Yoshiko Uchida's Desert Exile Activity. Relevance of the Book to Course Issues Yoshiko Uchida’s Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family is a poignant exploration of the Japanese American internment during World War II, which is highly relevant to the themes of civil rights, identity, and racial discrimination explored in our course. Uchida’s personal narrative provides a visceral understanding of the impact of governmental policies on individual lives, complementing theoretical discussions about the balance between national security and civil liberties. For instance, Uchida describes the profound sense of betrayal felt by Japanese Americans, stating, "‘due process of law’ and ‘equal protection under the law for all citizens,’ …show more content…
Her narrative sheds light on the physical and emotional landscapes that the interned Japanese Americans had to navigate, highlighting the harsh environmental conditions and the isolation they faced. Uchida writes, "The barracks were bleak and desolate, surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers" (Uchida, p. 115), illustrating the stark and oppressive environment of the camp. This perspective deepens our understanding of Utah not just as a geographical location, but as a significant historical site of enforced displacement and cultural suppression. It prompts us to reflect on Utah’s broader historical narrative and its implications for the state's identity and legacy. This historical story also ties into the broader narrative of Utah as a "peculiar" place, marked by its distinct cultural and religious history. The state’s identity has long been shaped by the experiences of marginalized groups, from the early Mormon settlers seeking refuge from persecution to the Native American tribes displaced by westward expansion. The internment of Japanese Americans at Topaz adds another layer to this complex history, illustrating how Utah has been a site of both sanctuary and suffering. By examining Uchida’s experiences, we gain a richer understanding of Utah as a place where issues of …show more content…
What surprised me most was the resilience and adaptability displayed by the internees, despite the dehumanizing conditions imposed upon them. Uchida describes the community’s efforts to maintain a semblance of normalcy, such as organizing schools, newspapers, and even music to bring people together. I had previously not considered the extent to which internees strove to maintain their dignity and sense of community, creating institutions and activities within the camps. Uchida’s emphasis on these efforts underscores the strength of the human spirit in the face of systemic oppression. This text was very eye opening to me, not being aware of the situation beforehand. I believe that the extent of the pain and suffering these citizens went through is something more people should learn about, if it made an impact like this on myself I am sure it would make an impact on other Americans who have never felt or experienced the discrimination these people went
On February 1942, President Roosevelt issued an executive order, which was 9066 stating that Japanese Americans to evacuate their homes and live in an internment camp. This autobiographical called, “Farewell to Manzanar” by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. Jeanne wanted to write this book to give details on her experience during World War II internment camps. “It is a story, or a web of stories my own, my father’s, my family’s -- tracing a few paths that led up to and away from the experience of the internment” (pg XI). Mrs. Houston had other books beside this particular book, some of the others were called, “Don't Cry, It’s Only Thunder” and “The Legend of Fire Horse Woman”.
As Inada points out with his analogy to a constellation, the United States government had constructed many camps and scattered them all over the country. In other words, the internment of Japanese-Americans was not merely a blip in American history; it was instead a catastrophic and appalling forced remov...
Farewell to Manzanar Beginning in March of 1942, in the midst of World War II, over 100,000 Japanese-Americans were forcefully removed from their homes and ordered to relocate to several of what the United States has euphemistically labeled “internment camps.” In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston describes in frightening detail her family’s experience of confinement for three and a half years during the war. In efforts to cope with the mortification and dehumanization and the boredom they were facing, the Wakatsukis and other Japanese-Americans participated in a wide range of activities. The children, before a structured school system was organized, generally played sports or made trouble; some adults worked for extremely meager wages, while others refused and had hobbies, and others involved themselves in more self-destructive activities. The smaller children that were confined to their families seemed to be generally unaware of the hardships they were facing.
During World War II, countless Japanese Canadians, and Americans, were relocated to internment camps out of fear of where their loyalties would lie. Because of this, those people were stricken from their homes and had their lives altered forever. Joy Kogawa’s Obasan highlights this traumatic event. In this excerpt, Kogawa uses shifts in point of view and style to depict her complex attitude and perception of the past.
In a portion of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir titled Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne’s Japanese family, living in California, is ordered to move to an internment camp called Manzanar. Society impacts the family in many ways, but in this segment of the story we primarily see its effects on Jeanne. The context and setting are as follows: the Pearl Harbor bombing was a very recent happening, the United States was entering into war with Japan, and President Roosevelt had signed Executive Order 9066, allowing internment. Anyone who might threaten the war effort was moved inland into defined military areas. Essentially, the Japanese immigrants were imprisoned and considered a threat; nevertheless, many managed to remain positive and compliant. Jeanne’s family heard “the older heads, the Issei, telling others very quietly ‘Shikata ga nai’” (604), meaning it cannot be helped, or it must be done, even though the world surrounding them had become aggressive and frigid. The society had a noticeable effect on Jeanne, as it impacted her view of racial divides, her family relations, and her health.
America was built on a notion of freedom, justice, and equality, thus inviting people from all different parts of the world to pursue success while still retaining their background. However, despite what this nation was truly supposed to stand for, there were grim periods in which it did not truly uphold its core values. During World War II, in which the relationship between the U.S. and Japan was at its worst, many Japanese- Americans faced discrimination and injustice. Americans claimed that this needed to be done as a national emergency and for the peace of the nation. From the sources “War Message” by Franklin D. Roosevelt and “Desert Exile” by Yoshiko Uchida we can piece together the events that lead to the discrimination of Japanese
“We hold these truths to be self-evident…”(Weiler). As stated in the Declaration of Independence, all American citizens are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Right ”(Weiler) website. However, the United States did not hold true to this promise when removing all Nisei, Japanese Americans, from the pacific coast and transporting them to various relocation centers. In these relocation centers, the Nisei, also referred to as evacuees, were burdened to live in harsh environments, secluded from the outside world. The novel Citizen 13660 describes how the United States stripped the Nisei of their unalienable rights nor other rights entitled to United States citizens.
The people of Hawaii and other Pacific Island Nation groups have experienced great injustice from their colonial powers and the acts of imperialism. Lands were seized, cultural practices banned, language lost, and people were even forced to move away from their homes for the purpose of bomb testing. The United States and other countries abroad sent out representatives to do their work for them; in return their future actions would be justified in describing the Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders as savages that need to have wider powers enforced upon them; thus resulting in a tangled web of political mythologies.
First of all, I think that our class read this novel for many reasons. My first reason is, to understand what happened and from a different point of view. People obviously sometimes react, think, or understand things differently and I think that it is a good idea to have multiple perspectives when you are learning about something or forming an opinion. Furthermore, I think that this book ties in reasonably well with both our universal concept of power and our theme of justice. This book demonstrates how power is used during the war and how it affects the overall justice. In the situation in the book, the government used its power to intern the Japanese therefore affecting justice. Though, another thing to consider is the reasoning behind the government’s use of power. I believe they interned the Japanese based on the idea of “the well-being of the
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.
Taylor, Sandra C. Jewel of the Desert: Japanese American Internment at Topaz. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
Marsh, James H. "Japanese Internment: Banished and Beyond Tears." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2014. .
During the Second World War, the Japanese suffered great embarrassments because of their race. A law in 1948 provided reimbursement for property losses by those imprisoned, and in 1988 Congress awarded compensation payments of twenty thousand dollars to each survivor of the camps; it is estimated that about 73,000 people will receive this compensation for the violation of their liberties (2009). This topic is of significance in today’s society because of the War on Terrorism in Iraq. The same topics have come up in discussion during present day, making these past events significant when terrorism and counter-terrorism tactics are topics of national-security issues. The only difference is that Arab-Americans are not forced into concentration camps.
22. Muller, Eric,Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II . 2001, University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition
Even though usually these people from the sounds of it were usually just swept under a rug, or that the camp would clean its act up when the state or others came to check on it isn’t. From the way that the book put it sounds like no one really started to question the methods of the camp until they were brought to light by the civil rights movement. Even then it took someone who knew someone there or someone who spent time there, for them to even hear about it. When it did make the headlines in was used to break the “Restless Race-Mixers” who wanted to put an end to segregation laws. This came as a shock to me and to think that our country put basically innocent people in facility that had for decades had been used on criminal that had committed murdered, rape, and other crimes, not protesting. Then for them to be stripped of all their dignity a face punish that was meant to break them. While yes, this punish didn’t match that, that was used on the convicts and no hands per se were laid upon them; they still face a form of torture. This was wrong and to think that this didn’t make the government question these methods, is a flaw from our past that we have to deal