The Debate Over Japanese Internment Is Deeply Flawed
This five minute read can show teachers how their lesson on Japanese detention is incomplete, inaccurate and wrong. It only takes the inclusion of a few details to strengthen their lessons and make them more accurate - not only for the event itself, but for the discipline of history as well.
Trump’s supporters suggest that detention was harsh but necessary; his critics say that it was a mistake. But both sides seem to agree that the government believed it was justified. And both sides seem to agree that in the Korematsu case, the government offered its good-faith defense of detention, and the Supreme Court ruled that it was constitutionally sound. In fact, however, none of these things is true.
