Guide for the internment of japanese americans Essay Example for Free

Guide for the internment of japanese americans Essay Read and be prepared to provide a brief summary of one of the personal stories (chapters) from Last Witnesses: Reflections on the Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans, Erica Harth ed. (Chapters will be handed out at the March book group session.) Reading questions: 1. Carefully read the ‘Note for Students’ at the start of the book, paying particular attention to what Edward Countryman says about written history. He says â€Å"But good historians always approach the past on its own terms, taking careful stock of the period’s cultural norms and people’s assumptions or expectations, no matter how different from contemporary attitudes. † What point is he making here and do you agree with him? 2. The various essays in the book are taken from historical scholarship produced over time and with very different access to government documents and personal records and remembrances of the events surrounding Roosevelt’s signing the Executive Order. What does this scholarship tell us about writing with proximity to an event? How can this help us, as teachers, explain to our students what the historian does? 3. Roger Daniels in ‘The Decision for Mass Evacuation’ argues that Japanese Americans were placed in ‘concentration camps’. Other commentators continue to call the sites ‘Internment Camps’. Does it matter what these places were called? 4. Daniels quotes from one of the California proponents of removal (p. 50) that the Japanese could not be trusted at all because they had been so discriminated against in the past that they had become â€Å"unassimilable† and could not be well enough known to be trusted. Compare this point of view to the arguments used to ‘drive out’ the Chinese from the same places in the late nineteenth century. How much do you think being able to brand a group as ‘the other’ plays a role in these two cases? Do you think the same arguments were utilized after September 11 to justify Guantanamo? 5. Why did FDR, despite all of the evidence he was presented to the contrary, sign the Executive Order? In a related question, How did the tenor of the times lead the Supreme Court and a variety of seemingly able attorneys to bend the law, hide crucial evidence, and carry out the removals? 6. How is Gordon Hirabayshi like many of the leading Chinese individuals we read about in Driven Out? 7. Think about social guilt and historical responsibility and whether countries must think through past injustice and apologize for them and make some sort of reparations? We have the cases to consider from our readings of the Chinese on the West Coast, African Americans post-slavery, and Japanese Americans after the Second World War. Does the generation that did not inflict the harm owe the apology and the debt, or does this sort of thinking prolong the discord and inhibit efforts at reconciliation? 8. Dorothea Lange was hired by the War Relocation Authority to document the relocation process, but when the Army saw the tenor/tone of her work they impounded all of the photos and most of them never saw the light of day until 2006! Compare some of the photos from Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange and try to figure out why Langes were disappeared.’ (See links below.) Web Sites: 1. Exploring the Japanese-American Internment through film and the Internet. http://www.asianamericanmedia.org/jainternment/ President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the mass incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Two-thirds were American citizens. Over half were children or infants. Their crime: their Japanese ancestry. Forty-six years later our government officially apologized for this grave injustice and paid reparations. Could it happen again to another group of Americans? 2. This site supplements a recent PBS documentary titled ‘Children of the Camps’. ‘Children of the Camps’ is a one-hour documentary that portrays the poignant stories of six Japanese Americans who were interned as children in US concentration camps during W.W.II. The film â€Å"captures a three-day intensive group experience, during which the participants are guided by Dr. Satsuki Ina, a university professor and therapist, through a process that enables them to speak honestly about their experiences and the continuing impact of internment on their lives today.† http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/ 3. This amazing site contains an annotated directory of Internet-based resources on the Internment. http://newton.uor.edu/DepartmentsPrograms/AsianStudiesDept/asianam-intern.html 4. Great website with historical timeline, memories, posters from the camps and other primary source material. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8420/main.html 5. Site is the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Site contains lots of primary sources and a collection of articles from the San Francisco News during March 1942 when the Executive order was signed. http://www.sfmuseum.org/war/evactxt.html 6. Famed photographer Ansel Adams took a series of 242 photographs at the Manzanar War Relocation Center. Photos can be found at this site. http://www.asianamericans.com/AnselAdamsManzanar.htm 7. Dorothea Lange and the Internment of the Japanese http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist/lange.html

Being Different - Short Story Essay examples -- Papers

Being Different - Short Story Matthew had lived down the street from me most my life, and yet I still knew very little about him except for his name and his disability. Poor Matthew had been born retarded, and also owned many slight disabilities which made the mere act of living more difficult than it should have to be. Matthew was now a full grown man but he had the mind of a nine year old. He looked like an adult, but his actions and behaviour were definitely those of a young child. He walked with difficulty, and was visibly clumsy and uncoordinated. Life had not been easy for Matthew, and it seemed the older he was, the harder things got. When he was younger, even though he was teased by his peers he at least appeared to fit in with his classmates. Even though at second glance, it was easy to recognize the differences between Matthew and the other kids, Matthew did not really stand out in the crowd. Now as a full grown man Matthew looked out of place, no matter where he was, or who he was with. I ...

For and Against Pollution

These days, more and more people are using their own cars to commute. The increasing number of vehicles in our cities contributes to the high levels of pollution in the air. When faced with taking private cars or public transport, people react in different ways. I will discuss  the for and against arguments of using private cars or public transport. People prefer private cars over public transport  for several reasons. Firstly, private cars are believed to be faster than public transport since people don’t have to spend their precious time waiting for  a  bus.In addition, bus-shelters are usually crammed with people. Secondly, you can go  directly  from work to home much faster. Furthermore, there are people who don’t like to share  places with unknown persons or they don’t like to be standing up during  their  journey. For instance, when taking a bus in rush hours it is very difficult to find  a spare seat  and eventually you end up graspin g a hand bar and trying to keep your balance  so as not be flung  around  when the bus brakes. On the other hand, there are other people who prefer public transport to private cars.Using public transport is cheaper than using  your own car. Ask people who use private cars on a regular basis how much  Ã‚  they spend on their cars every month. Not only do people have to pay for high parking prices  and fuel, but also the expense  incurred when they take their car to the garage to have it repaired. Unlike private cars, public transport has reserved  lanes in many cities; so long delays due to traffic congestion can be avoided  by  taking a bus or a taxi. As far  as  the  environment is concerned, the use of public transport instead of private cars makes a difference.For  example, if the people who use a bus  were to use  their own vehicles instead,  this  would  definitely contribute to air pollution. In conclusion, using private cars is expensive and produces more atmospheric pollution than  public transport does. All in all, public transport is  proven  to be more efficient  and cheaper than private cars. For this reason, I feel that we  should all  try to use public transport whenever possible. It is  beneficial for our finances, our time, and  more significantly to our  environment.

The Course Of History Religion - 1406 Words

Over the course of history religion has changed many peoples view of themselves, society, and nature. Confusanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and polytheism all address the issues a person questions about themselves, the perpose of life, and how they should live one with nature. Every religion has separate beliefs on what is expected of them as a human being and how they should go about their life. They all try to achieve almost the same goal in the end but must do different things to achieve it. Confusianism was started by a philosopher named Confusious. Confucious lived between 550 and 479 B.C. â€Å"Confucious had suggested this idea when he said â€Å"being good as a son and obedient as a young man is perhaps, the roof a man’s†¦show more content†¦Ren means humanity. â€Å"It suggests a person in relationship, a key element of Confucian thought.† Ren was Confucian’s way to help teach his people to love others. He wanted people to treat all the other people around them with respect. Because if they acted upon to others nicely they would only get the same in return. Another way of living was by Li; li was the rules of social behavior. â€Å"Li were those that regulated the behavior of children toward parents, younger brother toward older brother, everyone towards ancestor.† Li was the way to act and respect your elders. A man named Siddhartha Gautama, who was named Buddha whichis translated to enlightened one, created Buddhism. â€Å" buddhism spread religious attitudes that showed less concern with the elderly, ancestors the family, and the ritualsof this world than Confucianism.† Buddha spoke of four noble tuths that helped his followers find the way to nirvana. â€Å"All life is suffering, the cause of suffering is desire, suffering can be conquored by conquering desire, desire can be conquered by following the â€Å"noble eightfold path.†Ã¢â‚¬  These four truths were something that if someone could could understand and come to terms with would be able to achieve the highest level or nirvana. The goal of a Buddhist is to achieve nirvana but to achieve it they must overcome certain things such as the misperception of reality, the true nature of themseleves, and liberation from suffering.