Entry #6

Ota brought up an interesting point when he said about school in the internment camps, “One of our basic subjects was American history. They talked about freedom all the time” (207). In many instances in American history laws and actions contradict America’s core values. Japanese Americans were imprisoned and unfairly compensated during WWII, black people were enslaved and later didn’t receive equal treatment in society, and people’s anti-war feelings during WWI were silenced. Ota noticed the irony of the situation: a country based on freedom for everyone was unfairly, and without cause, quarantining people of a certain nationality. I understand that many Americans felt the anti-Japanese sentiment because Japan was the country’s brutal enemy in the war, but I can’t grasp how the leaders of the time justified the relocation of American citizens. It’s interesting that the Japanese Americans didn’t resist the relocation or rebel because their Japanese culture encouraged them to be mild-mannered, while the Japanese war tactics were so brutal and unforgiving.
Hutchinson witnessed two Japanese girls leave for internment camps and thought it was confusing, but said, “It must have been okay if President Roosevelt said it was okay” (211). This makes it seem like the government was taking advantage of Americans’ trust because ordinary citizens were too focused on their friends and family fighting in the war to examine the measures taken on the homefront. Some American citizens weren’t even focused on the war going on. Hutchinson said, “It’s like the war hadn’t come to Pasadena until we came there” (216). This reminds me of the war now because many people have family in the war in the Middle East, but so many places in the US aren’t affected by the war on a day-to-day basis. A major war like WWII can occur without disrupting the life of some Americans, so it’s no surprise that Americans didn’t rebel against the internment camps; they simply weren’t affected by any of it.