April 7, 1942: 82 years ago, April 7 1942, thousands of Japanese San Franciscans were [...]

82 years ago, April 7 1942, thousands of Japanese San Franciscans were rounded up and relocated by force to “internment camps.” Contemporary reports estimated the number of total forced relocations from the Bay Area at around 4,600

Forced relocations from the city began in earnest the prior day, with hundreds of people forced out of SF’s Nihonmachi neighborhood (although hundreds of mostly Hawaiian Japanese had been interned on Angel Island since February). Over the next month thousands more would follow

Hundreds of Japanese Californians were fired without cause from their state jobs, and Japanese farmers were stripped of their land, which they were legally barred from owning following internment

Some internees were sent to makeshift camps on the Tanforan Racetrack in San Bruno and the Santa Anita Racetrack in Los Angeles County. Others were sent to the larger concentration camp at Manzanar in Inyo County

In December, Manzanar would see one of the most notable acts of resistance to internment, when a crowd of thousands revolted against military police, who killed 2 internees (including a 17-year-old boy) putting down the riot

California did not formally apologize to the victims of the internment program until February 2020