Resilience: The Wartime Incarceration of Japanese Americans
When we think about World War II, we often picture a war that happened mostly overseas, and we think of our country’s involvement as primarily positive. We sent troops to help the Allied forces and we created a cohesive wartime effort at home to support our soldiers. But, if you’ve been tuning in to Here’s Where It Gets Interesting for a while, you know that to truly understand American history, we need to take a deeper look.
While army volunteer posters and Rosie the Riviter newspaper ads united the nation’s wartime efforts, much of the public was also united in their support of a government-sponsored effort: the incarceration of Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
In our 15-part series, Resilience, we learn more about the strength shown by the 120 thousand Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes, their neighborhoods, their jobs, and their schools.
Sharon and her expert guests talk listeners through the early days of Asian immigration through the attack on Pearl Harbor. Learn about the mass hysteria and propaganda that helped fuel the public’s opinion that removing Japanese Americans from the West Coast was the right course of action. Hear first-hand accounts about life in camp and the push by a determined third generation to seek reparations from the U.S. government.
Resilience shares the history and the lasting legacy of those who endured government-enforced wartime imprisonment right here in America.
Episode 15:
Your Questions Answered
We asked you to write or call in with your lingering questions about Japanese incarceration. In this episode, Sharon answers your questions. What happened to Japanese Americans in Hawaii after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, what happened to the assets of the incarcerated, and where you can find more resources, like oral histories, photos, and video compilations. Read the show notes.
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Episode 14:
An Interview with George Takei Pt. 2
Listen to part 2 of Sharon's conversation with actor George Takei about his childhood experiences with forced removal and incarcerated camp life. Read the show notes.
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Episode 13:
An Interview with George Takei Pt. 1
Listen to a conversation between Sharon and George Takei about his childhood experiences with forced removal and incarcerated camp life. Read the show notes.
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Episode 12:
Redress and Reparation
During the postwar era, a new generation was born to the Nisei as they returned to their lives outside of incarceration camps. This third generation, the Sansei, were raised by parents who endured years of discrimination and incarceration, but they themselves came of age during the 1960s and 70s–a time in America’s history that saw the of both civil unrest… and transformation. Read the show notes.
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Episode 11:
The Fear of What Comes Next
What happened when Japanese Americans were told they were free citizens once again? Given only a train ticket and twenty-five dollars, the incarcerated did not know what awaited them once they left. Would they be able to return to their West Coast homes and communities? Or perhaps it would be easier to make a fresh start in a new city. But who would give them jobs? Were there people willing to help an entire population of people who had been, for so long, vilified by their neighbors, the media, and the government? Kimi Cunningham Grant joins us again to read from Silver Like Dust. Read the show notes.
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Episode 10:
All the Way to the Supreme Court
Hear more from Professor Lorraine Bannai about Executive Order 9066, Japanese American resistance, and how they were both important to key Supreme Court Cases. The Supreme Court gave broad legal authority when it came to matters of national security. With the military and the Executive Branch of the government having an incredible amount of jurisdiction, supported by Congress, it raised the question of, “How do you define national security?” Join us as we explore this age-old question and the cases that moved this conversation forward. Read the show notes.
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Episode 9:
The Spirit of Resistance
What was camp life like? Through it all, many incarcerated found ways to add beauty and joy into their long days and nights. They cultivated the dusty land around them, practiced their crafts, and created a sense of community and belonging. Though they never should have had to, incarcerated Japanese Americans showed strength and resilience from behind fences made of barbed wire. We will hear again from Professor Lorraine Bannai as well as from the book Silver Like Dust by author Kimi Cunningham Grant. Read the show notes.
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Episode 8:
The Long Days of Camp Life
By the fall of 1942, the military had moved most of the imprisoned Japanese Americans from temporary camps into long-term incarceration barracks; camps in isolated locations where they would spend the next few years behind barbed wire fences and stripped of the lives and homes they worked so hard to create for themselves before the war. Read the show notes.
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Episode 7:
Only What You Can Carry
Learn about the military’s limitations on “enemy aliens” both before and after President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. Japanese Americans were forced to scramble. They didn’t know the specifics of what was coming next, but they knew that everything was changing rapidly. Military police flooded into West Coast cities, curfews were enacted and enforced, businesses were forced to close indefinitely, and families were told to start packing up only what they could carry with them. Read the show notes.
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Episode 6:
The Forced Removal of 120 Thousand Japanese Americans
After President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, General John DeWitt issued over a hundred exclusion orders in quick succession, and demanded that all Japanese Americans–even those with as little as one-sixteenth ancestry–prepare themselves for being sent to incarceration camps. They had under two weeks to pack up–to give up everything they owned, everything they treasured–and prepare for the unknown. Read the show notes.
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Episode 5:
A Country at War
Let's talk about what happened immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the death of over 2,400 American servicemen. How did the US government respond and how quickly did they mobilize? What, exactly, became the plan, and how did they carry it out? Read the show notes.
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Episode 4:
Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor
Meet author Craig Nelson, who shares insights on what exactly happened during the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Read the show notes.
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Episode 3:
The Movement of Japan in the East
Let's step back from the American West Coast and talk about some of the events that were happening globally. Events that shaped the relationship between the U.S. and two Asian countries: China and Japan. What led Japan to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941? Read the show notes.
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Episode 2:
The Patriotic Lives of the Issei and Nisei
Let’s learn about what life was like for the Japanese immigrants who settled along the West Coast–how they assimilated into American culture, raised their families, and flourished, despite the barriers of restrictive laws and policies and the open hostility from Japanese exclusionists. Read the show notes.
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Episode 1:
Asian Immigration and the American West Coast
In this series, we explore a part of American history that we tend to learn very little about: the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Dive into the details–the hows and the whys – and learn more about the resilience shown by the 120 thousand Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes, their neighborhoods, their jobs, and their schools, and who endured government-enforced wartime imprisonment right here in America. Joining Sharon today is Dr. Ellen Wu, who researches, teaches, and writes about race and immigration in United States history. Read the show notes.
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