Korematsu V. United States

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Korematsu V. United States

The case of Korematsu v. United States is a typical example of outright racism that has been a major concern in the United States and across the world (Bell et al., 2021). For instance, it was unconstitutional for President Roosevelt to associate Japanese-American citizens with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the extent of relocating them to relocation camps in the name of national security. This is a violation of the civil rights of the Americans of Japanese descent, exposing them to education, health care, and nutrition inadequacies (Sadler, 2019). The president’s decision to send more than 110,000 people to Internment Camps was a clear demonstration of racial prejudice, war madness, and a failed political leadership. As such, it is necessary for the Constitution to restrict presidential powers to prevent situations where the president decides to declare unconstitutional laws on the basis of national security. There should be clear checks and balances that act as watchdogs on the president’s use of power. The Constitution should hold the president liable to their enforcement of the law.

I disagree with Justice Black’s opinion regarding the case of Korematsu v. United States. In his opinion, the relocation of the United States citizens forcefully with the justification that the outcome was deem necessary because of war, and it would be considered unconstitutional during peace time (Bell et al., 2021). Violating the stipulation of the Constitution while upholding on other instances is a double standard, and is unaccepted. If the Constitution recognizes the Internees’ constitutional rights in the time of peace, then it is unlawful to violate them in time of war on the pretext that their ethnicity is similar to those whom the country is at war with.

References

Bell, N., Levy, E., & Sharp, J. (2021). Symposium: Giving Korematsu v. United States A Sober Second Thought. Arkansas Law Review, 74(2), 145.

Sadler, M. (2019). ” I Dissent, Therefore, from this Legalization of Racism:” A Legal Analysis of Korematsu v. United States (1944).