Japanese Internment: This is the Enemy

Download at: http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/internment/ for a larger version. A video about Japanese internment during World War II.

Our democracy was forged in a revolution, fought by revolutionaries who saw injustice & wanted to improve their society. I believe that if our democracy is to remain viable, social criticism must remain an essential part of our nation's education. I strongly criticize the way our nation treated its Japanese-American citizens during the Second World War, & the way I make my point is to use the most palpable evidence of the innocence of those citizens they interned. I show pictures of children in my video as a way to contrast the intent of the policy of internment versus the effect of the internment. Whatever any other governments or people did during that horrible war, what we did to our own citizens was wrong. As a citizen, educator, & most importantly, mother living within the United States, I see it as my duty to critique, criticize, & attempt to improve the direction of American society. This video is one way I attempt to reach that end.

In my classroom, my goal is to empower students by giving them the knowledge of how their society works, & through this, how to alter its course. I endeavor to teach students about the interconnectedness of the world, that they have a place in it, & that they have the power to direct it. Without knowledge of their position in our democratic society as citizens, students may never realize their ability to direct society. Without the realization that they can change society, students may never try. Such a situation is no better than that of a citizen who is powerless to instigate change. If we are to best educate democratic citizens in our society, social criticism must be taught to our children. Citizens who either believe that their world should remain unchanged, or who believe they have no place in changing our society unlikely to be active in our democracy. Without active citizenry, democracy dies.

One of the most important parts of social criticism is debate. The beauty of using imagery to teach history that it evokes discussion, as evidenced by many of your comments. I welcome any video responses showing opposing or alternate viewpoints or covering related subjects.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Japanese
• Internment
• Camp
• Japan
• Racism
• Jap
• World
• War
• II
• WWII
• Camps

[linkinparkftw57]

what song is that with the flute at 2:00

[gretchenbertram]

@linkinparkftw57 Wada, Kaoru. InuYasha The Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler. Original Soundtrack. © Rumiko Takashashi/Shogakukan, YTV, Sunrise, ShoPro, NTV, Toho, Yomiuri-TV Enterprises, 2003.

[gretchenbertram]

All source citations can be viewed here: ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/inter­nment/sources.cfm

[theexpliotedforlife]

@UCMGTWOClan The Internment camps were paradise compared to the Prisoner of War camps ran by the Japanese army.

[UCMGTWOClan]

@UCMGTWOClan and they TAKE AMERICA BACK FROM THE EVIL NAZI KKK AMERICANS. The white guy goes to DC and BUTCHERS FDR ON LIVE TV . then emperor hirohito make white guy ruler of america the end>>

note this is rough draft i plan on working on it when i get around to it

[UCMGTWOClan]

my story of alternete history: White guy has japanese girl friend. EVIL KKK NAZI AMERICAN US MARINES take here away to death camp for she is NOT ARYAN. white guy mad. so he gets friends and guns down his WHOLE FAMILY because they love DEAR PATRIOT DICTATOR FDR. later they ATTACK A US MARINES BASE AND LEAVE NO SURVIVORS. later they raid death camp MASSACURE THE GUARDS and ave all the STARVING JAPANESE PEOPLE. he gets JAPANESE girllfriend back. Later japanese army arrives..

[religiofob]

Hey, Americans, you really don't understand why your government put the Japs in camps only? Germans and Italians - not? A CULTURAL DIFFERENCE! Japs belonged to other cultural sphere so you couldn't trust them! They didn't identify with your country and culture so it was the only way. Look at the muslims in Europe now - in the case of war, they will be good citizens?

[98vanguard]

@HistoryHmoobGuy the reason why German-Americans were never put in camps like this is because hitler used propaganda to convince the people of Germany to hate jews and be racist just like him so the German people in America new not to betray us because they new what was going on back home has nothing to do with patriotism unlike in Japan SOME of the people there thought it would be good to fight America because there goverment did well that was what America thought..

[UCMGTWOClan]

@HistoryHmoobGuy DUH america worked for hitler THEY MURDER PEOPLE

[HistoryHmoobGuy]

how come germans wasnt in camps also?

FUCK AMERICA, why the hell would god bless this terrorist nation?