Japanese Interment Memorial Essay

The US government ordered the Japanese interment shortly after the Japan attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1942. All Japanese who lived on the West Coast were forced to go to camps including the 62 percent that were American citizens. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the interment with Executive Order 9066, which was issued February 19, 1942. The order allowed the military commanders to designate “military areas” and “restricted zones” which anyone could be excluded from. Over 120,000 people were forced into the camps.

Ruth Asawa, a Japanese American sculptor, was relocated into the camps as a child. One of her well-known sculptures is the bronze San Jose American Internment Memorial located on 280 S. First St., San Jose, Calif.

The sculpture was presented to the public in 1994 and featured important events, one in which was the signing of the congressional legislation. The sculpture itself looks really cool. I love the way she made the events into a collage to give a since of what it was like. There are snapshots of history throughout each vignette.

One side of the sculpture pictorially illustrates the background of the Japanese American life and what it was like for them. It shows them working on the fields, children in classrooms, driving tractors and many other activities. One section that stuck out to me the most is watching a guy holding a large box as he walks away from the field. This reminded me of my own history and the effects field work had on my own culture. He seems like a very hard working person and the people around him are so concentrated on their work that they don’t even look up as he passes.

The second side of the sculpture shows the Japanese Americans being relocated forcefully. There are pictures of the people being forced on trains with family members. The looks on their faces are pure heartbreak and disbelief. Within the camps, people often died from lack of healthcare and mal nutrition. Within this collage, I could see the guards pushing people around, forcing them to follow orders and treating them like live stock. The part that stuck out to me the most is how the guards are treating the people. They have weapons pointed at them with really mean faces. People should never be treated like this and it’s sad that history shows Americans have done this on many occasions.

Unfortunately, I do believe this could happen again in America. I’d like to think we are growing as a nation and becoming more diverse, but with all of the discrimination and racism still present, it could very well happen again. An example of this is the way we treated people who wore turbans after the 911 attacks. It may not have been to this extent but it just shows the deep-rooted mentality is still the same. I believe the future will be a bit brighter for us all. 50 percent of Americans will be of mixed races by 2050. Before we know it, we will all be a melting pot of nationalities and racism will slowly die.

Word Count: 520