Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Farewell To Manzanar: Internment Resource Reaction
Regarding the Internment Link Resource Database, what are some ideas or trends that profoundly struck you that are addressed regarding this period in American History? Please use any quotes or specific references to materials that validate your argument. Due Wed., February 15th, 2012
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The Internment Resource struck me in many ways. First of all, the Japanese who went to these camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor were over half populated with children. This pointed out to me because children would most likely not be apart of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Another thing that struck me was that when the Japanese were driven out of their homes, they were treated like prisoners of war, when there was no proof of their involvement in the war.
The idea that had the biggest impact on me was that they were treated like prisoners, when their only crime was being Japanese.
"Barbed wire fences and armed guard towers with guns facing toward the inmates surrounded these compounds." This sounds so incredibly similar to the concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
These men, women and children weren't treated like human beings. They were treated like animals. Being forced to stand in line for everything.
They had no privacy. There weren't even bathroom doors for a long time.
It's not right to imprison someone just because of their family lineage. No body can help where they come from.
When looking at the link I noticed that they were treated awful without any reasoning except for there race. Very few of them knew that there was something they could do. On the link it shows cases against the united states supreme court where the Japanese people realized that there was something that can be done, they have a way to fight back. Even though they were keep prisoner against there will the United States did make a effort to keep them alive and keep them with there family. On the link it said that they were asked two questions to decide what camp they would be sent to, both questions had to do with there loyal to america. Most of them were never grated citizenship so they were forced to go turn on the only county they were a citizen of just to keep there family's protected. Although the 9066 code was stopped before the war was over, the Japanese had to suffer threw all this wandering and waiting for almost 5 years, most of them knowing if they will ever see there old home again. Wanting to know if they will ever see there husband, father, best friend again.
I found that many people in thee Japanese Internement Camps started to lose the idea of family. That was also said in Farewell to Manzanar. Many people were also very confused and did whatever they were told to do. Japanese-Americans also felt betrayed by their home country. But, they were again betrayed by their new home, America. They were taken from their homes, discriminated against, and treated so terribly for their ancestry some actually wanted to stay in the Internement Camps for fear of the Americans outside. A sad thing was was that “two-thirds were American citizens, over half were children or infants.” This showed that innocent people, half who haven’t even lived their lives yet, were being taken away for something that they didn’t have anything to do with. They were already being discriminated against, but after Pearl Harbor their lives had been changed from being bad to terrible. Americans were acting upon fear, and who else were they to blame except for the Japanese? They wanted to take action, so they attacked the closest thing they had to Japan- the Japanese-Americans.
Some things from the Internment Camp link that I found to be very interesting, was one; that most people didn't realize they were in a prison. They thought it was a "resettlement community." They were so unaware of the fact that, they could die. They didn't realize this because.. "The WRA went to great lengths to provide recreational activities, fully aware that the monotony of camp life could set off violence among the discontent." They were so blinded by all the seemingly nice things that these people did for them, that they saw past the fact they would be killed.
"These camps were located in isolated inland areas in vast, sandy deserts or swamp lands. Inmates, who had come from relatively mild climates of the West, experienced frequent dust storms, bitter cold winters, and sizzling summers for the first time." They did so much to hurt these people, its unreal. They had to face many hardships and they were truly strong. At somee of they temporary centers, living was truly horrible. "Many families lived in horse stalls under unsanitary conditions, often by open sewers. Others occupied hastily constructed barracks. Toilet and bathing facilities were communal and devoid of privacy." These living conditions were horrid, this was a truly sick time, and the fact that we would stoop so low to treat people like animals, is a true disaster in history.
I read about their living conditions on a link, and they weren't as bad as concentration camps in Nazi Germany, but they weren't comfortable. The Japanese had little barracks with just a few cots for beds and one stove to keep warm in the winter. "They also found themselves overcrowded in single rooms with no furniture except for cots and a pot-bellied stove." (From Camp Life on http://caamedia.org/jainternment/camps/camplife.html) Also, none of the Japanese were found guilty after the war, which made think. I know that it could have been hard to trust some Japanese maybe that had come to America just before Pearl Harbor, but kids and adults that have been living here all their lives and that were born here seem hard to blame. Having these families in camps also tore families apart, and made it harder for them to become a strong family again after the war.
On the internment link i learned that the interment camps where not ready for the Japanese at all. Because of Pearl Harbor the president got scared of Japaneses and what they might be doing for Japan. Even though a lot of the Japaneses people where born in America the U.S government took lots of percussions to keep the U.S to not be attacked again even if it meant to take away peoples freedoms. these people had to deal with a lot and they went anyway. A lot were not even true Japaneses. In the story we are reading the dad of the little girl burned his Japaneses flag. Most Japaneses descendent's were more loyal to America than they were Japan. these people lived through a lot and the freedom of being an American and to not be questioned should stay the right of freedom. this hopefully will never happen to any other group of people ever again.
This period in American History is very racist and prejudice. This shows over time in history someone is always targeted unfairly. Like African Americans, Jews, and Japanese-Americans. I think that it is so unfair the way they treat the Japanese people, just to have someone to blame. I can't believe the cruelty in these camps, and getting separated would just make matters worst. The 1940's were full of terrible events to the Japanese. "This was a beginning for a terrible, frantic time for all of my family." (page 9) This line shows just the beginning damages the families faced. I am agonized by the way Americans treated the Japanese Americans when they were not involved with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, I think that once your an American your an American so you should never be targeted if you live in America. Just because they were from a country that we don't like doesn't mean they associate with that country. To sum it up the unfair harsh treatment of the Japanese Americans was unneeded and cruel.
I had no idea what the Japanese-Americans went through. I mean here we are fighting a war against racism and genocide-and in our own backyard we have Japanese locked up in segregated camps. Something that surprised me was how many Japanese volunteered to fight in the war even though we locked them up in Internment camps. The website mentions that several thousand volunteers in listed to prove that they are loyal to America. Even the Japanese women helped in the WAC Women's Auxiliary Corps. I liked the quote on the side of the page that reads: "The love for one's country, its'a strange and mysterious thing...." I think this quote proves true for the Japanese Americans, they loved America so much they were willing to fight for her even though we tried to push them out.
On the website I read that there were so many children taken to the camps, I asked myself how could they have possibly been involved in the bombing of pearl harbor? I think this point in history is a shame to America. Our whole theme is "Freedom" even back then, but we decided it would be a good idea to send all the Japanese Americans to some camp where they are obviously not free. 1940's may have been a crazy decade, but just because we don't have a plan doesn't mean we should disrespect others. "To the FBI every radio owner was a potential saboteur." (Houstons 7)
America was in a panic, and these people were directly related to the cause, however they were not the cause which makes it wrong to send them to a place with no freedom. There had to have been a better solution.
Through the Internment Link, I was reminded of the treatment of Japanese in America during the period of WWII. As I read articles I began to learn how controversial this topic is and why. Despite having no evidence of Japanese Americans being a threat to our military, we interned them. According to the article, over half of those rounded-up were children. It seems that out of fear and shock of what had occurred at Pearl Harbor, ALL Japanese were stereotyped, grouped together, and interned. Although these people were denied of civil liberties, they had a relatively mild experience within the camps. There is clearly no excuse for taking away the rights of American citizens, but at the time it was the only option. It was our only way of ensuring safety for the rest of the country. Even though there is no justification for the unfair punishment of Japanese Americans during WWII, apologies have been made and the proper attention has been given to the issue through resources like the Internment Link.
In the book Farewell to Manzanar my reaction was I was shocked and confused how the Japanese were treated in such bad ways. It was cruel and not fair to treat Japanese Americans that way they didn't have anything to do with pearl harborer.Most got split up from their family's.Which was awful. the time period was in the 1940. It seamed then they didn't care so much about freedom but more with revenge. Like when her father just knew that they were going to take him away because of his work anything suspicious got sent away.
After looking over the internment link, and seeing for myself the images and stories of Japanese-American citizens, I have realized how unfair and horrible their lives were. We were so harsh to them, and I believe that even after we apologized to them, they deserved more. We had treated them like animals, we had them living in small houses unfit for all human life. I have learned from the internment website the personal stories of people forced to live in the camps, and I have been shocked by their stories. No one deserves to be separated from their family and live with seven other strangers in a shack, and that is just one of the sad experiences I read about. I think it is great to have websites that highlight the realities of war, and that show no one is perfect. Everyone can learn from their mistakes, and i think the Americans did.
It was sad to learn about what happened to the Japanese at this period of time. People knew that the Germans put Jews in camps but nobody really mentioned what happened to the Japanese and all they had to go threw too. The fact that Japanese were round up, taken from there homes and put into camps is depressing. They were mistreated and they were helpless people who didn't understand what was going on at the time. They had no idea where they were going or that their life was being cut out for them. They didn't know there was going to be a huge possibility of having to separate family. Its horrible that people who were not married yet had to get married as soon as possible so they could be more likely to stay together. The fact that they had to wear tags and were treated as if they were dogs with a dog collar on. Its depressing to read about such horrible things and such horrifying living conditions. They were placed in small places that were supposed to be there temporary homes but were really not homes at all. Just beds filled with straw and a little bit of living space in the cold with barley any blankets or warmth.
when i searched through the internment link, multiple things struck me was the fact that during World War II, America wanted to be nothing like Germany and When Executive Order 9066 came it seemed like America was following in the footsteps of Germany. In the Overview article it states “President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans.” This is showing that the Japanese rights were being stripped away like how the rights of the Jews were stripped away by the Germans. What also shocked was the way that the Japanese were treated. On the Interment link there are multiple pictures showing the signs put up to show that Japanese were not welcome in most places.
On December 7, the Japanese decided to bomb Pearl Harbor which is one of America’s largest army bases. Outraged the American government decided to allow the military to take control. In the text it say “Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor shocked Americans, including Japanese Americans.” This is shocking because Americans are stereotyping all the Japanese to be traitors taking their rights away. For example the text states “There was not one instance of sabotage or espionage by Japanese American citizens or residents of the U.S. before or during the war. ” This shows the stereotyping towards the Japanese-Americans.
A trend that shocked was the fact that American never wanted to result in Militarism and When President Truman released Executive Order 9066 and gave permission to our military to round up all the Japanese-Americans in the west and put them in Interment Camps. The Interment article reads “ Their travel, work hours, and social gatherings were severely restricted and their contraband articles confiscated.” The military has total control over their freedom and rights. This really shows History could really repeat itself.
I already knew some about the interment camps but after looking through the Internment website a lot of things shocked me. It seems so harsh to round up all the Japanese-Americans after one incident that they did not have anything to do with. I did not know just how bad the living conditions were for these people. Families were being torn apart since the children were encouraged to do activities away from their parents and where they were staying. It was shocking to me that soldiers would attack and even kill people that are citizens of their country just because they suspected that these people were betraying them. President Roosevelt signed the Executive Order on February 19, 1942 which created specific military zones and it allowed the Japanese to be relocated. Though the government said it was "based on military necessity" a big part of it was racism.
It was very upsetting for me to read about how poorly the Japanese Americans were treated because they didn't have anything to do with the bombing but they were being treated as if they were the ones who did it. What really shocked me was how even the children were being treated because they knew little about what was happening so how could they be connected to all of this in the first place?
In 1945 and the surrounding years of 1945 i noticed that there was really no respect for anyone who wasn't completely white in the united states because we thought we were better than everyone else.
Something that struck me regarding this time period in history was how powerful the United States was to be able to just decide to destroy entire cities in Japan and then do it so simply. The United States did this to “get back” at japan for all they had done, including the bombing of Pearl Harbor. While the war was going on, President Roosevelt made the executive order 9066, which put all Japanese- Americans, living on the west coast of the united States, put into internment camps. These internment camps were for the safety of the United States and most people say is was not right for the United States to put innocent American citizen into camps where they were pretty much prisoners of war. It shocked me how the United States could force innocent citizens to go to camps where they couldn't be a threat.These camps were viewed by some people as a form of concentration camps, used by the Nazis to hold and torture Jews. Another thing that shocked me was that a large portion of these internment camps was filled with women and young children. Even though the people in these camps were not harmed, they still lost everything they had; their houses, their businesses, and most importantly their freedom. The internment camps set up the the United States to hold Japanese- Americans was not the right action to make by the United States.
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