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| Ansel Adams photograph of Manzanar, 1943, Library of Congress |
I was excited to learn that an American literature teacher and journalist in Shanghai, Britte Marsh, is having her tenth grade literature class study my essay on the World War II Japanese American prison camp Manzanar. Britte’s lesson plan is intriguing: to have her international school students read the young adult novel The War Between the Classes by Gloria D. Miklowitz and supplement that reading with my 18-part series.
The combination is a good one because the book is about a high school teacher who devises a game designed to explore the themes of racism, classism and sexism. He divides his students into four artificial classes, or socioeconomic strata, each designated by different-colored arm bands. This new order upends the natural hierarchy of the class: rich white students become the poorest of the poor and must bow and scrape to their superiors, the minority students. The protagonist, a Japanese American girl, also becomes aware of her family’s incarceration in a World War II U.S. government prison camp.
Britte wrote to me, “Together with the novel, I anticipate that your series will encourage my students to connect the dots between stereotyping, racial prejudice, media and ownership of familial heritage.” Out of her class of 13 tenth graders, only three had heard about the forced removal and imprisonment of West Coast Japanese, perhaps not surprising since none of them are Americans. One boy who was familiar with this chapter of American history was a Japanese student, again not surprising, since the topic is of great interest to the Japanese, who are probably on the whole more aware of the story than the average American.
The emails from Britte came at an interesting time, during the weeks leading up to the 70th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, which authorized the imprisonment of West Coast Japanese Americans as a “military necessity.” Just as this essay on Executive Order 9066 that I wrote for The Daily was posted, the Asian American American Journalist Association’s (AAJA) listserve was exploding daily with fresh comments about Jeremy Lin, the American-born Knicks basketball sensation who seemingly came out of nowhere to galvanize both his injury-ridden team and the world. Every day a fresh example of racial stereotyping, if not racism, was unearthed, in headlines, on Twitter, and by sports commentators. AAJA was admirably on the ball in spotting and drawing attention to these, and even issued a media advisory (since the AAJA site is temporarily down, I'm linking to member Lia Chang's site, which has the advisory posted) with tips on what is acceptable coverage of Lin and what is not.
Although global attention has been mostly admiring, and angled as the classic underdog story of an unknown breaking out to become a star, I couldn’t help but notice some parallels between Linsanity coverage and the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II. For one thing, it’s hard for some sports journalists and fans to see Lin as the American that he is. Just as the Nisei, or American-born Japanese Americans, were during World War II, he is considered foreign. Someone like Alex Rodriguez is not defined as a Dominican immigrant, even though he lived in the Dominican Republic for part of his childhood. A first-generation Irish or German American pro athlete would be even less susceptible to such perceptions.
The AAJA media sheet advised reporters and editors, “Jeremy Lin is Asian American, not Asian…Lin’s experiences were fundamentally different than people who immigrated to play in the NBA…to characterize him as a foreigner is both inaccurate and insulting.” Reading this for me evoked the cognitive dissonance of seeing prison camp photos filled with high school-aged Japanese Americans recreating the rituals, fashions and hairstyles of the all-American high school—the yearbooks, glee clubs, bobby socks and baseball teams—only behind barbed wire.
A lot has changed since those long ago days, and Jeremy Lin’s story is proof of that. Yet his story also reminds us that some things are still the same.
Dear Nancy
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your introduction about Manzanar, and I’m glad to learn about the history that I didn’t know before. After Ms. Britte showed us your blog and read the article about Jeremy Lin, I started to admire him very much. As being Asians, Jeremy Lin becomes a positive icon for all of us. I remember there’s an ESPN report about the headline writer calling Jeremy Lin “chink in the armor”. Several disputes started simultaneously. This sort of sentiment still existed. Prejudice runs deep, and it’s barely to change this fact. I think the only thing that we can change is our attitudes toward racism and the way we deal with the problems. Again, thanks for sharing all the great information about Manzanar.
Sincerely,
Stephanie and Tanya
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China
Dear Stephanie and Tanya,
DeleteThank you for your comment on Jeremy Lin and Manzanar, and for sharing your admiration for Lin and your thoughts on prejudice.
You are both more aware than I was at your age of what is going on in the world. The furor over Jeremy Lin has died down here, especially after he was sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Now that I look back on it, I am amazed at what a national, even international, phenomenon he was, and although many of the media gaffes were unfortunate, the entire episode gave the world the opportunity to think about these issues, and I hope become more aware of latent prejudice that still exists in America and elsewhere.
Good luck with your studies!
Nancy
Dear Nancy Matsumoto,
ReplyDeleteEven though I’m Japanese and educated in Japan for 14 years, and aware of the fact that Japanese soldiers attacked American harbor, I didn’t know that there were Japanese-American who were suffering and persecuted by American citizens. Therefore, I really appreciate you letting us learn about Manzanar. It waqs really influential to me, because as a Japanese teenager, who is really not familiar with discrimination, it is crucially important for young generations to know or understand what discrimination is, in order to prevent from repeating this horrible incident. And the essay itself is quite important as well, because the number of people who are familiar with this event have gradually decreased, so they have less opportunities to know, so this essay is really precious source for those people, I desire them to read this remarkable document. I hope you will continue your great work, and hope we will have a conversation in Japanese!
Sincerely,
Masakazu and Sally
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China
Dear Masakazu and Sally,
DeleteThank you for your touching comments. I am very gratified to hear that my Manzanar essay helped you learn about a chapter of history that is not as well known as it should be.
I was recently in Japan, which I had not visited for a very long time. It was wonderful to be back, but I was reminded of how homogeneous society is there. It's true that you do not have as many daily reminders of race discrimination there.
If your interest in this topic continues, perhaps you will be able to read more about the World War II Japanese American prison camps in Japanese.
You can also look up the 2011 Japanese Tokyo Broadcasting System drama "99 Nen no Ai." Here's an article on it from Nichi Bei newspaper: http://ow.ly/avqm3.
I would love to have a conversation in Japanese with you! I don't get to speak enough. You can reach me through my website to do that.
Good luck with your studies!
Nancy
Hi Ms. Matsumoto, this is Kathy from Ms. Britte’s class.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I share your feeling of anger and hatred after learning the way Japanese Americans were treated as aliens by U.S government during WWII, even though many of them proved their loyalty and patriotism for the United States. Also I agree with your point that on one hand, times have changed and Jeremy’s story has proved it since now AAJA came out and urge that reporters and editors who are responsible for Linsanity should show equal respect towards Lin, the American-born new star, in terms of coverage. However, on the other hand, something still remains the same after almost 70 years. In my opinion, it is racial prejudices that run so deep inside people’s minds that it’s not possible to remove all of the discrimination over a period of time. Kids have been growing in such kind of environment wherein people are convinced the white are superior and minorities such as the black, Latinos and Asians are inferior. Hence, if we want to make a difference in the way that people treat each other, we should start from this root. It’s significant to tell them there is no inequality between various races though we come from different family and we have different colors.
In addition, I want to add that prejudices can go both sides. Firstly, there is a different way of discrimination in China. Since we all have the same color, people are judged based on how much money they have and the regions they come from. Me personally, it has been very hard for me to fit in this environment when I first came to Shanghai as people also viewed us as aliens. At the very beginning, we were the outcast and prejudices against us could be found every day. If you go to the food market, for example, you will find food prices are cheaper if you can speak Shanghainese. From a child’s point of view, this is a typical example of discrimination. What’s more, for those like me, who have immigrated to Shanghai after they were born, local high schools are not available unless we have a Shanghai citizenship which costs lots of money to get. In other words, after we spent 9 years studying hard in order to attend high school in Shanghai, we have to go back where we were born. This is a disaster because for one, the textbooks used in other parts of China are totally different and for the other, this means all of our plans for future are messed up. Accordingly, we, the minorities in many ways hate such kind of atmosphere. But recently I just came to realize Shanghainese shouldn’t always be blamed since they also did a lot of sacrifice. For instance, in order to comply with the government’s policy of developing Shanghai into an international financial centre and a stage for the integration of different cultures. As a result, everything is carefully regulated such as kids are forced to speak Mandarin at school, otherwise they will be punished. Gradually their own dialect, Shanghainese is left alone along with many other things with Shanghainese style like the buildings. Being international sounds terrific because the newest technology, facilities and English education all make this city seem appealing. But in the mean time, Shanghainese people do not have a choice but to accept a huge wave of people coming from totally different backgrounds to live on this land. To this extent, I now can understand why the government limited the number of immigrants who can have the same access to education in Shanghai. The reason is otherwise real Shanghai will soon disappear, no longer exist on this planet since the term “international” is like impurities in a cup of water, eventually we will not be able to see its original color or other properties.
Sincerely,
Kathy
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China
Dear Kathy,
DeleteWow, I learned a lot from your comment about what Shanghai society and education is like -- thank you.
What part of China are you from? And did you study hard to be able to come to Shanghai to be educated? The type of prejudice you describe, within a single nationality, is different from the kind of prejudice against people of Japanese descent during World War II, but just as hurtful and unjust.
In America during World War II,the political climate similarly deepened divisions between different Asian nationalities. Chinese Americans wore pins declaring "I am Chinese," so that people would not treat them like traitors.
The effect of the mass imprisonment on some Japanese people was probably to downplay or even deny their Japanese identity to fit in with the predominant White society. It's sad to think that in a similar way, the different regional and ethnic groups in China are trying, or being forced, to "blend in" with a monolithic national identity.
Thank you for your thought-provoking comments and good luck with your studies, Kathy!
I will continue my replies to all of Ms. Britte's students later this week, I have to get back to work now! Thank you all again for your interesting comments.
Hello Nancy, this is Katy calling from Ms. Britte’s class,
ReplyDeleteWhen we began to read “Documenting Manzanar” I was really shocked to get to know about what America did to the American Japanese during WWII. I was really sad about it. But it made me realize how suspicious human beings can be towards each other, and how discriminating people can be towards other human beings, especially Caucasians. This makes me feel really ashamed because I am a Caucasian, and I think that what the Americans did was really wrong. More ashamedness was added to the ashamedness when we read you blog about Jeremy Lin and how many people see him as an Asian and not as a American.
Sincerely,
Katy
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China
Dear Katy,
DeleteThat's a big burden of "ashamedness" to bear!I didn't really write it to make Caucasians feel ashamed. I hope that my essay will help make you more aware of even the little ways that our prejudices and preconceptions and affect the way we treat other people, and feel compassion toward those who are struggling to free themselves from unfair stereotyping.
If it gets you thinking about ways that you yourself can be an activist for change, that's all the better!
Thank you for reading and thinking hard about Manzanar, and for sending me your thoughts.
Good luck with your studies!
Hi Nancy, I agree with your point that the racial stereotypes still exist in the US, either negative or otherwise. These stereotypes still linger there; even after so long it is very surprising that these traditional stereotypes still exist and the US government calls itself a “democracy”. Media is the biggest player in injecting these stereotypes over and over again into the Americans, and I think part of it is also done by some parents. The media obviously depicts the conservativeness of the US government. I found a reoccurring attitude between the Japanese after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Muslims after the 9/11 attack and the novel “The War Between the Classes”. It is the common attempt of trying to be accepted and trying to be safe by trying to be nice instead of fighting back explicitly without movements or riots.
ReplyDeleteSincerely , Bhavya
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Mash
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China.
Dear Bhavya,
DeleteYou have identified two major influences on how the attitudes of young people, both positive and negative, are shaped: parents and the media.
From my writings in the eating disorders field, I know that strong positive parental influences can go a long way toward counteracting a toxic media environment.
Just by thinking about and discussing these issues, you are on the road to becoming one of those positive influencers, whether or not you have children.
You don't just have to be nice instead of fighting back, too. There are ways to try to bridge cultures through writing, music and art, as well as diplomacy. This story in today's New York Times reminded me of that: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/arts/music/arif-lohar-performs-at-asia-society.html?_r=1&ref=music .
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, and good luck with your studies, Bhavya!
Hi Nancy, I totally agree with you about the point at many things have change since the Manzanar , but still remain the same. But at the same time I think in this event of Jeremy Lin, is that people called him Asian, install of Asian American, is in some way trying to focus on how he is successful at making the stereotype of “basketball is not an Asian sport”, I personally, a member of the girls basketball term, I enjoy playing basketball and I enjoy watching the game, and like the other people, I always think that, not many Asian people are good at basketball and although there are Asian basketball player, they are always not as good, maybe because of they do not have as much training, maybe it is because of a different body build. When I first started to pay attention on Jeremy, is when he beat Koby in one of the game. I was like “wait, what? How did that possible?” everyone was surprise of what he did and what he could do. And I am an Chinese Australian, though I am born and rise in Australia, I am proud and I think I am part of Chinese, having a Australian passport does not mean I am not Asian, I do not mind people calling me plain Asian, or plain Chinese. Therefore, I think, there might be some misunderstanding, but I do not think that is to a point which is “offensive”.
ReplyDeleteFrom Jessica.
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Mash
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China.
Dear Jessica,
DeleteThank you for your comment. It it interesting to hear from a basketball player! I agree that these discussions can seem nit-picky about terminology, "Asian" vs "Asian American."
On the one hand, I agree with you, why not celebrate Lin's Asian heritage and the fact that he was for a time a starting guard on the New York Knicks!(And I hope will be again, after he recovers from his injury.)
On another level, these semantic differences matter to Asian Americans struggling with coming to terms with their identity and wanting to be recognized as both American and of Asian heritage. My preference would be to gently point out the differences but try not to cast a wet blanket on the all-around amazingness of Lin's story.
By the way, I was at the game at Madison Square Garden where Lin dominated Kobe Bryant, and the atmosphere was electric. Total strangers were ecstatically high-fiving each other over Lin's performance--it was a heart-warming evening. Everyone loved Lin, and the fact that he was Taiwanese-American was what made it an especially exciting night.
Good luck with your basketball and your studies!
Hi Nancy!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point about the fact that a lot has changed since those long days, yet Jeremy Lin’s story also reminds us that some things are still the same. Because as you’ve said, “every day a fresh example of racial stereotyping, if not racism, was unearthed, in headlines, on twitter and by sports commentators”, the racisms and stereotyping against ethnic minorities still exist these days, ethnic enclaves in big modern countries are results due to discrimination and racism in many ways. I think that these barriers are formed with time, and it would take us a long time to finally and completely take it down.
I liked how you said that Jeremy Lin should be considered as Asian American, not Asian. Even though his hair color, his eye color, and the rest of his physical features resembles that of an Asian, he is born and raised in the United States, and that should make him an American. If Jeremy Lin was German or British, no one would question his background and would automatically consider him as pure American, even if he was not born and raised in America. It is only because he has the features of an Asian that people call him an Asian, but he should not be considered a foreigner.
From,
Evy & Julia
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai China
Dear Evy and Julia,
DeleteThank you for your comment. You are right, the fact that Asians American features set them apart from Caucasian Americans have made it harder for Jeremy Lin than if he were German American or British American.
This was exactly the problem during World War II, when Italian Americans and German Americans were not subjected to nearly as much harassment and discrimination.
Muslim Americans in America today have a very similar problem: because of their difference in dress and appearance, it is easy for them to be singled out for discrimination. I came across this interesting newspaper supplement that the Japanese American organization Densho put together for The Seattle Times newspaper: http://services.nwsource.com/nie/times/pdfs/Densho%208-page_tab_April%2029_2012_lowres.pdf.
Densho would like people to learn about what happened to Japanese Americans during World War II and relate it to the treatment of Muslim Americans following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. There are many parallels.
Good luck with your studies!
Dear Nancy:
ReplyDeletePeople are distinctly separated by colors, the traditional way that we think in our opinion. The kinship among siblings is much easier and more comfortable for people to acknowledge each other. Most people judge others by their appearances, skin colors or ancestries instead of where they live, the place they really belong to. Their lifestyles and habits have already changed into the ways in the living countries. We’re glad to see the differentiation made between being an American citizen and an immigrant. To us, this is a huge contrast that only makes the imprisonment of the Japanese so much more unfair. It asks a question, that being whether the American government would impose the same rules and internment experience and racial prejudice upon its Caucasian citizens. The unfairness and injustice of the entire experience is appallingly clear when one juxtaposes the status of being an American-born, American-citizen Japanese (the Nisei), and of being a first-generation immigrant from Japan (the Issei).
Sincerely, Amy and Myrenda
Literature 10, Ms. Britte Marsh
Fudan International School
Shanghai, China
Dear Amy and Myrenda,
DeleteThank you both for your comment. You make two very good points, one about how those who discriminate against Japanese Americans or Muslim Americans don't see how American these dual-heritage citizens are, and how much of their culture of origin they've given up.
It is sad to be looked upon as "other" in both your native country, and in the country of your parents and grandparents, which is often how the American children of immigrants are viewed in their ancestral countries.
The second point is also very true, about the differences in how Issei and Nisei were treated. Issei were not allowed to own land, and often they owned property under their children's name.
Thank you for your comment, and good luck with your studies!
Dear all of you in Ms. Britte's class. I am overwhelmed and so grateful for your reading "Documenting Manzanar," and for your thoughtful comments. I'm in Japan now, and when I come back, will write you a longer and more thoughtful note in answer to your comments.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for sharing your thoughts with me! And a big thank you to Ms. Britte, too, for coming up with this wonderful lesson plan.
Best,
Nancy