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On what basis, according to Justice Murphy, did the U.S. military and President Roosevelt decide that it was necessary to intern Japanese Americans?

a) Census data indicating that most Japanese Americans in the West were not U.S. citizens

b) Racist stereotypes that regarded Japanese Americans as subversive and disloyal to the United States

c) Crime records proving that Japanese Americans committed many acts of sabotage

d) Employment data indicating that many Japanese Americans worked in defense industries

User Yuen Tong
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Final answer:

Justice Murphy noted that the internment of Japanese Americans was based on racist stereotypes, without any proven acts of sabotage. Decisions were driven by anti-Japanese prejudice, misinformation, and wartime fear, leading to the internment of over 110,000 individuals of Japanese descent, the majority of whom were American citizens.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to Justice Murphy, the U.S. military and President Roosevelt decided that it was necessary to intern Japanese Americans primarily on the basis of racist stereotypes that regarded Japanese Americans as subversive and disloyal to the United States.

This decision was unjustified because, despite the mass arrests, not one person of Japanese ancestry had been proven guilty of treasonous crimes. Instead of conclusive evidence, the military and political leaders of the time acted on the angry passions of anti-Japanese prejudice, misinformation, and fear in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack.

The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was based on a combination of race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership, as concluded by a congressional commission report in 1982.

Executive Order 9066 authorized the forced relocation without due process or individual assessment, affecting over 110,000 individuals of Japanese descent, approximately two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens. The policy was later acknowledged as unjust, leading to a formal apology and reparations through legislation signed by President Reagan in 1988.

User Domlao
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