Citizen 13660

From Citizen 13660

Analyzing a Written Argument

The general argument made by Mine Okubo in her work From Citizen 13660 is that the Nisei didn’t think that they would be sent to internment camps. More specifically Okubo suggests that she was very surprised that she was sent to an internment camp when she was a US citizen. She writes, “It was a real blow when everyone, regardless of citizenship, was ordered to evacuate.” Pg. 748. In this passage, Okubo is suggesting that all the Japanese Americans were resenting there relocation and the lack of privacy and poor treatment they received. In conclusion, it is Okubo’s belief that the Japanese Americans shouldn’t have been relocated if they were citizens of the United States.

Planning Your Own Argument

            In my view, Okubo is wrong because the government relocated them not only for national defense but also for their own protection from angry US citizens. For example, there were many US citizens who attacked Japanese Americans because of the attack on Pear Harbor.. Although Okubo might object that they had no right to relocate them, I maintain that they were trying to do what was best for the Japanese Americans and the Nation. Therefore, I conclude that while the government should have thought of a better plan to protect the nation and the Japanese Americans, they did the best they could.