The Power of Language
How could American citizens be taken from their homes and incarcerated without being charged with a crime? During WWII, the U.S. government adopted language that aimed to control public perception of the process and the motivations behind it. Japanese American organizations and scholars later developed terms that more accurately reflect what happened. You’ll see these terms in this exhibit.
| ORIGINAL TERM(S) | PREFERRED TERM(S) |
| Exclusion Orders | Eviction Orders |
| Evacuee/Internee | Inmate, Detainee, Prisoner |
| Evacuation/Migration | Forced Removal |
| Assembly Center | Temporary Detention Prison Center |
| Internment | Incarceration, Imprisonment |
| Relocation Center | Illegal Detention Center |
| Internment Camp | Incarceration Camp, Concentration Camp, Prison Camp |
The legal definition of “internment” refers to the detention of “enemy aliens” during a time of war. However, because over 75,000 of the Japanese Americans incarcerated during WWII were American citizens – not enemy aliens – the term does not fit. Other accurate terms to replace “Internment Camp” include “American concentration camp,” “detention center,” and “prison camp.” Some government officials used “concentration camp” during WWII, but “incarceration camp” is commonly used today to avoid confusion with the Nazi death camps of the Holocaust.
