Telling A Difficult Past Summary

The core of the Japanese experience in Canada lies in the shameful and almost undemocratic suspension of human rights that the Canadian government committed during World War II. As a result, thousands of Japanese were uprooted to be imprisoned in internment camps miles away from their homes. While only a small percentage of the Japanese living in Canada were actually nationals of Japan, those who were Canadian born were, without any concrete evidence, continuously being associated with a country that was nothing but foreign to them. Branded as “enemy aliens”, the Japanese Canadians soon came to the realization that their beloved nation harboured so much hate and anti-Asian sentiments that Canada was becoming just as foreign to them as

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.

Located on the third floor of the National Museum of American History, "A More Perfect Union" documents the forced relocation of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War II. The exhibit focuses on the violation of constitutional rights that occurred during this process. The purposes of this review are as follows:

Economically, those who failed to prove they are Canadian lose their jobs because it is a security risk according to the War Measures Act. Moreover, they did not just lose their jobs, but also their homes and self-ran businesses. All of their homes and businesses are destroyed before they are sent to the internment camps. The government of Canada took all of the belongings of the Japanese and Italians whilst sending them to camps. In 1946, the government of Canada institutes the Japanese Property Claims Commission. This commission allows the Japanese to speak out their thoughts of being treated unfairly. Nor was it until 1988 when the government gave $20k as an apology to each living survivor. As a result, after all the hard effort the Japanese and Italians put into own homes and shops, the privilege of living and working where they want is taken away due to being forced to live in internment

Throughout history of not only the United States but also the world, racism has played a huge role in the treatment of other humans. A dark mark in United States history, the Japanese Relocation during WWII is a prime example of this racism coming into play. Whether or not this event was necessary or even justified, however, is a constant question for historians even nowadays. The Japanese relocation of the 1920’s unnecessary and unjustified because it’s main causes: selfish economic plots by farmers, unrealistic military measures, and blatant racism.

The Japanese Americans sustained many injustices during the pre-World War Two era, including exclusion from traditional establishments and occupations. It was noted, “the [economic] argument and the discriminatory measures are plain contradictions” (Goto 105-106). Although the stated goal of Californians was to have a unified population, their actions belied their true motives. The colossal nature of the assimilatory feats performed by Japanese dictated that “even Californian agitators themselves, in their moments of private reflection, admit the wonderful power of adaptability of Japanese,” but, “in public they do everything to prevent the process of assimilation from running its natural course” (Goto 106). Often, the bigoted owners of white establishments barred people of Japanese

December 7th, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army successfully pulled of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. After this attack the government of Canada used the war measures act to remove all Japanese Canadian citizens that live 160km from the Pacific Coast and put them in internment camps until 1949, four years after WW2. Fast Forward to 1988 and the Canadian government gives an apology to the Japanese, however the apology was for more than just Japanese Internment it was for the pain and suffering, discrimination, and for leaving Japanese citizens with nothing.

Secondly, he after effects from the Japanese internment camps changed the views of the Japanese Canadians in regards to minority rights in Canada. This is because they realized that they couldn't just let the discrimination of the Japanese Canadians go and they demanded justice. After the Japanese Canadians were released from internment camps they were lost. Their house and possessions were sold off by the Canadian government without their permission, they had virtually nothing. On top of that the Japanese Canadians were given the choice to either relocate East of the Rockies or deport back to Japan. Soon after the Japanese Canadians had no choice and were forced exiles to Japan began. However things started to turn up in 1947 when the federal cabinets canceled the deportation policy, but the Japanese Canadians still wanted justice. The Japanese Canadians believed that it wasn't fair that they were treated so badly because they were from Japan origin. Even though they were a minority group they were still Canadian citizens and should be treated like Canadians. The Japanese Canadians were determine for

During the Internment of Japanese Canadians, people were treated differently in society due to their ethnic background. Firstly, it is shown/demonstarted by the actions of Prime Minister William Lyon along with, Mackenzie King who had ordered to detain/take away people's young and innocent lives from their homes and take them to Hastings Park. Leaving, the Japanese Canadians clueless , with no explanation to what is being happened. As a result of that , the governments used the “War Measure Act” to be allowed to remove them from their “own property,farms, business” (Marsh, 2012)and also forced “more than 8,000” (Marsh, 2012) Japanese Canadians through Hastings Park “where women and children were housed in the Livestock Buildings”. On the

During the beginning of WWII, there were a lot of Japanese Canadians living in Canada, all of which were either second-generation Canadians, Japanese people who had taken Canadian citizenship or those who were still Japanese nationals. These Japanese Canadians mainly inhabited British Columbia and smaller villages in the coastal regions of the west coast. Prior to their internment, Japanese Canadians suffered great prejudice, discrimination and racism. White people were fearful that they would lose their dominance due to competition in industries such as fishing, farming, markets and even in education. The Canadian Government created laws stating that Japanese Canadians were not allowed to vote, they also had fishing and farming permits denied, which were supposed to motivate them to move back to Japan. On top of that, White people also feared that Japan would attempt to expand into Canada and take it’s natural resources due to Japan’s expansionist policies that existed at the time. On December 7th, 1941, Japanese Air Forces attacked the US forces at Pearl Harbor, pulling the US into the second world war. On the same day, 50,000 Japanese troops attacked Hong Kong, which was a British Colony at the time. After events the events at Pearl Harbour, anyone living in Canada of Japanese immigration or descent would be considered an “enemy alien”. Around this time, Japan also launched attacks on the Philippines and Malaya, the victories in these

These boats were immediately flipped by the RCN to non-Japanese fishermen and put back into operation.13 Additionally, along this new costal defense region, ethnic Japanese were prohibited to own or use any camera, firearm, radio receiving set, radio transmitter, explosive, ammunition or motor vehicle. This was just the initial step in the systematic deportation of the Japanese as on when on February 24th, 1942 all Japanese Canadian’s were forced to abandon their farms, homes, and businesses.14 These evacuees were given merely two to three hours to close their homes and determine what to do with their possessions; each evacuee could only bring possessions that they could carry, 150 pounds per adult and 75 pounds per child.15 These strict restrictions forced the Japanese to leave important and valuable belongings behind often selling items for humiliatingly low prices; in addition, anything of value that was left behind was stolen or taken by the rest of the community who were ransacking the abandoned homes.16 The British Columbia Security

After pearl harbour, Canadians started discriminating against the Japanese. The government took action in British Columbia using internment camps. Outside of British Columbia, there were problems with racist people. The government didn’t allow the Japanese to go back home, after leaving internment camps. The treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII was unjustified, and unfair because of internment, the racism, and their deportation.

That way you offend less" (P.187). This shows that the war has denigrated Japanese Canadians as a something even less then even second-class citizens.

In his work “Right to Kill, Right to Make Live” Takashi Fujitani compares and contrasts the Japanese treatment of colonialized Koreans leading up to World War II with the American treatment of the Japanese residents following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This work highlights how both the Japanese and the Americans treated the Koreans and Japanese Americans, respectively, and offers several different viewpoints. Thus, this work is exceptionally important and provides incredible insight into both cultures and the harsh reality of wartime. Additionally, Fujitani also explains how the Korean and Japanese populations are still influenced today.