Japanese American Dream Analysis

Her view demonstrates the personal experiences and hardships each man was going through, how the war affected them differently, and the disagreement on what occurred afterward. The attitude towards the United States by Japanese Americans after being held in internment because of the government was split in two ways: either despising the country and how it disrespected them, or, felt like it was their duty to exhibit how they belonged to this country and being a good American, even after everything that was endured. This distinction between these two sides is exemplified through the course of the book and the character development that both men go through. Ko Wakatsuki was a good man, and a good one to his family.

Japanese Americans constantly had an urge to go home, but they had to stay in the miserable camp with terrible conditions and qualities. They wanted to go home so badly and live a normal life with their families, but they could not. Moreover, struggles between these groups also show differences. “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” This opening line of Lincoln’s address tells us that Americans should treat others the same. However, during the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War, Americans fought themselves “breaking the rules”.

The trauma that they endured enabled them to desensitize themselves to the attacks of their fellow Americans and thrive in a community that did not trust them. The Japanese-American people managed the trials and tribulations of America through collective willpower that enabled them to flourish in a hostile

Through his short, vague, and censored accounts, readers learn that the father was taken directly from his home in Berkeley to Fort Missoula Internment Camp in Montana by train. At Fort Missoula, the father lived with thousands of Italian, German, and South American men, including 1,000 other Japanese-Americans being held for loyalty hearings ("Alien Detention Center"). According to the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, “[No Japanese American] was ever charged with any act of disloyalty but all were held at Fort Missoula or other camps for the duration of the war.” This proves that racism was the only reason these men were taken and subjected to the horrors of wartime interrogation, and the subsequent psychological

The reasoning behind General DeWitt for this command was because the Japanese race was an “enemy” (p.346). However, with so much discrimination against all Asian Americans, they still persevered and it is inspiring to see how individuals such as the Chinese Americans still motivated their children to gain an education. This strength and bravery can also be seen in literary works such as Edith Maud Eaton’s, “In the Land of the Free”, and in Chien-Chi Chang’s artistic work such as his portfolio, “USA. 1990s. New York’s Chinatown”. To begin with, in Eaton’s, “In the Land of the Free”, she illustrates the story of a husband and wife and their struggles and fight to gain back their child.

Mary Matsuda Gruenewald tells her tale of what life was like for her family when they were sent to internment camps in her memoir “Looking like the Enemy.” The book starts when Gruenewald is sixteen years old and her family just got news that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japan. After the bombing Gruenewald and her family life changed, they were forced to leave their home and go to internment camps meant for Japanese Americans. During the time Gruenewald was in imprisonment she dealt with the struggle for survival both physical and mental. This affected Gruenewald great that she would say to herself “Am I Japanese?

For the next two and a half years, many of these Japanese-American citizens endured poor living conditions are poor treatment by their military guards, along with the rest of the country. A very important reason in proving that President Roosevelt 's

Matsuda’s memoir is based off of her and her family’s experiences in the Japanese-American internment camps. Matsuda reveals what it is like during World War II as a Japanese American, undergoing family life, emotional stress, long term effects of interment, and her patriotism and the sacrifices she had to make being in the internment camps. Everyone living in Western section of the United States; California, Oregon, of Japanese descent were moved to internment camps after the Pearl Harbor bombing including seventeen year old Mary Matsuda Gruenewald and her family. Matsuda and her family had barely any time to pack their bags to stay at the camps. Matsuda and her family faced certain challenges living in the internment camp.

When filling out surveys or job applications, all Asians must check off the “Asian American” box regardless of national origin or place of birth, forcing a single classification on an extremely diverse group. This aggregated approach to understanding Asian American is not new, it has been present since the us versus them Occident-Orient approach that powered racism against early Asian immigrants. With the increasing presence of second and third generation Asian Americans, it is time to redefine what it means to be Asian American and to discover a new manner of framing the Asian American experience as unified yet diverse. The best approach to emphasize diversity is through stressing the national, socio-economic and gender differences within the Asian American

African Americans on the battle front are put into segregated divisions, whereas Native Americans dealt with compliment racism or unintentional racism. Chinese Americans were concerned with being accused of being Japanese, while the Japanese Americans tried to prove they were American too. Throughout his book, Takaki demonstrates the varying levels of racism experienced, and how hard work and perseverance helped these groups prove themselves to some degree. Takaki claims, all of these minorities groups, gained some form of freedom and equality either through the military or through job opportunities and improvements.

How would you feel if one day you were told to leave your whole life behind to live in captivity just because people halfway across the world did something wrong? This horror story was all too true for the thousands of Japanese Americans alive during World War II. Almost overnight, thousands of proud Japanese Americans living on the west coast were forced to leave their homes and give up the life they knew. The United States government was not justified in the creation of Japanese internment camps because it stripped law-abiding American citizens of their rights out of unjustified fear.

Jennifer L. Hochschild describes the American dream as “the soul of the nation.” She clearly illustrates the importance of the dream to American culture. So, what is the American dream according to Hochschild? She was referring to John Locke and his fantasy, then said “But the sentence evokes the unsullied newness, infinite possibility, limitless resources that are commonly understood to be the essences of the “American dream.” She also pointed out the flaws in the American dream and how at times the pursuit of it can lead to counterproductive outcomes not just for the individual but society as a whole.

“Mary Tsukamoto once said ‘I knew it would leave a scar that would stay with me forever. At that moment my precious freedom was taken from me’” (Martin 54). The Betrayal. The attack on Pearl Harbor.

Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were savagely and unjustifiably uprooted from their daily lives. These Japanese-Americans were pulled from their jobs, schools, and home only to be pushed to

As a result, all Japanese were discriminated in the U.S.A. as biased perceptions were already set in their minds. They were judging the Japanese as the whole, just because the attack of a small part of the