Wednesday, February 27, 2013
"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 27th, 2013
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The Interment Link Database have some ideas or trends that profoundly stuck in my head are that over two thirds of the Japanese population were infants. Another fact that really made me think was that America had been apologizing for the longest time and we paid Japanese survivors for what they had lost when they were uprooted from their homes. It really is hard to believe that Americans like me can just be told that they better leave their homes or else. It's hard to grasp that some people in America would be unfaithful to this country. Why would we allow someone into our country if they were only going to spy on us and tell their country our plans? It's almost unfair because so many Japanese Americans were not spies, they were just living in America because they wanted a new life here in America.
Some ideas or trends that profoundly struck me are the fact that over half of these people that were killed were children or infants. Also how this started. They only used the Japanese for cheap labor, then planned to get rid of them. The Japanese were denied the rights to become citizens, to own land, and to marry outside of their race. In addition, they could not buy homes in certain areas and were barred from jobs in certain industries.
Some ideas that struck me that are regarding this period in American History were that 2/3 were American citizens. This struck me because they were legal citizens in America, and were most likely loyal citizens to our country. This shocked me because they had the right to live freely in America, and yet they were put into internment camps. Another thing that struck me was that 46 years later the government finally apologized for putting these people in camps. I think that they should have apologized earlier, if not apologized to the people once they got out of the camps. "With the signing of Executive Order 9066, over 110,000 Japanese Americans were forced into exile in their own country, deprived of basic civil liberties." This quote shows that American civilians were placed into camps in their own country. This was wrong and I believe that executive order 9066 altogether was a stupid idea. After all, many Nazis were German, so if we put Japanese in camps, why didn't we put Germans in camps. It was altogether a bad decision.
The internment link shows the relationship between Americans and Japanese Americans. There were many unjust things that took place between the two groups that is known as just being such a common doing back in that time period. America apologized for what said to be "grave injustice" and paid Japanese Americans with reparations. The relationship between Japanese Americans and Americans started strictly based on the surprise attack Japanese did on the American Pearl Harbor. This was the root of many problems that Japanese and Americans faced in the years after. Their relationship began to get more civil but between wars, internment camps, and many deaths, Americans and Japanese were both unjust to one another and treated one another very poorly.
My initial reaction to the resource was that America might have reacted to strongly. Although the Japanese did attack Pearl Harbor it doesn't mean that all Japanese had the same goal. As the source said two thirds of the people put into camps were American citizens and over half were children. Why would we imprison children who probably didn't even know what was happening at the time? I believe that the US government reacted to violently.
Something that really got to me when I was reading the link was the way the world used to be like so much fighting and no one really getting along or even trusting each other in that fact. All people could turn to was the people that lived in their country. No peace was ever really found, no one was treated very fairly compared to others, not only was it just the people that could fight in war but it was children and people who weren't even involved in what was going on. It didn't seem to matter if you were part of the fighting if you lived in the country that was being attacked it included you. I personally think this is very sad that back then there could no be trust put to other countries and they just fought each other to get the justice they wanted.
In this period of American History what struck me the most was that we were putting innocent people in camps just like the Nazis were doing because we were afraid of some people giving the Japanese some information on were the naval bases were. Something that was also very strange is that after we put them in camps we were very rude to them and discriminated against them.
In the internment resource reaction gives you more detail about Japanese(including Japanese-American) concentration camps, you can even hear what they went through. "Courage is something strong within you that brings out the best in a person. Perhaps no one else may know or see, but it’s those hidden things unknown to others, that reveals a person to God and self." This is what Yuri Nakahara Kochiyama wrote in his diary in 1942. Also, this website fills in the knowledge about these horrible concentration camps, families were packed into very small houses. Except, surprisingly, these houses were bigger than the average Japanese house.
One thing that really struck me was the fact that over 110,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated and of that number, two-thirds were American citizens and over half were children or infants. It really struck me that even if they were American citizens and were completely innocent, they were still forced into internment camps. Another thing that struck me was that in the internment camps, they were treated as if they were prisoners when their only "crime" was being Japanese. "Barbed wire fences and armed guard towers with guns facing toward the inmates surrounded these compounds." The internment camps were just like concentration camps in Nazi Germany.
I was shocked when I found out that two thirds of the people where american citizens and over half were children and infants. I was also shocked to see that many families lived in horse stalls in not very good conditions. Another thing I was shocked about was that October 1942 the army transferred inmates to permanent war relocation authority's.
Regarding the Internment Link Resource Database, some ideas or trends that profoundly struck me were that "Despite the government's own evidence that Japanese Americans posed no military threat, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, authorizing the removal and incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans.". This struck me because it shows how the Japanese Americans were held as slaves in their own country. Not only did it affect the people it also affected the economy. The economic loss impacted the government, and shows how really it just hurt everyone in the long run and didn't help settle or protect anything.
Somethings that stuck in my mind is that we locked up Americans because of their race and used them for work that other people don't want to do. They lost their citizen ship and everything they own.
Some ideas or trends that struck me in this period of American History is how the Japanese-Americans had to transfer/move to many different places because they were criticized and ignored by people who were anti-orientalism and eventually, government orders. "In Boyle Heights, the teacher felt cold and distant. I was confused by all the moving and was having trouble with the classwork, but she would never help me out. She would have nothing to do with me." I can't believe the teachers refused to help any Japanese-Americans students. Another quote that stood out about anti-orientalism is "This was the first time I felt outright hostility from a Caucasian. Looking back, it is easy enough to explain. Public attitudes toward the Japanese in California were shifting rapidly." Japanese quickly felt rationalized and began moving to internment camps.
During this period in American History, the Japanese and Japanese Americans living in the US persevered through the hardships we put them through. Moving from place to place while never knowing what your future would hold was a fearful time for everyone involved, but the Japanese kept their heads up and handled it as well as they could. They were dignified and fought for their families and their lives, and just wanted to go back to their lives before Pearl Harbor. BY living on with the hope of it all ending and the determination to continue and push through, the Japanese Americans endured the long periods of time where they were forced into things they shouldn't have been, and proved to be true Americans.
It is sad that the American government imprisoned my innocent Japanese Americans. The government was worried that there might be traitors in America that are helping the Japanese. This is why they put Japanese into internment camps, but the FBI found no proof that American citizens were helping the Japanese in any way. Even though they had no evidence they took the Japanese Americans and put them into camps. The article states, “Within hours of the news from Hawaii, FBI agents, many without evidence, search or arrest warrants, conducted house to house roundups of 1,212 Issei.” This was not fair to them and this is one of the most racist things that has happened in America
Some things that struck me in the book "Manzanar" is that the children showed great respect to their elders and parents. They looked up to them greatly. As you can see, the main character in the book expresses a strong praise to her father because in her life he is something she looks up to. She is very respectful towards her parents and listens to everything they say to her and she obeys their every command without a strong fight.
This leads into the fact that in the book the Japaneses were still high spirited even when in the camps.They showed a very strong power inside them to say they can go through anything.
Some ideas or trends that relatively struck in the book "Farewell to Manzanar" were that as a Country, America wasn't going to have to work very hard to fight against the Japanese. The Japanese were very smart to bomb Pearl Harbor all of our ships were there. They knew that would weaken us greatly. We were going to have to be smarter. I personally believe that the US government overreacted, putting people in camps because they thought they knew about the bombing was wrong. They had no right to do so. We shouldn't have done this.
In reading the Internment Link and reading Farewell to Manzanar, one occurring theme I found was the Japanese disregard to these camps and to Executive Order 9066. "9066 authorized the mass incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Two-thirds were American citizens. Over half were children or infants. Their "crime": their Japanese ancestry." In Farewell to Manzanar, it was stated that they were only given “ a few army cots and, 2 blankets and a mattress stuffed with hay.” While they put up with the conditions, Japanese had an obvious disregard for the camps.
The Internment Link Database just reinforced the topic of injustice that we studied in our history classes. One thing that stuck in my mind was that people didn't fight back much, if something like that happened today people who were Japanese and people who weren't Japanese would probably think it was ridiculous too and not go so willingly.
On the Japanese American Internment link a few major points stuck out in my head. Firstly, order 9066 made it ok to capture 110,000 Japanese Americans. Furthermore, two thirds of the 110,000 Japanese Americans were true American citizens. Even more shockingly, over half of the 110,000 people were children or infants. Another point that stuck out to me was that the only real “crime” they committed was being of Japanese descent. The worst part of all of this is that it took The United States government 47 years to apologize and pay reparations.
The Internment Link Resource Database astounded me by how Japanese people were put away in camps even if they had no connection to the Emperor of Japan. The government snached these people out of America where they were suppressed of their rights and taken to a prison with no evidence against them. They did all this because the word “fear” was in the air, people thought someone of the Japanese race would be a spy in America for them. So they decided that the only way they could be certain to get rid of this threat was to overtake them all. All of this is understandable but cruel. What if we decided to become a citizen in Japan because we liked their system of government, but later we were forced out and put into jail for something America did to Japan? We would think, “Hey, this isn’t fair. I didn’t do it. I am not part of that country anymore.” So why should people pay for the mistake someone of their race or kind did to another, when they didn’t do a thing. Then there is the fact that they separated the families by taking them to different camps, while more than half of the people they were separating were little kids. If I had to be separated from my family at a still young age, I would wallow in misery and plead for my family back. Because when you're a little child all that you truly have and love with all your heart is family. They are the ones who take care of you and lead you to become the real you. Therefore this was a horrible situation that shouldn’t have happened because no one should be blamed for someone else’s actions. We are our own, we account for ourselves and by being yourself, will be judged by only God all mighty and no one else.
Some ideas that struck in my head were that half of the people killed were children and infants. I think it is really disturbing and evil. Something else that was surprising to me was that even though the Japanese Americans were born in America, and most likely loyal citizens to the US, they were denied so many rights that other people had. It was unfair and poor decision making on the government. I think the US reacted too impulsively.
After reading the Internment Link Resource Database some ideas or trends that struck me was how many children were killed during this time in american history. 110,000 Japaneses Americans incarcerated and over half were children or infants. Just the fact that it was so rude and evil to kill all these people. Even though they were born in america and were a u.s. citizen and they were having to go through this was not right at all.
After reading the Internment Link Resource Database some ideas that struck me was the number of innocent people killed and mistreated. They were taken from their homes and shelter with nothing left to call theirs and no place to go back to. 110,000 Japanese Americans were killed as well. I cant imagine people actually doing something that horrible to other human beings. The tag that they had in a picture we saw also stuck out to me because it showed how much they were treated like animals and dehumanized.
After reading the Internment Link Resource Database some ideas that struck me was the number of innocent people killed and mistreated. They were taken from their homes and shelter with nothing left to call theirs and no place to go back to. 110,000 Japanese Americans were killed as well. I cant imagine people actually doing something that horrible to other human beings. The tag that they had in a picture we saw also stuck out to me because it showed how much they were treated like animals and dehumanized.
After reading the Internment Link Resource Database some ideas that struck me was the number of innocent people killed and mistreated. They were taken from their homes and shelter with nothing left to call theirs and no place to go back to. 110,000 Japanese Americans were killed as well. I cant imagine people actually doing something that horrible to other human beings. The tag that they had in a picture we saw also stuck out to me because it showed how much they were treated like animals and dehumanized.
After reading the Internment Link Resource Database many of the ideas stuck out to me. The main thing that stayed in my head, was the amount of kids killed during WWI. 110,000 Jap Americans died. The United States were very racist toward all Japanese Americans and had no mercy on them eventhough they were young and helpless.
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