Farewell To Manzanar

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According to the definition in the Google dictionary, racism means prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership in a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized. Farewell to Manzanar is a story following a young girl named Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family when executive order 66 is signed and they are sent to a Japanese internment camp. Night follows the story of a young Elie Wiesel in Sighet, Hungary, during the Holocaust. Racism is a prevalent theme in both Night and Farewell to Manzanar. Showing how, in World War Two, the battle was not the only conflict in the war. In the novel Farewell to Manzanar, there are many highlighted cases of racism. …show more content…

“The band teacher knew I had more experience than anyone else competing that year. He told me to do so. But he was afraid to use me. He had to go speak to the board about it, and to some of the parents, to see if it was allowable for an Asian to represent the high school in such a visible way.” (Chapter 21, pdf, p. 100). For many Japanese-American people, the cold reality was that even though the war was over, they were still not treated as equals. Though Jeanne was the most talented band player, the teacher decided on someone else just because of her Asian descent, which shows the racism and prejudice at the time. No matter what she did or how hard she worked, it just didn’t matter because of her race. Even though Ko Wakatsuki lived in the US for 30 years, he is questionable in his loyalty to the US. “I have been living in this country nine years longer than you have. Do you realize that, too? Yet I am prevented by law from becoming a citizen. I am prevented by law from owning

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