This Presidents Day coincides with the 82nd anniversary of Executive Order 9066 that led to the incarceration of the Japanese American community during World War 2. No person of Japanese ancestry living in the United States was ever convicted of any serious act of espionage or sabotage during the war.
A three-part monument, “Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration” lists over 125,000 names of men, women and children who were incarcerated, including at least 70,000 U.S. citizens, all because of American xenophobia during World War 2. Those who were as little as 1⁄16 Japanese were placed in the camps, including Japanese as far away as South America.
There were at least 10 known sites where the Japanese were concentrated during this era, and the National Archives estimate over $1.3 billion was lost in property damage over the policy. These sites were Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Tule Lake and Manzanar in California, Topaz in Utah, Poston and Gila River in Arizona, Granada in Colorado, Minidoka in Idaho, and Jerome and Rowher in Arkansas.
Among the prominent Japanese Americans who were incarcerated was the actor and community activist George Takei, best known for his role as Mr. Sulu on Star Trek, Pat Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid, and Norman Mineta, a Representative from San Jose, Secretary of Commerce under Clinton, and Secretary of Transportation under Bush.
From 1987-2004, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History presented the exhibit “A More Perfect Union: Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution.” We recommend you explore the online version that was posted in 2011. There are at least 12 books about the Japanese American internment experience, and several films you can watch to explore the issue.
As the Lao and Southeast Asian American community in diaspora in the US marks 50 years since the end of the conflicts, it is also worthwhile to mention how many in our community have direct connections to the experience of the Japanese interned in the camps. A little over 5 years after the end of the wars, as refugees from Southeast Asia were just beginning to arrive in the US, the Nisei Japanese Americans recognized what it meant for conflict to prevent students from pursuing their educations especially in the US, and in 1980, they established the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund. The NSRCF has since awarded nearly 1,000 scholarships totaling just over $1 million to students in the Southeast Asian community ranging from $250 to $2,500.
This scholarship fund was established in gratitude to the National Japanese American Student Relocation Council which allowed the Nisei to leave the World War II internment camps for colleges and universities across the US. This unique program travels to a different part of the United States each year and has already served the Southeast Asian community in over 30 cities and regions. This year the scholarships are being offered in Wisconsin so please share details with qualified students graduating high school and encourage them to apply. The deadline is March 25th, 2024. There is also a separate scholarship for youth with roots in Myanmar, that may be of interest to many.