One Of The Few Friends Of Japanese Americans Was Governor Carr

The Governor of Colorado was a rarity during World War II

Japanese Americans had almost no support

When the United States was at war with Japan, the Americans who were American citizens of Japanese ancestry were faced with extreme racism. They and their immigrant parents from Japan had long faced discrimination, prejudice, bigotry, and racism in the United States, but the situation immediately became much worse.

After President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authority was given to the military commander in certain designated areas to remove any persons from their homes. The order was used only against people of Japanese descent. The plan was to build camps where they would be incarcerated. There were ten such camps built in remote and desolate regions of the United States.

The Western Defense Commander was General John L. DeWitt. The area included the West Coast states. The order could have been used against others, but it was enacted only on American citizens and immigrants with Japanese backgrounds because of racism.

It was not used in Hawaii where there was a large segment of the population of Japanese descent. They were important to the economy there.

Realizing that it would be an enormous task to remove approximately 120,000 people from the West Coast states, the government leaders initially sought to have what was called a “voluntary evacuation.” People were allowed to apply to move inland by a certain date to avoid the camps. They needed someone living inland to sign for them and offer help in getting them settled.

Milton Eisenhower headed the War Relocation Authority (WRA) which was established on March 18, 1942. He envisioned that the Japanese Americans could be disbursed to inland states where they could resume a normal life after being forced out of their homes on the West Coast.

The governors, attorneys general, and other state officials of the inland Western states were called to Salt Lake City in April 1942 where they were asked to accept Japanese Americans to live in their areas. The officials of the various states protested strongly with extreme opposition toward the Japanese Americans with the exception of one.

The governors stated that they did not want the Japanese people to come to their states since the people were considered a threat. Some of the governors expressed outright hatred for the Japanese, and all spoke of their distaste for the idea. This reaction caused the WRA to pursue the building of the concentration camps.

Eisenhower was disturbed by the attitudes and hostility of the state officials. He felt that what was being done to the Japanese Americans was wrong. He resigned from his position with the WRA because he said he could not sleep at night due to the injustice he felt was being done to this group of mostly American citizens.

The one governor who was the exception to the hostility was Governor Ralph Carr of Colorado. He was a Republican governor who said that the persons of Japanese ancestry had done nothing wrong and had every legal right to live where they pleased. He said they would be welcome in his state. He further stated that every citizen should be guaranteed the right to move freely, including those of Japanese ancestry.

Governor Carr had made a brave and courageous move to attempt to treat the Japanese people with kindness and fairness. He welcomed them and hired some of them.

Many of the citizens of his state, however, disagreed with him and were angry that he would welcome anyone who was Japanese into Colorado. The decision likely ended his political career as he was defeated in a subsequent campaign for the U.S. Senate. Governor Carr was drafted to run for governor again in 1950, and he continued to defend the constitutional rights of the Japanese Americans and all American citizens. After winning the primary, Carr died of a heart attack or complications associated with diabetes at the age of sixty-two.

Most of those evacuated from the West Coast and placed in the camps lost virtually everything they had owned as they were only allowed to take with them what they could carry. They were given just a short period of time to dispose of their material possessions and be ready to leave. People (even complete strangers) came to their doors asking if they could buy or have their furniture and goods. The Japanese people were offered only minimal amounts for their possessions. Those who did the voluntary evacuation also lost almost everything.

A friend of mine was a small child when his family did the voluntary evacuation during World War II. They traveled to Colorado in their car. The friend said that his father was extremely apprehensive when they came to the border and were stopped by a Colorado State Highway Patrolman. Instead of being treated with disdain as had been expected, the police officer welcomed them to Colorado. This was at the direction of Governor Carr.

Governor Ralph Carr remained a friend to the Japanese Americans until his death. He was one of the few who stood up for these innocent people when they were being persecuted unjustly. He was a kind and compassionate man of integrity.

[NOTE: Governor Ralph Carr is mentioned in this book, The Japanese American Story as Told Through a Collection of Speeches and Articles, www.thejapaneseamericanstory.com]

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