Friday, October 26, 2012

It's Called Relocation



During World War II, not long after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a decision was made by our government to intern Japanese-Americans at camps here in the U.S., mostly along the West Coast. These were not people who had done anything wrong, they were American citizens who just happened to be Japanese. For many years it was hard for me to wrap my mind around how our government could have done this. I knew they had, of course, had read about it several times, as through the years I'd made myself more aware of this period in our history.






Then, several months ago, my friend, JB, in Utah, told me of his visit out in the desert near Moab to a place that had once been the location of what was termed an "Isolation Center." Basically, this was a prison for what were already prisoners, sort of a maximum security facility for Japanese-Americans who had run into some sort of legal trouble within the camps where they were interned, the pseudo-official story. These centers were also for those who were seen as potential trouble: rabble-rousers, malcontents, and protesters. Perhaps they had been seen as "belligerent." The prison itself had been razed and a marker erected to tell a condensed history of this place, sort of an X marks the spot, and everybody's sorry.






About the same time he told me of his visit to this place, I came across some rather arresting images of that time. In a two year period covering 1943 and 1944, photographer Ansel Adams paid several visits to a "relocation center" named Manzanar, which had opened in March of 1942, to take photographs of the camp and those who had been "relocated" there. Apparently, he knew the camp "director," and had been given permission to do so, with caveats, of course. Now, I have to say here, that the place looks very spiffy and well-kept. The inmates themselves (lets call them what they were) had obviously done a good job of creating a life out of this arid California land.  But, make no mistake, this was a prison. Barbed wire fences and guard towers were omnipresent. Told he couldn't photograph them, Adams took pictures from them, giving away their existence. He published these photographs in 1944 under the title, "Born Free and Equal."





During their years at Manzanar and all the other camps spread along the west coast and Arizona, it's obvious they had made the best of what must have been an almost intolerable situation: imprisonment by the  hands of the government they were citizens of and towards which they had openly pledged their allegiance. Inside Manzanar, they planted gardens, raised chickens and hogs, held classes in calisthenics, did all they could for themselves within the confines of their existence. And they did it very well. But, I repeat, they were prisoners of their own government, of our own government.  




They were allowed to return home in 1944, but many had lost their homes, their businesses, all they had worked for as members of a community and citizens of this country. Perhaps it would be good to take a minute and place ourselves in their shoes, imagine life from their perspective, see it from their eyes, just in case we might be tempted to think it could never happen again ...





All images by Ansel Adams. I was particularly struck by the image of the woman holding the "jig saw map of the world." 

20 comments:

  1. Powerful Teresa. The Right could win big in Nov even with the crazy. Merka puts these (insert what ever you want here it's hard I know) in office they will attempt to impose their dogma. like it or not on those who disagree.


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    1. Thanks, One Fly, for reading and commenting. I appreciate it.

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  2. Fear makes people crazy and a lot of people are fearful today.

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    1. I'm never a proponent of fear. I am a proponent of awareness.

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  3. Dear Teresa, a long-time friend of mine is going to be 86 in November; I will be 77 in April. Both of us have always followed politics and been fairly aware of what happens in our country. As aware as the media--books, television, radio, magazines--permit us be today.

    And both of us are saying to one another that this seems the scariest time in which we've ever lived. A Congress that is in full scale, freely chosen gridlock. Two parties whose elected officials seem to care only about the party and not about governing and two men running for office who seem to be emboldened by the 19the century, not the 21st.

    Thank you for posting this story today about another episode in the history of our country that is a warning sign of what could happen again. I was only 5 when this happened and I don't remember my parents talking about it. I'm not sure how well known this was then. But intolerance and fear can lead to a loss of common sense. Peace.

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    1. A person has to step outside mainstream media to find anything of consequence. It's good to be aware. I really appreciate your thoughts, and your statement about these "two men...who seem to be emboldened by the 19th century, not the 21st," is right on.

      Although I've never been affiliated with the Roman Catholic church, there seems to be very little more powerful than a group of aware nuns or ex-nuns, and I mean that. I'm always so grateful for all they do to fight for justice. I'm grateful for all you've done. And I'm most grateful for your comments here. Thank you so much.

      Yes, it could happen again.

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  4. After reading this I searched.
    Here: a map which shows so very many of these internment camps. Everywhere!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment. Do a bit more research and you'll become more aware of what is prepared for the future. "Camps" in every state await. Remember awhile back when so many military camps were closed across the country? Well, they aren't! And they are the least number on the list. It is good to be aware yet becoming so also brings fear, fear of an unknownable future.

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    1. Yes, they are. I've seen the maps and I've heard all the possibilities. It's good to have our antennae up, and move through the day choosing peace over fear.

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  5. It is good to be made aware of or reminded of such injustices, Teresa, and you have done so masterfully here.
    I have had acquaintances who were interred and they are remarkable, but, it was a chance encounter at the Smithsonian that has stayed with me. Our girls were young; middle school aged and high school freshman. We took a vacation in Washington D. C. At the time, the Smithsonian had belongings, testimonials, displays and so forth of the interment of the Japanese. It was a pretty sobering experience for all four of us. There were small recesses where television screens displayed personal accounts. The four of us and a few others, some older than us, some younger, a woman in a wheelchair, were in one listening to the woman on the screen. One of the men quietly bent down to the woman and asked if she was the woman on the video. She was. We have never forgotten the experience, her grace and her candor and the horrible experience she endured.
    It is a good time to remember and to be vigilant, for these things can, indeed, happen again.

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    1. Penny, I'm so grateful that you shared that. What a moving experience, and what wonderful "timing" from the Universe for you. :)

      Yes, vigilance is a good watchword.

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  6. I agree that this is the scariest time I have ever lived through. Not something obvious, like Watergate or Kennedy getting shot, but something insidious...like slowly changing laws to get around the constitution after 9-11...changing the rules about how money backs political elections...allowing protected land to be used by corporations...approving genetically modified foods...so many things we commoners don't even know the half of, I'm sure.

    Above all else is the fear and hatred that has been running rampant since 9-11. It was fueled and fanned for so many years that people can't shut it off...and the politicians and corporations don't want them to. If you keep people angry and afraid you can slip the true agendas past them...unnoticed.

    Scary times. Which is why I avoid the news. And try to focus on sending positive energy out as much as possible. What the world needs now is love, sweet love... :)

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    1. Thank you, Rita, for this insightful response. I spend no time at all in mainstream media anymore, and just enough outside the mainstream to be aware. Change is possible and I still work to See the change. My hope lies in the individual and the sense of community created among them.

      Love is the answer.

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  7. I don't remember how old I was when I learned of the internment camps, but I was older yet when I came to understand the cynical process of the relocation of Native Americans. I am still dismayed. And yet we also have our red-lined areas of urban poverty and, of course, the deeply rooted racism that is showing up every day in code words being used in the campaign against Obama. I grew up believing the nation (and the world) would just get better and better, and I still cling to hope most of the time, but it's getting more difficult. Thanks for yet another thought-provoking post, Teresa.

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    1. What was done to Native Americans was horrific and the damage done goes on.... Yes, urban poverty and the housing created therein is really another form of reservation. I cling tenaciously to hope, but I realize more and more that we must create our own.

      I always appreciate your comments.

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  8. Interesting photos from Ansel Adams. One comment about when the Japanese returned to their original homes. They were no longer theirs because after they left for the camps they were confiscated by neighbors and others -- they didn't lose their home they were robbed of their homes. Good post!

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    1. Lost = robbed. "lost" was the term I used, but perhaps I should have stated it clearly. Yes, robbed.

      Thank, Barbara.

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  9. It's called tyranny.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBWVWdvoCg&feature=related

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    1. Yes, it is, Will. "Relocation" is yet another horrifying euphemism meant to delude as many people as possible as to what is really happening.

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  10. In 1998, I visited Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. I was surprised when I encountered a monument to all those who had been imprisoned in the Castle Mountain Internment Camp during World War I. Part of the memorial is a statue at the base of which is a single word, 'Why?'

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    1. That's a story I'm not familiar with, but will look into. "Why?" indeed.

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