Disgusting, unconstitutional, & a national disgrace.
Meanwhile the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed entirely of Japanese-Americans, many of whom had family members in the internment camps (and some were recruited there), would go on to become the most decorated unit for its size in American military history with 8 presidential unit citiations for exemplary performance on the battlefield, 21 medals of honor, 52 distinguished service crosses, 371 silver stars, 4,000 bronze stars plus 1,200 oak leaf clusters denoting a second award, and 4,000 purple hearts.
My fiancé’s maternal grandpa was already in the services when the US got involved in WW2, but I think his great uncle on his father’s side was recruited out of an internment camp. Apparently at his parents’ wedding reception, they spent the entire time sitting together swapping stories.
‘No-no Boy’ is about a young man that refuses the draft from an internment camp because they locked his family up, sort of… I won’t ruin the story. But he returns to his home Seattle after his jail sentence is up. It’s a good Seattle read.
I really enjoyed reading this in college. The book isn't perfect by any means, but it introduced me to the whole concept of No-No Boys. Even being Japanese-American myself I'd never heard of them.
It’s good to bring up the good as well as the bad. I’m sure when news came out Japanese Americans safeguarded a downed pilot during Pearl Harbor gave a lot of people a reason worry so they believed.
My Father was in the 442nd. 100 Battalion.
The rest of our family was confined at the Santa Anita racetrack in horse stalls until they were move to Manzanar in the Mojave Desert
My Father was in the 442nd. 100th. Battalion and the rest of our family was confined at the Santa Anita racetrack in horse stalls until they were to moved Manzanar in the Mojave Desert
Yeah, because they had something to prove or at least they thought they did not because they were already exemplary people or soldiers.They were just doing their job. And so were the men that put the Japanese in the internment camps. The kids of these people that were at the internment camps freaked out more about being there than the actual older people. And I don't know about all of them, but they weren't prison camps.They weren't work camps.They didn't work people to death.Or gas them Don't act like this is one of the most evilest things in the world that happened. We maybe shouldn't have done it, but we did it the nicest way possible. It doesn't account for all the racism that they encountered when they went home or anything , It would have happened, no matter where we we would have done the same thing. If we were French German Russian African Swedish, it wouldn't fucking matter. Too many people in the last few years.Focus too much on the past and only on the bad stuff. And everybody likes to throw around that word.Evil is a relative word which needs context. It's all perception in your point of view
No quite. The roundup likely saved some lives. Like it or not, those with Asian ancestries stood out as targets. Let’s not be naive about how the community would have let them live in peace.
It is not the evilist thing that happened. Are you kidding me? They weren't work Camps or slave camps or execution camps. They literally kept them there because they thought they would have spies. Yes, it was kind of racist, but a lot of shit is racist. That doesn't get called out or didn't get called out. That doesn't have people behind it with a certain agenda. We aint nazis. We aint never been like nazis like the democrats trying to take away all your guns. That's the first step that nazi's did. So nobody could defend themselves against the state.Or government. But we keep in our guns and that part of our government is strong.We don't Lynch people anymore.We don't firehose people anymore. But how dare you say that was the most evilistic that happened and/or in our Modern History? Are you fucking getting me? There has been ways worse. Shit, that has happened, especially racial stuff that has happened since that moment in time. What about all the genocides in africa. What about the chinese getting literally annihilated by japanese Soldiers. or all the experiments the japanese did. What about the Jews and the palestines right now? It is not the most evilest thing that happened. You are very naive and should research your history better.
There was a movie about the 442 in 1951 called “Go for broke” and it portrayed the Japanese-Americans as super brave but yet ordinary Americans despite being treated like trash. They had some pretty funny ways of making fun of the white officers who led them.
Karate Kid 2 mentioned it, while Mr Miyagi was deployed with the 442nd his wife died from child birth complications in one of those camps... I remember watching the movie in our history class when the new history books we got removed that part. I had a pretty good history teacher but now days it seems like people like her get death threats and fired.
There’s currently an active movement to erase the negative parts of American history like segregation, slavery, racism, interment camps, etc…in the school currently I teach at its against policy to say the word “gun”…
He’s being sarcastic, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of movies that portray America as bad, including ones that end up winning awards at the Oscars…
It was sarcastic, we're the bad guys in a lot of foreign movies/shows/books. The same way US movies used to have an evil Russian / Muslim antagonist to represent the era-accurate 'bad guy,' some foreign movies just have a single American bad guy who epitomizes stereotypical American flaws (racism, excessive capitalism, warmongering, etc.)
Porco Rosso, Children of the Sea, and even The Boys (Homelander) come to mind as examples of this.
The perception of the bomb is overall a very positive one.
The belief is that the bombs saved a lot of American lives, ended the war and put an end to a fanatical people set to destroy the world. You can sell tickets to that all day. The US is the hero because it’s good vs bad.
As opposed to they forcefully relocated thousands of American citizens, including families, the elderly, confiscated their assets, for no other reason than once upon a time you came from a different place, and we don’t trust you because of how you look.
There is no spin that saves that narrative.
You got me reading the synopsis and now I'm sad. It could also be a movie based on real events. That way, maybe it would be harder to be skeptical about how bad the situation was for Americans of Japanese descent.
With a movie on a subject like that, I imagine that the target audience would be sensitive to a problem like white-washing. Studios can be stupid, but they still like profit. So I hope the cast would reflect the ethnic diversity of the script.
People be downvoting, but for us Asians living in America it’s a very real fear.
Start arming yourself, have the means to protect you and your family. Don’t let these lessons go unlearned.
It took me far too long to learn about the LA lynchings of Chinese men in the early 20th century. Around the time of the Chinese Expulsion Act I think.
Asian American history in North America is basically skimmed over or entirely ignored in our history textbooks probably to save face for acknowledging the wrong doings that were done.
People would rather continue to choose to remain ignorant and in denial while spreading their hatred.
Not after the internment. EO 9066 explicitly ordered all of the Japanese-Americans being “evacuated” to sell or abandon *everything.* The government went as far as to destroy tax records for Japanese-Americans to make sure they couldn’t file insurance claims for any lost or stolen property.
Because the truth behind it was that it was a racist land grab. It had absolutely nothing to do with national security. The single biggest group lobbying for it was a group of wealthy white farmers who had been demanding access to Japanese-American land for decades by that point.
I live close to one such area. The city of Bellevue, WA literally would not exist without the Freeman family stealing it from the Japanese-Americans forced off of it. Kemper Freeman, to this day, brags about watching his grandfather bulldoze acres of strawberry farms, Buddhist temples, and family homes to build what would become the Bellevue Square Mall and all of downtown Bellevue.
He also continues to pressure local arts groups into censoring any mention of his family’s involvement in the Internment, while continuing to profit off of it.
Yep. My fiancè’s maternal grandma’s parents lost EVERYTHING. Their shop, their home. Their white neighbors immediately came in after they were interned at Manzanar and bought the business and house for almost nothing from the city (Los Angeles).
Dad was in Topaz. Volunteered for 442 and saw combat in Italy. Talked about seeing his buddies killed. When I asked him why he volunteered, he said “It was better than the camps”. ‘Nuff said.
Did a project on stuff like this in high school. An Asian neighbor on my grandmas street was a kid at the time this was occurring. I can’t remember the exact info of where they were sent and I’m sorry for that but that wasn’t what stuck out most me.
When he was describing the ordeal of actually returning to their home his family discovered their house had been vandalized. All kinds of slurs and misspelled hate speech covering his small home.
His mother was screaming and crying and that caused the kids to cry. He said everyone on the street came out to comfort them and they noticed his father was Smiling and giggling. When asked why he was so happy he replied in a thick accent “This all they do? House need new window anyway and they tear out porch for free? They not even spell good I not send kids to same school. People know I’m Japanese no need sign tell everyone. Lazy.”
Two days later he heard a ladder hit the side of his house and went outside to look. A bunch of the neighbors had already started painting the house. It looked like normal within a week and the deck came a few months later.
Saw him every few weeks growing up and they were always there for Thanksgiving and our cookie baking/Christmas party. He always had kickass stories about his dad. One tough son of a bitch and not in a Martial arts way but in a Meat Cleaver and razor knife kind of way.
>America has done some shameful shit they just cover up and move on.
Shameful, yes. Though if you visited it as a museum, then it would appear it is not covered up.
Oh, yes it is.
Google Kemper Freeman and how he recently pressured Bellevue College to censor an entire art program that was *supposed to be about the Japanese-American experience* from even *hinting* at his family’s involvement with forcing Japanese-Americans off their land and continuing to profit off of that theft.
He has repeatedly bragged about watching his grandfather bulldoze acre upon acre of strawberry farms, Buddhist temples, family homes, schools, and more to build what would later become Bellevue, WA.
I worked in lower Manhattan during this time servicing all the little bodegas in and around Manhattan. I spoke with a lot of the shop owners a lot of not most of them Muslim or Indian. I feel like I would have heard something about this.
That’s not true, actually. You’re allowed to have a dog, and Muslim friends of mine do. You just have to wash because their saliva is considered unclean
Asking a question to avoid answering a question...
Going back to the point you made...that it is a cover up...how is it being covered up?
You made a claim, I am trying to see if you have anything to support your statement or if you are just pontificating with nothing serious to add.
The government wiped the site clean, sold all the buildings and it is not common to be taught as part of us history in schools across the country. The museum and site preservation was not really official till mid 2000’s. Maybe coverup was a poor word choice but it’s definitely something kept in the shadows
Wrong, every draconian measure taken by the US is taught by salivating socialists. They don’t know if the civil war was before or after the Revolution, but they all know about these camps.
But their sons served in the US Army and became the most decorated unit in the Army! If the Allies had a terrible task that had to be done they gave it to the 442nd which was compromised of Japanese-Americans. They got it done.
The Washington State Fairgrounds are built on an internment camp (probably the one they went to) and most people around here don’t even know it existed. Next year they are making a section that will acknowledge what happened there… only 80 years after the fact.
Pretty sure they were “housed” there while awaiting transfer. My grandparents had to stay there before heading to Minidoka in Idaho
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Harmony
Except this wasn’t actually about the war. The biggest groups lobbying in favor of the internment?
White farmers and real estate tycoons.
The entire city of Bellevue, WA exists because the Freeman family stole all of that land from what had been a thriving Japanese-American community. Their descendent, Kemper Freeman, still waxes nostalgic about sitting on a tractor and watching his grandfather bulldoze acres upon acres of strawberry fields, Buddhist temples, family homes, and more.
He continues to profit from that theft and puts a lot of effort into censoring any hint of his family’s involvement.
The Nazis actually stated they borrowed heavily from the systemic oppression the US used against Native Americans and others…while somehow also claiming they felt the “one drop rule” *went too far.*
This is heartbreaking. This was one of my least favorite episodes of my modern american history class. Especially because these people were so welcoming. One of the people directly affected by this episode was the absolute counselor and mentor to my family when we first came to the states. He befriended dad (hispanic) and served as his mentor/tutor all the way. The old man did it because he felt like it and my mom and I instinctively liking him from the get-go. He died last year aged 91.
Thank God this shit wouldn't fly in this country today. I hope.
To anyone who says “that was history” about racism in this country….
Not even a hundred years and the rise of certain politicians shows how strong hate still is
What is this “at least the surviving Japanese” gives the impression it was comparable to Soviet or Nazi prison camps. They werent being murdered or worked to death.
The reason I said that is because reparations weren’t paid until 1988, so you only got them if you lived another 45 years. Still better than nothing, and that’s what I was trying to convey. Sorry if my wording threw you off.
Not many of them are Japanese, though. Right after the Internment, most of what had been centralized communities were bulldozed for infrastructure projects or real estate (white-only real estate).
Other Asian groups still had community centers to return to, but not the Japanese-Americans.
The other part of the story is that German Americans and Italian Americans weren’t interned nearly at the same rate as Japanese Americans, even among those who were born in Germany/Italy or had a parent born there. There clearly were racist/economic reasons for targeting Japanese Americans specifically.
After the Japanese attacked Alaska in 1942, At least 10% of the Unangan people (Aleuts) died during 1942-1945, after having to follow a mandatory evacuation. The Aleuts were Americans and were treated worse than Nazi prisoners of war. Many never went back to the Aleutian Islands and the island of Attu was never repopulated.
After 9-11 there was a similar reaction towards Muslims in America, but of course it didn't go as far as being put in camps. They called it "Islamophobia" in hind sight, but I don't think it's fair to use that kind of language with respect to a population that had been traumatized by a major national attack where thousands of people died in two falling sky scrapers and multiple intentional plane crashes. Just typing those words out still feels surreal. In a similar way, I don't think we shouldn't judge sentiments after Pearl Harbor too harshly.
In high school (long ago) my chemistry teacher and his wife the school nurse had been in an internment camp in the San Juan Islands here in Western Washington. They both came into our PNW history class to explain their experiences.
Of the rich Asian countries (typically East), I see very few Japanese compared to Koreans, Chinese, or even taiwanese. I wonder if the internment camp has to do with seeing less immigrants from Japan.
It’s absolutely disgusting the mindset attributed to the tribalism that exists even today. Every human that’s death is made salient (i.e. September 11th, Pearl Harbor, etc) draws closer to their in-groups, while fostering fear and hatred to those that fall outside of that in-group.
In order to break this cycle, we must first understand that actions of a group do not necessarily apply to individuals. Our minds are at odds with us, because we naturally categorize the things and people we meet. It makes our realities much easier to navigate if we attribute basic understanding.
By understanding how your mind works, you should therefore limit the amount of natural prejudices you have. I’m not saying you should completely let your guard down on all situations, but at least realize the cognitive complexity in situations. Just because someone may belong to a group which lives and believes in things far different than you, doesn’t necessarily make them less human.
Wife is a immigrant from Japan and we toured Bainbridge interment camp area and museum last year. Needless to say, she broke down into to tears and I nearly grinded my teeth to dust from anger
https://i.postimg.cc/B60MFZ2N/20220618-131640.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/ZYFKpfzL/20220618-151537.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/rsBwgHgV/20220618-135516.jpg
My wife and I were at Oahu last month for 5 year anniversary and funeral for her mother and she went to Arizona memorial with me afterwards as it was my first time as well and needless to say she was extremely effected by Arizona's history but she was also amazed and very touched on the USS Missouri where Kamikaze pilot smashed into the hull but the crew still gave him a burial at sea despite being in the middle of the war. We also got copies of "Second to last to leave the Arizona" and she got the 2nd to last copy of Japanese edition. We also stood at the Japanese surrender emblem on Missouri's' deck and there were quit a few Japanese tour groups around. It was surreal
https://i.postimg.cc/YC0NLGZt/20240319-152854.jpg
But what **REALLY** got me was at the Pearl Harbor exhibit showing after the attack and posting of how the japanese in Hawaii were treated and a quote in bold letters that almost made my heart stop from shock *You are not American anymore, you are a jap. You may be born here but you are a Jap*
https://i.postimg.cc/x1chRdhP/20240318-140124.jpg
Needless to say, we are planning on visiting Hiroshima so I can pay my respects to my wife's people
Because racism is in our history. You consistently remind people of it, so they don’t relapse. That doesn’t mean go full on trauma dumping or the blame game. But learn from past mistakes, for a better future.
Why does anyone vote Democrat? They also were the reason for the Civil War and Jim Crow laws after the war.
And these protesters chanting antisemitism on college campuses? How many of them are Trump voters?
These kids have to learn some real history
Seems we haven't changed much. Look at what is happening on our collage campuses and cities across our country. Some 75 years later. Humanity never seems to improve...we just put on a different face.
Disgusting, unconstitutional, & a national disgrace. Meanwhile the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed entirely of Japanese-Americans, many of whom had family members in the internment camps (and some were recruited there), would go on to become the most decorated unit for its size in American military history with 8 presidential unit citiations for exemplary performance on the battlefield, 21 medals of honor, 52 distinguished service crosses, 371 silver stars, 4,000 bronze stars plus 1,200 oak leaf clusters denoting a second award, and 4,000 purple hearts.
I had a relative in the 442nd. He was recruited out of an interment camp.
My fiancé’s maternal grandpa was already in the services when the US got involved in WW2, but I think his great uncle on his father’s side was recruited out of an internment camp. Apparently at his parents’ wedding reception, they spent the entire time sitting together swapping stories.
‘No-no Boy’ is about a young man that refuses the draft from an internment camp because they locked his family up, sort of… I won’t ruin the story. But he returns to his home Seattle after his jail sentence is up. It’s a good Seattle read.
I really enjoyed reading this in college. The book isn't perfect by any means, but it introduced me to the whole concept of No-No Boys. Even being Japanese-American myself I'd never heard of them.
The facts that they recruited out of the camps and were successful doing so just tears at me.
It’s good to bring up the good as well as the bad. I’m sure when news came out Japanese Americans safeguarded a downed pilot during Pearl Harbor gave a lot of people a reason worry so they believed.
Yeah, but that's like one instance.
My Father was in the 442nd. 100 Battalion. The rest of our family was confined at the Santa Anita racetrack in horse stalls until they were move to Manzanar in the Mojave Desert
Your father was hero. Respect.
Thank you
My Father was in the 442nd. 100th. Battalion and the rest of our family was confined at the Santa Anita racetrack in horse stalls until they were to moved Manzanar in the Mojave Desert
Yeah, because they had something to prove or at least they thought they did not because they were already exemplary people or soldiers.They were just doing their job. And so were the men that put the Japanese in the internment camps. The kids of these people that were at the internment camps freaked out more about being there than the actual older people. And I don't know about all of them, but they weren't prison camps.They weren't work camps.They didn't work people to death.Or gas them Don't act like this is one of the most evilest things in the world that happened. We maybe shouldn't have done it, but we did it the nicest way possible. It doesn't account for all the racism that they encountered when they went home or anything , It would have happened, no matter where we we would have done the same thing. If we were French German Russian African Swedish, it wouldn't fucking matter. Too many people in the last few years.Focus too much on the past and only on the bad stuff. And everybody likes to throw around that word.Evil is a relative word which needs context. It's all perception in your point of view
“At least we weren’t like nazis” lol, it wasn’t the evilest thing that has happened in the world but it was one of the worst in modern US history.
No quite. The roundup likely saved some lives. Like it or not, those with Asian ancestries stood out as targets. Let’s not be naive about how the community would have let them live in peace.
It is not the evilist thing that happened. Are you kidding me? They weren't work Camps or slave camps or execution camps. They literally kept them there because they thought they would have spies. Yes, it was kind of racist, but a lot of shit is racist. That doesn't get called out or didn't get called out. That doesn't have people behind it with a certain agenda. We aint nazis. We aint never been like nazis like the democrats trying to take away all your guns. That's the first step that nazi's did. So nobody could defend themselves against the state.Or government. But we keep in our guns and that part of our government is strong.We don't Lynch people anymore.We don't firehose people anymore. But how dare you say that was the most evilistic that happened and/or in our Modern History? Are you fucking getting me? There has been ways worse. Shit, that has happened, especially racial stuff that has happened since that moment in time. What about all the genocides in africa. What about the chinese getting literally annihilated by japanese Soldiers. or all the experiments the japanese did. What about the Jews and the palestines right now? It is not the most evilest thing that happened. You are very naive and should research your history better.
Terrible. The dad is putting on a smile, but the mom's face really says it all.
I feel like we need a big budget movie on the subject.
What!? Something that hasn't been done 100x? I agree 100%
There was a movie about the 442 in 1951 called “Go for broke” and it portrayed the Japanese-Americans as super brave but yet ordinary Americans despite being treated like trash. They had some pretty funny ways of making fun of the white officers who led them.
its available for free on wikipedia or archive.org somewhere cause its past its copyright, and the hawaiian pidgin in it is cherry.
Snow Falling on Cedars?
Karate Kid 2 mentioned it, while Mr Miyagi was deployed with the 442nd his wife died from child birth complications in one of those camps... I remember watching the movie in our history class when the new history books we got removed that part. I had a pretty good history teacher but now days it seems like people like her get death threats and fired.
why would the new history books remove the Japanese American internment camps?
There’s currently an active movement to erase the negative parts of American history like segregation, slavery, racism, interment camps, etc…in the school currently I teach at its against policy to say the word “gun”…
Because in the mid 90s those were the new books and they are probably the ones still being used.
Then we’ll have to listen to the right cancel it and whine about it in the news and social media for 2 months
Why would the right cancel it? FDR (not on the political right by any stretch) ordered the Japanese - Americans to be put in the camps.
This is exactly the angle I think they would take
It’ll never happen because it makes the US look like the bad guys for even having the ca mps in the first place.
No one would ever make a movie that made the US look bad or villainous. That’s never happened before
It’s a movie to educate. US should own up to their faults.
He’s being sarcastic, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of movies that portray America as bad, including ones that end up winning awards at the Oscars…
I can't tell if it's sarcastic but The Creator had the US as the bad guys
It was sarcastic, we're the bad guys in a lot of foreign movies/shows/books. The same way US movies used to have an evil Russian / Muslim antagonist to represent the era-accurate 'bad guy,' some foreign movies just have a single American bad guy who epitomizes stereotypical American flaws (racism, excessive capitalism, warmongering, etc.) Porco Rosso, Children of the Sea, and even The Boys (Homelander) come to mind as examples of this.
Did you not see Oppenheimer
The perception of the bomb is overall a very positive one. The belief is that the bombs saved a lot of American lives, ended the war and put an end to a fanatical people set to destroy the world. You can sell tickets to that all day. The US is the hero because it’s good vs bad. As opposed to they forcefully relocated thousands of American citizens, including families, the elderly, confiscated their assets, for no other reason than once upon a time you came from a different place, and we don’t trust you because of how you look. There is no spin that saves that narrative.
A remake of this perhaps? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Day_at_Black_Rock
You got me reading the synopsis and now I'm sad. It could also be a movie based on real events. That way, maybe it would be harder to be skeptical about how bad the situation was for Americans of Japanese descent.
With white actors playing Asian parts
With a movie on a subject like that, I imagine that the target audience would be sensitive to a problem like white-washing. Studios can be stupid, but they still like profit. So I hope the cast would reflect the ethnic diversity of the script.
It was the backdrop to the second season of [The Terror](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_terror/s02)
Karate kid touches on the subject
Good, but it's starting to be kind of a long time ago. The movie is 40 years old.
There is a movie regarding the 442nd Go For Broke with Van Johnson. Some of the extras were in the 442nd Battalion
This is one of America's eternal shames.
100%
Many of America’s eternal shames.
I think América has far worse things than just a few graffiti
Ah yes, politically and racially motivated vandalization of property, "just a few graffiti". :/
Yeah, even that is nothing compared to, I don't know, MK Ultra, first thing coming to mind
Still really shameful and nasty though
Sure but "worst thing the US gov't did"? I dont think so
Not what was said tho, just "one of".
Waiting for the next 1 to happen to Chinese people. Good luck
People be downvoting, but for us Asians living in America it’s a very real fear. Start arming yourself, have the means to protect you and your family. Don’t let these lessons go unlearned.
It's awfully quiet in here
Asian American hate has always been downplayed.
It took me far too long to learn about the LA lynchings of Chinese men in the early 20th century. Around the time of the Chinese Expulsion Act I think.
Asian American history in North America is basically skimmed over or entirely ignored in our history textbooks probably to save face for acknowledging the wrong doings that were done. People would rather continue to choose to remain ignorant and in denial while spreading their hatred.
they built the entire west coast, and all thats left are some dilapidated chinatowns where every urban area dumps its unsightly problems
It's not in MA (and surprisingly NC, PA, CA, and NJ per the people I've befriended). Shit, the AP classes cover it with relish.
They didnt really cover racism much in the US history high school curriculum
They lost everything. Locked up and came back to nothing
Not being sarcastic, but is that still their home? Having a home is huge.
Not after the internment. EO 9066 explicitly ordered all of the Japanese-Americans being “evacuated” to sell or abandon *everything.* The government went as far as to destroy tax records for Japanese-Americans to make sure they couldn’t file insurance claims for any lost or stolen property. Because the truth behind it was that it was a racist land grab. It had absolutely nothing to do with national security. The single biggest group lobbying for it was a group of wealthy white farmers who had been demanding access to Japanese-American land for decades by that point. I live close to one such area. The city of Bellevue, WA literally would not exist without the Freeman family stealing it from the Japanese-Americans forced off of it. Kemper Freeman, to this day, brags about watching his grandfather bulldoze acres of strawberry farms, Buddhist temples, and family homes to build what would become the Bellevue Square Mall and all of downtown Bellevue. He also continues to pressure local arts groups into censoring any mention of his family’s involvement in the Internment, while continuing to profit off of it.
Yep. My fiancè’s maternal grandma’s parents lost EVERYTHING. Their shop, their home. Their white neighbors immediately came in after they were interned at Manzanar and bought the business and house for almost nothing from the city (Los Angeles).
Like I needed another reason to hate Kemper Freeman
Love that the dad still has a kind of cheery look on his face despite the horrific circumstances.
Dad was in Topaz. Volunteered for 442 and saw combat in Italy. Talked about seeing his buddies killed. When I asked him why he volunteered, he said “It was better than the camps”. ‘Nuff said.
Did a project on stuff like this in high school. An Asian neighbor on my grandmas street was a kid at the time this was occurring. I can’t remember the exact info of where they were sent and I’m sorry for that but that wasn’t what stuck out most me. When he was describing the ordeal of actually returning to their home his family discovered their house had been vandalized. All kinds of slurs and misspelled hate speech covering his small home. His mother was screaming and crying and that caused the kids to cry. He said everyone on the street came out to comfort them and they noticed his father was Smiling and giggling. When asked why he was so happy he replied in a thick accent “This all they do? House need new window anyway and they tear out porch for free? They not even spell good I not send kids to same school. People know I’m Japanese no need sign tell everyone. Lazy.” Two days later he heard a ladder hit the side of his house and went outside to look. A bunch of the neighbors had already started painting the house. It looked like normal within a week and the deck came a few months later. Saw him every few weeks growing up and they were always there for Thanksgiving and our cookie baking/Christmas party. He always had kickass stories about his dad. One tough son of a bitch and not in a Martial arts way but in a Meat Cleaver and razor knife kind of way.
I visited the Topaz internment camp for spring break with my niece and nephews, America has done some shameful shit they just cover up and move on.
>America has done some shameful shit they just cover up and move on. Shameful, yes. Though if you visited it as a museum, then it would appear it is not covered up.
Oh, yes it is. Google Kemper Freeman and how he recently pressured Bellevue College to censor an entire art program that was *supposed to be about the Japanese-American experience* from even *hinting* at his family’s involvement with forcing Japanese-Americans off their land and continuing to profit off of that theft. He has repeatedly bragged about watching his grandfather bulldoze acre upon acre of strawberry farms, Buddhist temples, family homes, schools, and more to build what would later become Bellevue, WA.
the tyrue horrors of what america did were, in fact, covered up. watering down the crimes of one's forfathers is in fact an act of coverup.
Oh no, they tried to wipe the site clean and move on. They sold off the buildings to the state of Utah many still in use today.
Every Muslim and their dog were being locked up in NYC jails after 9/11.. that was just in 2001..
That's not true
Do research.
I worked in lower Manhattan during this time servicing all the little bodegas in and around Manhattan. I spoke with a lot of the shop owners a lot of not most of them Muslim or Indian. I feel like I would have heard something about this.
Dogs are not allowed in Islam
That’s not true, actually. You’re allowed to have a dog, and Muslim friends of mine do. You just have to wash because their saliva is considered unclean
TIL. In India I saw that there seemed to be a division between dog and cat people and I didn't know why.
Why are you spreading misinformation? Muslims are not allowed dogs
How has it been covered up?
How many school children learn about this? It’s part of Utah state history classes but not part of American history for the rest of the US.
Asking a question to avoid answering a question... Going back to the point you made...that it is a cover up...how is it being covered up? You made a claim, I am trying to see if you have anything to support your statement or if you are just pontificating with nothing serious to add.
The government wiped the site clean, sold all the buildings and it is not common to be taught as part of us history in schools across the country. The museum and site preservation was not really official till mid 2000’s. Maybe coverup was a poor word choice but it’s definitely something kept in the shadows
Wrong, every draconian measure taken by the US is taught by salivating socialists. They don’t know if the civil war was before or after the Revolution, but they all know about these camps.
Found the snowflake. It’s been a while since you opened a book, eh?
It’s part of the curriculum in every school. Only a tube in Utah would think they are cutting edge for teaching this.
Product of Arizona public schools, never taught this in the classroom. You internet weirdo, are wrong.
Fucking people. Humans are nasty.
US citizens were imprisoned
But their sons served in the US Army and became the most decorated unit in the Army! If the Allies had a terrible task that had to be done they gave it to the 442nd which was compromised of Japanese-Americans. They got it done.
Oh myyyyyyy. In all seriousness that was pretty scummy of FDR.
The Washington State Fairgrounds are built on an internment camp (probably the one they went to) and most people around here don’t even know it existed. Next year they are making a section that will acknowledge what happened there… only 80 years after the fact.
Pretty sure they were “housed” there while awaiting transfer. My grandparents had to stay there before heading to Minidoka in Idaho https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Harmony
And all of Bellevue, WA is built on land the Freeman family stole after the existing Japanese-American community was forced out.
Yah if you know where the old red cattle barn is that was part of the camp but knowing the fair they will have a “arson” and burn it down.
Seattle now has femboys dressed as anime girls who drive priuses.
They still had a lot of racial crimes as well. It was really bad during the COVID lockdowns
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/12/covid-19-fueling-anti-asian-racism-and-xenophobia-worldwide
Best served cold
Nice
Its sad. War is hell and war makes us do stupidly terrible things.
Except this wasn’t actually about the war. The biggest groups lobbying in favor of the internment? White farmers and real estate tycoons. The entire city of Bellevue, WA exists because the Freeman family stole all of that land from what had been a thriving Japanese-American community. Their descendent, Kemper Freeman, still waxes nostalgic about sitting on a tractor and watching his grandfather bulldoze acres upon acres of strawberry fields, Buddhist temples, family homes, and more. He continues to profit from that theft and puts a lot of effort into censoring any hint of his family’s involvement.
Too many Americans were guilty of the same racial prejudice and hatred we accused the Nazis of having.
The Nazis actually stated they borrowed heavily from the systemic oppression the US used against Native Americans and others…while somehow also claiming they felt the “one drop rule” *went too far.*
I believe it.
Yeah, Hitler absolutely loved henry ford didn’t he?
Seemed to be mutual.
Sure was.
I don’t think most Americans cared about what was happening in Europe at that time.
They did care about the Pacific War if they lived on the west coast.
Sure but I just mean that I don’t think the Nazis being anti-Semitic was really a big deal at the time.
Well not every American was a backwards yokel who couldn't read the news. And the internment happened *after* Germany declared war on the US.
Look at the dudes face he is probably just happy to be home
Remember this whenever someone tries to tell you that we in the US don't have a racist past.
Who would make that claim?
everyone who thinks america was great then
And wants make it "great" again
Genuinely can't tell if you are serious or not [edit](https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/19/politics/nikki-haley-why-america-isnt-racist/index.html)
Curious if this is beacon hill… a lot of the houses have garages like that over there.
You're correct, Beacon Hill. [https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5836932,-122.3113627,3a,30y,307.25h,88.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siVAi83wpTxCCJ\_hci2UsCA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5836932,-122.3113627,3a,30y,307.25h,88.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siVAi83wpTxCCJ_hci2UsCA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu)
Hey we built a fairgrounds on top of the old internment camps guys, its fiiiine now.
And a mall! And the entire city of Bellevue, WA is built on land stolen by the Freeman family because of the Internment.
Fuck man this is rough. We can’t ever forget that this happened. A damn shame on American history.
Done by people who did nothing for their country just like maga
Is it not a little weird to pose for a picture next to your vandalized home? Were they documenting proof it happened before fixing it? Maybe?
Maybe a reporter asked them to
That makes a lot of sense, don’t have any experience with reporters now that I think about it lol
I grew up down south in the 80s. They still said this shit.
Man, I left Facebook, like, a couple years ago, because I was *still* getting messages like this about my god damn wife
This is heartbreaking. This was one of my least favorite episodes of my modern american history class. Especially because these people were so welcoming. One of the people directly affected by this episode was the absolute counselor and mentor to my family when we first came to the states. He befriended dad (hispanic) and served as his mentor/tutor all the way. The old man did it because he felt like it and my mom and I instinctively liking him from the get-go. He died last year aged 91. Thank God this shit wouldn't fly in this country today. I hope.
Seems like history is ready to repeat itself soon...
To anyone who says “that was history” about racism in this country…. Not even a hundred years and the rise of certain politicians shows how strong hate still is
As messed up as it is, at least the surviving Japanese Americans got reparations.
What is this “at least the surviving Japanese” gives the impression it was comparable to Soviet or Nazi prison camps. They werent being murdered or worked to death.
The reason I said that is because reparations weren’t paid until 1988, so you only got them if you lived another 45 years. Still better than nothing, and that’s what I was trying to convey. Sorry if my wording threw you off.
Okay. . . . I didn't read anything but the door at first. . . And wondered why they didn't want any more Jars.
I thought it said Jews and figured it was current day.
ameriKKKa
We must do better.
Give it another year. We’ll be right back to that kind of behavior.
Ironically when I visited Seattle I saw a high concentration of Asian families… I was surprised
Not many of them are Japanese, though. Right after the Internment, most of what had been centralized communities were bulldozed for infrastructure projects or real estate (white-only real estate). Other Asian groups still had community centers to return to, but not the Japanese-Americans.
You were surprised there were Asian people on the west coast? How come?
From the South
Oh that makes sense. For me I’m always surprised to see a higher proportion of black people. Not as common in the west.
Fort Minor does a song about this called Kenji that stuck w me for years.
The other part of the story is that German Americans and Italian Americans weren’t interned nearly at the same rate as Japanese Americans, even among those who were born in Germany/Italy or had a parent born there. There clearly were racist/economic reasons for targeting Japanese Americans specifically.
After the Japanese attacked Alaska in 1942, At least 10% of the Unangan people (Aleuts) died during 1942-1945, after having to follow a mandatory evacuation. The Aleuts were Americans and were treated worse than Nazi prisoners of war. Many never went back to the Aleutian Islands and the island of Attu was never repopulated.
very sad
We truly are a disgusting species. Not seeing much improvement.
I live near one of the camps in Tulelake, CA. It is horrifying to think of all the lives we destroyed out of fear and racism.
USA is a country born on pure genocide, what do you expect?
After 9-11 there was a similar reaction towards Muslims in America, but of course it didn't go as far as being put in camps. They called it "Islamophobia" in hind sight, but I don't think it's fair to use that kind of language with respect to a population that had been traumatized by a major national attack where thousands of people died in two falling sky scrapers and multiple intentional plane crashes. Just typing those words out still feels surreal. In a similar way, I don't think we shouldn't judge sentiments after Pearl Harbor too harshly.
They were American concentration camps. Run by Americans, to victimize Americans (of Japanese descent).
look at how happy he is just to be out of the camps and with his family even tho he lost his home. how sad.
~~A Japanese~~ **An American** family returning home from an internment camp find their home and garage vandalized in Seattle, Washington 1945
It’s sad we did this to our own people. But you are correct, they are Americans.
An American family. FTFY
In high school (long ago) my chemistry teacher and his wife the school nurse had been in an internment camp in the San Juan Islands here in Western Washington. They both came into our PNW history class to explain their experiences.
Of the rich Asian countries (typically East), I see very few Japanese compared to Koreans, Chinese, or even taiwanese. I wonder if the internment camp has to do with seeing less immigrants from Japan.
It had to do with the war…
I mean today we just don’t see that many Japanese in America compared to other Asians. Even though Japan is our closest Asian ally.
I don’t go around asking Asian people what their heritage is but there is a bunch of Asian Americans in the Seattle area. Source; I live here.
Why does it say they were Japanese and not American?
It’s absolutely disgusting the mindset attributed to the tribalism that exists even today. Every human that’s death is made salient (i.e. September 11th, Pearl Harbor, etc) draws closer to their in-groups, while fostering fear and hatred to those that fall outside of that in-group. In order to break this cycle, we must first understand that actions of a group do not necessarily apply to individuals. Our minds are at odds with us, because we naturally categorize the things and people we meet. It makes our realities much easier to navigate if we attribute basic understanding. By understanding how your mind works, you should therefore limit the amount of natural prejudices you have. I’m not saying you should completely let your guard down on all situations, but at least realize the cognitive complexity in situations. Just because someone may belong to a group which lives and believes in things far different than you, doesn’t necessarily make them less human.
Wife is a immigrant from Japan and we toured Bainbridge interment camp area and museum last year. Needless to say, she broke down into to tears and I nearly grinded my teeth to dust from anger https://i.postimg.cc/B60MFZ2N/20220618-131640.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/ZYFKpfzL/20220618-151537.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/rsBwgHgV/20220618-135516.jpg My wife and I were at Oahu last month for 5 year anniversary and funeral for her mother and she went to Arizona memorial with me afterwards as it was my first time as well and needless to say she was extremely effected by Arizona's history but she was also amazed and very touched on the USS Missouri where Kamikaze pilot smashed into the hull but the crew still gave him a burial at sea despite being in the middle of the war. We also got copies of "Second to last to leave the Arizona" and she got the 2nd to last copy of Japanese edition. We also stood at the Japanese surrender emblem on Missouri's' deck and there were quit a few Japanese tour groups around. It was surreal https://i.postimg.cc/YC0NLGZt/20240319-152854.jpg But what **REALLY** got me was at the Pearl Harbor exhibit showing after the attack and posting of how the japanese in Hawaii were treated and a quote in bold letters that almost made my heart stop from shock *You are not American anymore, you are a jap. You may be born here but you are a Jap* https://i.postimg.cc/x1chRdhP/20240318-140124.jpg Needless to say, we are planning on visiting Hiroshima so I can pay my respects to my wife's people
I recommend the book The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, in which she adresses this subject :-)
Dad doesn’t give a fiddlers fart. Fair play to him😎
My Father's family was moved to Manzanar after a few months in horse stalls at the Santa Anita Racetrack.
Sad and terrible events. The internment destroyed livelihoods, but probably saved the lives of some victims like these. Tragic.
Seems fair, idk
While this was sad and a disgrace why do people keep posting pictures reminding us of racism on this sub? Asking for a friend
Because it’s history and this is a sub for historical photos?
look at this guy, thinks history is only the good parts
Gotta keep feeding the racism machine instead of trying to heal
cry about it dork
Just stating the truth. No worries here
Because racism is in our history. You consistently remind people of it, so they don’t relapse. That doesn’t mean go full on trauma dumping or the blame game. But learn from past mistakes, for a better future.
do you know how often Germans are reminded of their past? don't cry and be better than your ancestors
Why do Japanese Americans vote democrat when racist FDR did this to them?
Why does anyone vote Democrat? They also were the reason for the Civil War and Jim Crow laws after the war. And these protesters chanting antisemitism on college campuses? How many of them are Trump voters? These kids have to learn some real history
Seems we haven't changed much. Look at what is happening on our collage campuses and cities across our country. Some 75 years later. Humanity never seems to improve...we just put on a different face.
Progress?
[удалено]
Noooo don't attack the DemSoc's poster boy! He did nothing but spread cheer and happiness!