Note to the ReaderId. at 14.
About the Words
The precise use of words is essential when discussing this chapter of U.S. history. We are influenced by Power of Words Handbook: A Guide to Language About Japanese Americans in World War II, published in 2013 by the Japanese American Citizens League and available online. Misleading words shroud the reality of what actually happened during the war. Japanese Americans on the West Coast were not 'evacuated,' which connotes that they were taken away for their own good. They did not go to an 'assembly center,' which sounds like a place to gather for a parade.
When referring to people of Japanese ancestry, we generally use the term 'Japanese Americans.' Some were immigrants; others were U.S. citizens. Issei (meaning 'first generation') emigrated from Japan and were ineligible for citizenship until the passage of immigration laws in 1952. Nisei ('second generation') were their children, who were citizens because they were born in the United States. Both groups had abiding stakes in America, making them Japanese Americans.
We prefer 'incarceration' to 'internment,' which has been used improperly for decades. Because Issei were born in a country with which the United State was at war, they were classified as enemy aliens. The term for the confinement of enemy aliens is 'internment.' That term does not apply when citizens are confined. Many Japanese Americans prefer the term 'incarceration' for the confinement of both groups.
The government used the term 'evacuation'; we prefer 'forced removal.' The government used 'relocation'; we prefer 'incarceration.' The government use 'assembly center'; we use the term in the proper names of camps but otherwise prefer 'temporary detention center,' or 'temporary incarceration center.' The same holds for 'relocation center,' which we use in proper names of camps but prefer 'permanent detention center,' or 'permanent incarceration center.' Some Japanese Americans prefer 'concentation camps.' that is exactly what thee camps were, but we do not use that term because of its association with European concentration camps in World War II, which are more aptly described as 'death camps.'
Sunday, May 6, 2018
INCARCERATING JAPANESE AMERICANS DURING WWII
Richard Cahan & Michael Williams, Un-American: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II: Images by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and Other Government Photographers (Chicago: Cityfiles Press, 2016):
