About 22,000 Japanese Canadians in British Columbia were interned during World War II. Categorized as security risks simply because they were of Japanese ancestry, most were British citizens of Canada and sixty percent were Canadian-born. The majority were sent to “interior housing centres” in Slocan Valley in eastern British Columbia, while several thousand able-bodied men were sent to road work camps or sugar beet farms. None were ever found guilty of disloyalty.
“Japanese Canadians were to be disposed of all their property without their consent,” write the authors. “Many did not learn of the fate of their homes, farms, businesses, or belongings until it was too late: everything they owned had been sold, usually for prices far below [market rates].”
The settlement included a largely symbolic redress payment of $21,000 to survivors, as well as monies for a community fund and human rights projects to work to prevent such racist outrages in the future.
Yikes. Thanks for sharing. I have yet to hear an example of reparations that really make things right.
