, in deciding who is the enemy.
At the beginning of each class, check everyone’s ID card. Anyone who has forgotten their ID is automatically assumed to be the enemy. The “enemy” must sit in a designated area of the classroom, or must stand during class. They should be treated differently: i.e. made to wear their ID cards, called on more or not called on at all, not receive handouts, made to remove their shoes, given more homework, not given treats (such as cookies or candy) which the teacher has brought for the class, etc. Non-enemy students should ignore the enemy students as much as possible, and should not share their paper, books, or pencils with them.
Each day the enemy will change, so all students will hopefully have an opportunity to experience a day as the enemy.
C. During the week, have students read some of the first-hand accounts in this site's Stories section of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor and Arab Americans after September 11 on the FACE TO FACE site.
Distribute and have students read:
D. At the end of the week, lead a class discussion with the following questions:
- Do you think “racial profiling” had anything to do with the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII? Why or why not? If so, did this “racial profiling” strengthen our national security?
- Does “racial profiling” of Arab/Muslim/South Asian Americans strengthen our national security today? What effect does this type of “racial profiling” have on the rest of the public?
- Have you engaged in similar “racial profiling” yourself?
- How did it feel to be profiled as the “enemy” in class, and to be treated differently? If you were really part of an enemy group, would you feel your treatment had been fair, or would you feel your civil rights had been violated? Would your classmates have been “safer” because of the treatment you received?
- Is it possible to balance the concerns for national security and for the preservation of civil liberties? Does curtailing of civil liberties improve our national security? Once civil liberties have been curtailed, can they be restored?
E. Have students write an opinion paper on the following topic:
As Prof. Jerry Kang has observed: “Wartime creates mistakes. An important
lesson from the Japanese American internment experience is that wartime coupled with racism and intolerance creates particular types of mistakes. During WWII, there was an overestimation of the threat posed by the racial “other” — the
Japanese Americans. Simultaneously there was an underestimation of how
government policies and society’s responses to that threat shattered the lives of
those “others” through internment, loss of their civil liberties, intimidation and
violence. Is that mistake being repeated today against Arab/Muslim/South Asian
Americans, immigrants, and anyone who looks like “them”?”
Respond to this question drawing upon your understanding of the tension between
the concern for national security and for the preservation of civil liberties during
times of crisis, including the issue of racial/ethnic profiling, and your
understanding of the human impact of governmental policies and actions during
WWII and today.
V. Classroom Assessment
- Students may be assessed on the quality of their written essay: reasoning and logic of discussion, organization of ideas, grammar, neatness.
- Students may also be assessed on their participation in class discussions.
VI. Extensions and Adaptations
- Using information found on the FACE TO FACE Web site, have students compare and contrast the treatment of Japanese Americans and Arab Americans during WWII and post-September 11.
- Have students review the Bill of Rights and identify which rights were violated during WWII. Then have students research the both U.S.A. Patriot Act, and critiques of it on the internet. Also have students download and review the “Know Your Rights!” brochure at www.nlg.org. Have students write on opinion piece or engage in a debate about the status of our civil liberties, whether they are endangered or not.
- Have students collect opinions from magazines and newspapers in regard to the civil rights issues involved. Their collection should include all shades of political opinion (e.g., Wall Street Journal, Nation Magazine, New York Times, Newsweek, local papers, material from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Republican/Democratic/Green/other political parties, etc.)
- Have students explore resources relating to such topics as racial profiling, hate crimes and the U.S.A. Patriot Act on the Internet:
VII. National Standards
This lesson addresses the following national content standards found in the McRel Standards Database at www.mcrel.org/standards-benchmarks/docs/contents.html
CIVICS
- Understands ideas about civic life, politics and government
- Understands the essential characteristics of limited and unlimited governments
- Understands how civil society allows individuals or groups to influence government in ways other than voting and elections
- Understands the concept of a constitution
- Understands how constitutions, in the past as well as in the present, have been disregarded or used to promote the interests of a particular group
- Understands the importance of Americans sharing and supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional democracy
- Understands issues that involve conflicts among fundamental values and principles such as the conflict between liberty and authority
- Understands issues concerning the disparities between ideals and reality in American political and social life.
- Understands the importance to individuals and to society of personal rights such as freedom of thought and conscience, privacy and personal autonomy, and the right to due process of law and equal protection of the law.
- Understands the importance of each citizen reflecting on, criticizing, and reaffirming basic constitutional principles.
- Understands the importance of political leadership and a knowledgeable citizenry in American constitutional democracy
HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING
- Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns
- Understands the historical perspective
- Analyzes the effects of specific decisions had on history and studies how things might have been different in the absence of those decisions
- Understands how the past affects our private lives and society in general
- Knows how to perceive past events with historical empathy
UNITED STATES HISTORY
- Understands the influence of international events on U.S. policies and political developments (e.g., how the attack on Pearl Harbor led to Executive Order 9066 and the incarceration of Japanese Americans)
- Understands President Roosevelt’s ideas and policies during World War II (e.g., Executive Order 9066 and the incarceration of Japanese Americans)
- Understands how World War II influenced the home front (e.g., the effects of the internment camps on Japanese American families)
LANGUAGE ARTS
- Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process
- Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing
- Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions
- Uses general skills and strategies of the reading process
- Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes
THINKING AND REASONING
- Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument.
- Understands and applies basic principles of logic and reasoning
WORKING WITH OTHERS
- Contributes to the overall effort of a group
- Works well with diverse individuals
- Displays effective interpersonal communication skills
