My Grandfather, Albert S. Thanhauser

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

War can be loud and visible or quiet and remote. It affects the individual and entire societies, the soldier, and the civilian. Both U.S. prisoners of war in Japan and Japanese-American citizens in the United States during WWII undergo efforts to make them “invisible.” Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken hero, Louie Zamperini, like so many other POWs, is imprisoned, beaten, and denied basic human rights in POW camps throughout Japan. Miné Okubo, a U.S. citizen by birth, is removed from society and interned in a “protective custody” camp for Japanese-American citizens. She is one of the many Japanese-Americans who were interned for the duration of the war. Louie Zamperini, as a POW in Japan, and Miné Okubo, as a Japanese-American Internee both experience efforts to make them “invisible” through dehumanization and isolation in the camps of WWII, and both resist these efforts.

Baker’s memoir portrays the value of memory in humanising the objectiveness of historical truth and its role in developing an individual’s ability to understand how past events shape their cultural identity. Throughout The Fiftieth Gate, Baker’s position as a historian colours his perspective in understanding the past events of the Holocaust; in his use of polyphonous voices, the multiple voices are able to provide insight into different perspectives and their memories. He finds that his parents’ memories are valuable in deepening his understanding of the past and his Jewish culture, as

In the United States World War II has been one of the most remembered wars of all time. Acclaimed historian Ronald Takaki asserts that for many Americans, World War II was fought for a “double victory”: on the battlefront as well as on the home front. Takaki’s book Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II reminds the audience that there was much, much more happening at home and on the frontlines during World War II than in the battlefield. Takaki presents a strong central argument; it illuminates the incongruity of America's own oppressive behavior toward minorities at home, even while proclaiming the role in World War II as a fight against oppression abroad. It also pays tribute to the determination and perseverance of ethnically diverse Americans in their two-front war against prejudice and fascism. In addition Takaki tells the story through the lives of ethnically diverse Americans: Japanese Americans who felt betrayed by their own country when families were sent to internment camps; For African Americans, the war for freedom had to be fought in their country’s own backyard; a Navajo code talker who uses his complex native language to transmit secret battle messages and confound the Japanese, while his people are living in desperate poverty on a government reservation. Their dual struggle to defeat the enemy abroad and overcome racism at home gives the Double Victory its title and its texture.

officials eventually began to recruit these internees into the American army. Not only was WWII a war about political alliances and geographical sovereignty, but it was also a war about race and racial superiority throughout the world. Propagating this idea, Dower (1986) argues, “World War Two contributed immeasurably not only to a sharpened awareness of racism within the United States, but also to more radical demands and militant tactics on the part of the victims of discrimination” (War Without Mercy: p.5). In elucidating the racial motivations and fallout from WWII, Dower helps one realize the critical role that race and racial politics played during the war and are still at play in our contemporary world. An analysis of this internment process reveals how the ultimate goal of the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans and the United States’ subsequent occupation of Japan was to essentially “brainwash” the Japanese race into demonstrating allegiance to America.

Throughout American history many minority groups have experienced discrimination. One of these groups was the Japanese-Americans, especially during World War II. In this essay, I will be focusing on a segregated Japanese-American combat unit known as the 442nd Infantry to highlight the discrimination suffered by Japanese-American soldiers.

In ''Response to Executive Order 9066'' by Dwight Okita tells the story of a little girl during the war and how she was treated because of her heritage and race. Being accused of being an informant for the enemy because of her families ancestry. In this short story it really shows how your families ancestry does not determine your American identity because their heritage can not prove they work for the American

The author at 16 years old was evacuated with her family to an internment camp for Japanese Americans, along with 110,000 other people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast. during the time in the camps he struggled for survival and dignity, and endured psychological scarring that has lasted a lifetime.

There is a man named Chiune Sugihara who help over thousands of Jews in the Holocaust, for most people that don’t know what the Holocaust is. It was a horrible time period in World War II when a man named Hitler didn’t like the way Jews were, so he put them in places called ghettos and then he started these camps to kill all of the Jews he can before he got caught doing this.But there were people around the world risking their life helping these Jews so they wouldn’t have to go through what Germans were doing to them. That’s were Mr.Sugihara a Japanese government official who tooked days doing what him and his wife did to save thousands of Jews. He saved over 7,000 Jews, by having him and his wife writing visas for hours and even days, because

In contemporary society, our knowledge of the past is articulated through the interplay between history and memory, which work to expose the elusive truths of the past, and exemplify the strength of humanity. Richard White, a historian, posits; “History is the enemy of memory...History forges weapons from what memory has forgotten or suppressed.” This definition postulates that there is an inevitable dichotomy between the accretion of factual evidence and the subjectivity of personal experience by shaping the collective past of humanity. However, as indicated by Mark Baker’s memoir, The Fiftieth Gate and Cathy Wilcox’s Cartoon, both of which explore perceptions of the Holocaust through an array of unique and evocative literary

During the World War II, both the Japanese-Americans and American POWs must suffer the challenge of being “invisible”. Facing this challenge, both Japanese-American POWs and Americans are struggling to resist being “invisible”. As a result, there are many efforts being made to make both the Japanese-Americans and American POWs invisible. Instead of giving up, the Japanese-Americans and American POWs are fighting back.

Japanese American internment was ordered in the name of safety, but in reality, as Muller writes, it was a "system of legalized racial oppression." In their quest to determine which interred Japanese Americans should remain in detention, American officials centered on the question of their loyalty, or lack thereof. Muller highlights the myriad

There are two horrible times in history. The two horrible times in history are the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the Holocaust. These events in the past have affected a lot of people of the race Japanese Americans and Jews. The conditions at the camps forced the Japanese Americans and the Jews’ to take care of themselves. While living in their new “homes”, they had to learn how to survive through these hard times.

Of the six profiled people in Hiroshima, Rev. Tanimoto was without a doubt the hardest to grasp and the most complex. His unrelentless hard work seems to have common -ground with traditional Japanese ideals, yet he ironically has the strongest American ties, and he is aware that those ties are continuously the cause for much suspicion. In the latter part of the book, Rev. Tanimoto is under more suspicion than foreigners. He constantly feels a drive to prove his loyalty. He, sadly, never receives the respect from his countrymen that he so badly craves.

My research garment will be taken from a picture of my Grandmother, Jean Griffin. My grandmother (J.B.Griffin, personal communication, October, 15, 2015) described all the details about this photograph. She said she is pictured at 23 years old walking her 10-month old daughter, Mary Joyce. Jean is my maternal grandmother, and has three boys and four girls. Jean dressed up everywhere she went. Whether she was going to the store or church, she always had makeup, heels, and a nice outfit. My mother (J.G Jackson, personal communication, October 17, 2015) states this picture represents Jean’s daily life. She didn’t have a driver’s license, so she walked everywhere. This picture was taken in San Diego, California, in April, of 1959. My grandparents and their children moved to San Diego so my Grandfather John could do his internship and residency at the Naval Hospital. If observing the photograph carefully enough Jean has s a small baby bump. Jean was 5 months pregnant with her second child James. She is wearing a Maternity jacket and a skirt. The jacket has a bow neck collar with a large bow. The sleeves have ruching with buttons at the hem of the sleeve. The jacket is straight with no defined waist. The structure of the jacket was made for a pregnant woman so it would allow someone to continue to wear it throughout her pregnancy. The skirt hits mid calf and is also a loose straight skirt. Both garments in the ensemble are not form fitting. The ensemble at first looks as if it