Week 10: Race

          I had learned in school about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, but reading the stories of those who experienced provided a much more personal look into the situation. The US government has since publicly denounced the internment of Japanese and Japanese Americans. The interment occurred following the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese military and lasted four years. In 1983, the U.S. congressional commission investigated and found no military reason for the discrimination and forcible removal of the Japanese Americans that had occurred. They also found that the reason for the unnecessary action was fear and war hysteria in addition to a failure in leadership. Hearing the interviews and reading the stories of those interned was very eye opening. I remember reading that the incarceration camps were run using the labor of those interned. The people interned here lost years of their lives they could have spent earning a substantial salary, getting a higher education, traveling, and doing other things to improve their lives. Instead, they were trapped in a camp without knowing when or if they would be allowed to leave. These experiences and stories should serve as a reminder to all Americans of how easy it is for misunderstanding and fear to be used as an excuse to take away people’s individual liberties.