Name: Ugly history: Japanese American incarceration camps - Densho
Uploaded: 2019-10-26T03:52:28.000Z
Duration: 5 min 46 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

16 year-old Aki Kurose shared in the  horror of millions of Americans

when Japanese planes  attacked Pearl Harbor.

would soon leave her family and  over 120,000 Japanese Americans

Japanese American communities had been growing in the US for over 50 years.

many of whom settled on the West Coast  and had lived there for decades.

The rest were born as American citizens,  like Aki.

where she never thought of herself as anything but American–

until the day after the attack, when a  teacher told her:

Amid racism, paranoia,  and fears of sabotage,

people labelled Japanese Americans  as potential traitors.

FBI agents began to search homes,  confiscate belongings

and detain community leaders  without trial.

Aki's family was not immediately subjected to these extreme measures,

but on February 19, 1942, President  Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066.

The order authorized the removal of any  suspected enemies–

including anyone of even  partial Japanese heritage–

Japanese Americans were pushed to leave restricted areas and migrate inland.

But as the government froze  their bank accounts

and imposed local restrictions  such as curfews,

many were unable to leave–  Aki's family among them.

In March, a proclamation forbid Japanese  Americans from changing their residency,

In May, the army moved Aki and her family,

along with over 7,000 Japanese Americans living in Seattle

to "Camp Harmony" in Puyallup, Washington.

This was one of several makeshift  detention centers

where entire families were packed into  poorly converted stables and barracks.

the army moved Japanese Americans  into long-term camps

moving Aki and her family to  Minidoka in southern Idaho.

many of these camps were still being  constructed when incarcerees moved in.

These hastily built prisons were  overcrowded and unsanitary.

People frequently fell ill and were unable to receive proper medical care.

The War Relocation Authority relied on  incarcerees to keep the camps running.

Many worked in camp facilities or taught  in poorly equipped classrooms,

Some Japanese Americans rebelled,  organizing labor strikes and even rioting.

But many more,  like Aki's parents, endured.

They constantly sought to recreate some  semblance of life outside the camps,

but the reality of their  situation was unavoidable.

Like many younger incarcerees,  Aki was determined to leave her camp.

She finished her final year  of high school at Minidoka,

and with the aid of an anti-racist Quaker  organization,

she was able to enroll at  Friends University in Kansas.

For Aki's family however, things wouldn't  begin to change until late 1944.

ruled that continued detention of American citizens without charges

Remaining incarcerees  were given a mere $25

and a train ticket to their  pre-war address,

but many no longer had a home  or job to return to.

Aki's family had been able to  keep their apartment,

and Aki eventually returned  to Seattle after college.

However, post-war prejudice  made finding work difficult.

Incarcarees faced discrimination  and resentment

from workers and tenants  who replaced them.

Fortunately, Japanese Americans  weren't alone

in the fight against  racial discrimination.

Aki found work with one of Seattle's first interracial labor unions

and joined the Congress  of Racial Equality.

She became a teacher, and over the next several decades,

her advocacy for multicultural, socially  conscious education

However, many ex-incarcerees,  particularly members of older generations,

were unable to rebuild  their lives after the war.

calling for the United States to atone  for this historic injustice.

In 1988, the US government officially  apologized for the wartime incarceration–

admitting it was the catastrophic result  of racism, hysteria,

Aki Kurose was awarded the  Human Rights Award

from the Seattle Chapter  of the United Nations,

celebrating her vision of peace and  respect for people of all backgrounds.

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Ugly history: Japanese American incarceration camps - Densho

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