Farewell To Manzanar Project by Kevin Harring

Introduction

kevinwh — 2024-01-09 19:42:13 UTC

During the 1940s, there were 120,000 Japanese Americans sent to internment camps in the United States. This number was over 90 percent of Japanese Americans at the time. In the memoir Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James Houston, there are numerous differences and similarities between the American Legion and the Japanese American Citizen League which demonstrated the need to educate future generations.

Evidence 1

kevinwh — 2024-01-09 19:42:58 UTC

There are differences and similarities between the goals of the American Legion and the Japanese American Citizens League. One example is, "...the JACL collaborated with the U.S. government, FBI, and the Office of Naval Intelligence in an attempt to promote Nisei as loyal, patriotic citizens..." (Lyon). The article shows that the JACL had the best intentions when it came to helping the Japanese Americans. It also shows that the JACL was trying to defend the Japanese Americans against the U.S. government. Another piece of evidence from the American Legion website, "The American Legion made home front support its main mission". This shows the American Legions goal being to support the mainland U.S. during the war. This differs from the JACL's goal because the JACL was more focused on helping Japanese Americans. The last piece of evidence is from the JACL website, "1929: Japanese American groups form a national organization to foster good citizenship and civic participation, called the Japanese American Citizens League". This explains that the JACL's goal from the beginning was to help Japanese Americans. It also shows how the JACL and American Legion were similar because they both wanted to help Americans. In conclusion, all of this shows how the JACL and American Legion have their differences, but still want to help Americans.

Evidence 3 (book)

kevinwh — 2024-01-09 19:43:46 UTC

The views of the American Legion and The Japanese American Citizen League are very different shown in the memoir Farewell to Mansanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James Houston. To start off, while discussing going back to the West Coast, she explains “In addition to the traditionally racist organizations like The American Legion…preventing anyone of Japanese descent from returning to the West Coast…” (Houston 115). This demonstrates the racist views of the American Legion, which is opposite of the Japanese American Citizens League’s views. They don’t want anyone of Japanese descent from returning which proves their racism, and is dramatically different from The American Legion. On the other hand, before their discussion about the West Coast, she talks about her father, and mentions, “Members of the Japanese American Citizen League were being called Inu for having helped the Army arrange a peaceful and orderly evacuation” (Houston 61). Even though they helped evacuate the Japanese, they were doing it peacefully, and the most helpful was they could. Because of this, the peacefulness towards the Japanese shows the reader the difference between the organizations. To conclude, she talks about the riots that happened in the Mess Hall, “On the night of December 5th Fred Tayama, a leader in the Japanese American Citizen League…well known for his defiance and contempt for the authorities” (Houston 66). The reader must understand that Fred was a leader of The Japanese American Citizen League, and had the same views of JACL. This shows that his contempt towards the authority, proves that JACL views are towards Japanese Americans to be treated better, proving the difference between the organizations. Through Jeannes discussions, the reader can see the views of The American Legion, and the Japanese American Citizen League are very different from each other.

Conclusion

kevinwh — 2024-01-09 19:43:58 UTC

Even though The American Legion has changed since WW2, there are numerous differences between The American legion, and The Japanese American Citizen League shown throughout several different articles and the memoir Farewell To Manzanar that demonstrates the need to educate the future generation. Those differences being the views on the Japanese, each organizations goals, and the actions of each organization.

Works Cited

kevinwh — 2024-01-09 19:44:06 UTC

American Legion. American Legion Logo. 31 Oct. 2019,

American Legion Logo. (2019,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_

Legion_Seal_SVG.svg.

American Legion. “OUR WWII STORY: We Are Comrades Now.” American Legion, American Legion, 26 Aug.

2020, https://www.legion.org/magazine/250024/

our- wwii- story-we-are-comrades-now.

Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

HOUSTON, JEANNE WAKATSUKI. Farewell to Manzanar. HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT, 2018.

Japanese American Citizens League. “History — JACL.” Jacl, 2023, https://jacl.org/history. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Japanese American Citizens League. Japanese American Citizens League Logo. 2023, https://jacl.org/jacl- store/p/standard-postcard.

Lyon, Cherstin. "Japanese American Citizens League." Densho Encyclopedia. 8 Oct 2020, 16:12 PDT. 24 Jan 2024, 11:21

<https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Japanese%20

American%2 0Citizens%20League>.

Robbins, Williams. G. “This Land, Oregon.” Oregon History Project, 2002,

https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/narratives/

this-land- oregon/oregon-in-depression-and-war- 1925- 1945/japanese-forced-removal-and-

incarceration/. Accessed 25 Jan. 2024.

Evidence 2

loganxw — 2024-01-11 19:28:44 UTC

In the article, This Land, Oregon by William G. Robbins, the reader can see the difference in how badly the American Legion treated Japanese Americans compared to the Japanese American Citizen League (JACL). Robbins states “ In one of the most egregious incidents, the Hood River American Legion removed the names of sixteen Japanese American servicemen from the local honor role, creating a national furor” (Robbins 1). This shows how the American Legion mistreated the Japanese Americans and would disrespect their service. It's also important to note how this made so many people angry over their actions and even caused an uproar. Robbins goes on to say “When the federal government permitted the prisoners to return home in December 1944, most of them remained in the camps for another year because of the anti-Japanese sentiment in their hometowns.” (Robbins 2). One can see the Japanese Americans were treated so terribly to the point where they would rather stay in the camps than go back home. This is especially disturbing considering the life they had to deal with within the camps. Robbins also states “ After the war the Japanese American Citizens League sought justice for those who had been imprisoned” (Robbins 3). He continued saying “One of the organization's important achievements was passage of the Japanese American Claims Act in 1948, a measure designed to help the former prisoners recover lost property” (Robbins 4). This demonstrates how the JACL helped the Japanese Americans get settled and fought for compensation on their behalf. The reader can see that the JACL assisted the Japanese Americans many times and helped make a huge difference in their lives. From these events the reader can see the big differences in how the American Legion and the JACL behaved towards Japanese Americans being granted release from the camps.