“In the camps. . . . I had the opportunity to study the human race from the cradle to the grave, and to see what happens to people when reduced to one status and one condition. Cameras and photographs were not permitted in the camps, so I recorded everything in sketches, drawings, and paintings.” Mine Okubo (22). From my birth on June 27, 1912 to December 6, 1941 I was just a regular American citizen just like anybody else. However on December 7, 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I was seen as a terrorist spy, an unloyal american, and an all around untrustworthy person all because of the country my ancestors comes from and my distinct asian features. From then on I would be lose my name and only be known as a number. Just …show more content…
Everybody was going crazy fearing another attack. And of course because I shared the ethnicity with the attackers everybody hated and feared me. People who were nice to me before would yell, spit at me, and call me racial slurs. After that President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a few decrees stating that all citizens of Japanese heritage must register, then evacuate their homes for immediate “relocation”. The government gave me and my little brother Toku 3 days to report. Our family was given a family number 13660. For the next few years we would only be known as 13660. This is what really upset me, we were stripped of our dignity and humanness. Then we (me and my brother) were thrown into a bus and driven to the internment camp known as Tanforan, where we lived in a horse stall for six months. The living conditions were awful, everyone was cramped and dirty. The guards said it not ok for us to have cameras, and other stuff like that. However I took matters into my own hands. I got a pencil and sketch pad, I was determined to show all the american citizens how we were treated in these disgusting, dirty, nasty camps. There was a few times were a mean guard would catch me drawing something just brutal and take the drawing away. After living in a horse stall for six months I was shipped to a camp in the deserts in Utah called Topaz. There I was able to teach art to the little kids there. It was one of the most pleasant experiences during my internment because I got to see these little kids transform from stick figures to real art. I also got to draw the cover for a internee magazine called Trek, three times. One time during my internment I entered an art contest at Berkeley, and I won! A few years
Are you born in America but you have a different heritage? During World War II, even though Mine Okubo was born in America, she was identified as a rival to the Americans because she had a Japanese background. This led to her being transferred to isolated internment camps. Louie Zamperini was an Olympian runner who enlisted into the army. After a disaster of his assigned plane crashing into the ocean, he was captured by the Japanese and transported to camps. Both Mine Okubo and Louie Zamperini had to endure challenges in the course of World War II. Japanese-American internees and American Prisoners of War (POWs) felt “invisible” and “resisted invisibility.”
A Japanese American Tragedy Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Japanese American, and James D. Houston, describes the experience of being sent to an internment camp during World War II. The evacuation of Japanese Americans started after President Roosevelt had signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Along with ten thousand other Japanese Americans, the Wakatsuki was sent on a bus to Manzanar, California. There, they were placed in an internment camp, many miles from their home, with only what they could carry. The lives of the Japanese Americans in the internment were a struggle.
It is not a well known fact that around the time the Holocaust took place in Europe, another internment (less extreme) was taking place in the United States. “Betrayed by America” by Kristin Lewis gives readers an insight on what happened to Japanese-Americans in America. The article tells us about Hiroshi Shishima, Japanese-Americans internment, and what was going on during the regime. During WW2, America went into a frenzy after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Many Americans believed what was being said about Japanese-Americans even though it was proven to be false. Since the whole fiasco with Japan took place, many Japanese-Americans were forced into internment in certain parts of the United States. The reason for the internment of Japanese-Americans was due to fear & hysteria, racial
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were regarded as a threat to the U.S. President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, also know as the Exclusion Order. This Order stated that any descendents or immigrants from enemy nations who might be a threat to U.S. security will report to assembly centers for Internment. There were no trials or hearings. They were forced to evacuate and many lost their homes and their businesses. Fred Korematsu refused to go. He was a U.S. citizen. Fred Korematsu was grabbed by police, handcuffed, and taken to jail. His crime -- defying President Franklin Roosevelt's order that American citizens of Japanese descent report to internment camps
I wish I could say that I would have been against the internment camps, but had I lived during that time frame, I probably would have agreed with society’s fear of Japanese-Americans. Currently working in an assisted living facility, I spoke with many of my residents about this subject. Although they are somewhat ashamed of their actions made by the government, they reminded me that they all had anxiety and concern about immanent invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army attacking the west coast of the United States.
Throughout humanity, human beings have been faced with ethnic hardships, conflict, and exclusion because of the battle for authority. Hence, in human nature, greed, and overall power consumes the mind of some people. Groups throughout the world yearn for the ability to be the mightiest one. These types of conflicts include ethnic shaming, racial exclusion, physical and verbal abuse, enslavement, imprisonment, and even death. Some of these conflicts were faced in all parts of Europe and the Pacific Region during World War II. During this dark time in history, people like Miss.Breed from Dear Miss Breed took initial action in what she thought was right, and gave hope to Japanese Internment Camp children by supplying books and
The United States of America a nation known for allowing freedom, equality, justice, and most of all a chance for immigrants to attain the American dream. However, that “America” was hardly recognizable during the 1940’s when President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, ordering 120,000 Japanese Americans to be relocated to internment camps. As for the aftermath, little is known beyond the historical documents and stories from those affected. Through John Okada’s novel, No-No Boy, a closer picture of the aftermath of the internment is shown through the events of the protagonist, Ichiro. It provides a more human perspective that is filled with emotions and connections that are unattainable from an ordinary historical document. In the novel, Ichiro had a life full of possibilities until he was stripped of his entire identity and had to watch those opportunities diminish before him. The war between Japan and the United States manifested itself into an internal way between his Japanese and American identities. Ichiro’s self-deprecating nature that he developed from this identity clash clearly questions American values, such as freedom and equality which creates a bigger picture of this indistinguishable “America” that has been known for its freedom, equality, and helping the oppressed.
Japanese Internment Camps were established to keep an eye on everyone of Japanese decent. The internment camps were based on an order from the President to relocate people with Japanese Heritage. This meant relocating 110,000 Japanese people. “Two thirds of these people were born in America and were legal citizens, and of the 10 people found to be spying for the Japanese during World War II, not one was of Japanese ancestry” (Friedler 1). Thus, there was no reason for these internment camps, but people do irrational things when driven by fear. In theinternment camps, many of the Japanese became sick or even died because of lack of nourishment in the food provided at these camps. The conditions in the internment camps were awful. One of the internment camps, Manzanar, was located to the west of Desert Valley in California. “Manzanar barracks measured 120 x 20 feet and were divided into six one-room apartments, ranging in size from 320 to 480 square feet.
What were the Japanese internment camps some might ask. The camps were caused by the attack of Pearl Harbor in 1942 by Japan. President Roosevelt signed a form to send all the Japanese into internment camps.(1) All the Japanese living along the coast were moved to other states like California, Idaho, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona. The camps were located away from Japan and isolated so if a spy tried to communicate, word wouldn't get out. The camps were unfair to the Japanese but the US were trying to be cautious. Many even more than 66% or 2/3 of the Japanese-Americans sent to the internment camps in April of 1942 were born in the United States and many had never been to Japan. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestors and they were suspected of being spies to their homeland of Japan. Japanese-American World War I veterans that served for the United States were also sent to the internment camps.(2)
World War Two was one of the biggest militarized conflicts in all of human history, and like all wars it lead to the marginalization of many people around the world. We as Americans saw ourselves as the great righteous liberators of those interned into concentration camps under Nazi Germany, while in reality our horse was not that much higher than theirs. The fear and hysteria following the attacks on pearl harbour lead to the forced removal and internment of over 110,000 Japanese American residents (Benson). This internment indiscriminately applied to both first and second generation Japanese Americans, Similarly to those interned in concentration camps, they were forced to either sell, store or leave behind their belongings. Reshma Memon Yaqub in her article “You People Did This,” describes a similar story to that of the Japanese Americans. The counterpart event of pearl harbour being the attacks on the world trade
The guards won’t let them do anything that they normally do and experience, along with beating them for not understanding the orders of the Japanese. I believe that this is an example of dehumanization because the guards are taking away what the men are used to. Mine experienced the perspective of feeling invisible as well as other Japanese-Americans in internee camps when they were given a number for their whole family, “My family name was reduced to No. Mine and other Japanese-American internees were very good at resisting invisibility in clever ways, such as when they weren’t allowed to have cameras, “Internees were not allowed to have cameras, but Miné wanted to document what was happening inside the camps. She put her artistic talent to use making sketches of daily life inside the fences” (The Life of Mine Okubo). Mine is defying the rules of the camp by creating art about the people in their “daily lives” at the camp that she is located in.
Japanese internment camps were located around the Western United States with the exception of Arkansas (which is located further east). On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. This sparked a period of war-time paranoia that led to the internment or incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans. Almost all of them were loyal citizens. Actually, many of them were not allowed to become citizens due to certain laws. Although these camps were nowhere close to as horrible as the concentration camps in Europe, the conditions were still pretty harsh for a while and caused internees to have various physical and psychological health effects and risks in the future.
Much controversy has been sparked due to the internment of the Japanese people. Many ask whether it was justified to internment them. It is a very delicate issue that has two sides, those who are against the internment of the Japanese-Americans and those who are for it. With World War II raging in the East, America was still, for the most part, very inactive in the war. When America took a stand against Japan by not shipping them supplies, Japan became very upset. Japan, being a big island that is very overpopulated with little natural resources, depended on America to provide them with an assortment of supplies including scrap metal and oil, vital items that are needed in a time of war. Japan retaliated by declaring war on America and attacking Pearl Harbor. This surprise act led to many soldiers deaths and millions of dollars of damaged army equipment, including air craft carriers and planes. As a result to Japan declaring war, the Japanese-Americans were asked to and eventually forced to do their duty to the country and report to internment camps until the war conflict was over. Many opposed this act for a couple of reasons. One reason was that people felt that it was a huge hypocrisy that the Japanese were being interned while the Italians and Germans, also our enemies, were still walking around free in America. Another reason why many were against the internment was because many of the Japanese had already been in America for some time now. The Issei, the first generation of Japanese people that immigrated from Japan, had immigrated many years ago. A whole another generation of Japanese children had already began growing up in America called the Nissei. They were automatically U.S. citizens for they were born in America and for the most part were like other American children. Anti-Internment activists also said that the Japanese were being robbed of their rights as U.S. citizens. However, there are two sides to everything.
Enforced imprisonment in internment camps of Japanese-Americans during World War II is another discrimination America has doled out to a specific nationality or culture. However, this story is a bit different because the narrator, Jeanne, spends a good portion of her life desperately trying to ingratiate and assimilate herself into the preferred white American society. Jeanne was born in the United States and therefore, is an American citizen; yet, because of her heritage she is met with prejudice, unwelcome and unacceptance. Following her family’s internment, Jeanne returns to school and one of her peers was amazed that she could speak English. Jeanne realizes that she is not viewed as an individual, but judged and stereotypically lumped with others based solely on her appearance. Being an Asian fills Jeanne with shame she commits to conforming to white society through her attire, activities, and interactions with her peers, but is frequently met with prejudice and opposition. Again, this does not demonstrate the widespread acceptance of all people being invited to become a part of the defined American nationality’s melting
During World War II more than 127,000 Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned at internment camps in the United States. Their only crime was that they had Japanese ancestry and they were suspected of being loyal to their homeland of Japan. This was done because earlier, the Japanese government bombed the United States(U.S.) Naval base at Pearl Harbor to attempt a sucker punch on the US before their fight which turned into World War 2. Though, many argue if the decision of the internment was justified or not it is clear that this was not justified. The decision was not justified because it was made out of fear, anger and war hysteria, also the Italian-Americans and the German-Americans were not treated the same way as the Japanese-Americans