Post on 17-Sep-2020
transcript
S. Matthew JonesThe Immigration Experience INTL 2040April 7, 2016Signature Assignment #1 Topaz
Introduction
I strongly stand by my position that it is wrong to imprison or segregate people based on
their outward appearance. Why is there this reaction to label people who were born here and are
Americans, so that suddenly they can become not Americans? The Japanese were discriminated
against during WWII, but the war was not just against Japan. Why were other nationalities not
discriminated against? And here is a rhetorical question, “Why is Utah always in this picture?”
"Block 7" Topaz, by Setsu Nagata Kaneharahttp://www.topazmuseum.org/art
I have an unanswered question; how did the Church of Latter-Day Saints condone these
acts? How do they act now? Have they apologized? I can’t find where this Utah church has
addressed this. If the infraction is not addressed, the anger can be passed down through the
generations. If we just assume we have apologized and made restitution, then it goes
unredeemed.
I can argue that perhaps knowledge of our past transgressions as a people have helped us
make better decisions now. The LDS church is currently urging its members to welcome the
immigrants now amongst us.
However, the fact remains that we as a nation supported the internment of 110,000 to
120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Sixty-two percent were United States
citizens. The reason for the order is that Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
We have to acknowledge the unintended consequences of this response. This was made very clear
to me in the documentary Topaz, where a woman from the camp, Michi Kobi, in her interview
says, “Okay, I don’t exist anymore.”
The Japanese in the Internment camps reacted as humans always do, some wanted to
serve, some wanted to stay with their families, and some were ostracized because they served or
because they refused to serve (Densho Encyclopedia).
http://www.topazmuseum.org/sites/topazmuseum.org/files/Topaz-47.jpg
When the imprisoned Japanese were finally let out, they discovered they were victims of
vandalism of their personal property, loss of their land due to landownership being illegal.
Imagine finding if there was anything left, it would be your photos, because they are worthless to
others, you find them damaged and strewn on the floor. Family photos are precious because they
are our history and our memories.
And these discriminations continued for generations afterward. The famous local
mechanic Bob Kasabushi says there were always lice checks in school and since the Japanese
kids had dark hair, the salt crystals would stand out and they always were accused of being lice-
ridden and dirty. This was maybe 20 years after WWII but that perception still existed.
The children had to grow up in those dehumanizing conditions and their children also faced this.
A teacher in the camps got better food than the children but she still had a vitamin deficiency and
was concerned about their nutrition. How cruel.
From the other perspective, I can understand the paranoia and fear of wanting to keep
oneself safe, thinking everyone is a terrorist or a threat, because sometimes they are. Imperial
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in World War II. So this fear is valid. Also, the camps were set up to
protect the Japanese from every ‘other American’.
It is the government’s job to keep all the citizens safe; I believe and hope that is the true
intent. And of course, the government must enact laws such as the National Origins Act of 1924,
which banned immigration for all Asians, pretty much. This is because the fear was that a
specific ethnic working group would disrupt the economics of the day. Of course, this type of
government response just made the situation worse, dividing opinions, leading human
trafficking, loss of expected tax revenues, etc. It is better not to impose reactionary laws. It is
better to think things through.
Could the same thing happen today? Are we still afraid of Others - the fear of people we
arbitrarily label as different from us? It helps so much when the privileged segment of the
population can easily identify through the physical attributes just who to blame. I imagine an old
white man, pointing a boney finger at the immigrants who are to blame for the – bombings, the
job shortages, the terrorism, the unfamiliar religion…
“Donald Trump called Monday for a ban on
Muslims entering the United States. Trump
defended his position on Tuesday, saying the
United States is at war with radical Islam and
citing World War II internment camps as a
precedent, the New York Times reported. He
acknowledged that the analogy is imperfect,
because he would not call for internment
camps such as those created for U.S. citizens
of Japanese, German and Italian descent by executive order of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
in 1942. The United States formally apologized in 1988 and paid $20,000 to surviving victims of the
internment camps.” Deseret News
Segregating one part of the melting pot – taking
one ingredient out does not strengthen the
stew….
I would hope that in these modern times, we
would be aware of the consequences, the
aftermaths, where we will be required to
apologize – if you are naughty, you must say you
are
sorry….
Works Cited
Children of the Camps in class
Densho Encyclopedia, 2016 Webhttp://encyclopedia.densho.org/Japanese_American_Citizens_League/
Help the Refugees Among Us. https://www.lds.org/church/news/viewpoint-help-the-refugees-among-us?lang=eng Church News, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Japanese American Citizens League. http://www.topazmuseum.org/art
LDS Church releases statement on religious freedom as Donald Trump’s Muslim controversy http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865643265/LDS-Church-releases-statement-on-religious-freedom-as-Donald-Trumps-Muslim-controversy
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 4/4/2016
Springville Museum. http://smofa.org/exhibitions/highlights.html?exhibition_id=66&name=The%20Art%20of%20Topaz:%20Beauty%20Inside%20Barbed%20Wire, 2016, WebAll of the art in this research paper was exhibited at Utah’s Springville Museum’s Beauty in Barbed Wire show. I was struck by how the works were made on paper or flimsy backings – whatever they had to draw on. But the artwork was so important to them, that they struggled to express themselves.
Topaz. Copyright 1987 KUED, SLC Utah