Manzanar — Testament to racism in the U.S.
Not everyone made it out of Manzanar alive. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
By Kathryn Reed
INDEPENDENCE – Without touching the barbed wire, it inflicts a wound on my soul.
The raw imagery of Manzanar coupled with my imagination is almost too much to take in. What’s left of this internment camp is a stark reminder of one of the darkest times in U.S. history.
The government sent more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans to what were called war relocation centers. Others would call it jail. The only crime committed was their ancestry.
After Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942 issued an executive order that removed anyone of Japanese descent – even if they were born in the United States – to the camps. It was forced incarceration. Most lost their homes, businesses and worldly belongings all because they looked different than the white power structure.
Guard towers were located throughout the property to ensure no one escaped. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
They were finally allowed to leave the camps in November 1945, three months after World War II ended.
Manzanar is a juxtaposition with its desolate beauty. The Eastern Sierra peaks – including Mount Whitney – tower over the Owens Valley. They are majestic no matter the season. For the people shipped there they were just another physical barrier. Most of those at Manzanar had come from coastal towns in California.
They had to endure barren conditions. Temperatures in the summer along this outpost on Highway 395 can hit triple digits. It was nothing like what they were used to.
When Manzanar was open there were rows of barracks. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
The 504 barracks housed 11,070 people. Privacy didn’t exist – showers were communal and toilets had no barriers. Dust blew through the knot holes in the floorboards. Mattresses were filled with hay.
Looking at the barracks today from the outside it would be easy to say these were nothing more than barns – except people were housed in them.
It was like a little self-contained city in some ways. A driving tour points to where a garden once blossomed, to the various buildings that have long since been demolished. It was row, upon row of substandard housing.
Barracks were crowded and lacked privacy. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
The first time I went to Manzanar I watched the video in the visitors center. To this day I remember walking out feeling ashamed to be white, ashamed to live in a country that could lock people away because of their race.
When I went back last year there had been improvements to the displays that allowed me to get a better idea of what living conditions were like. Cots fill the barracks. Cloths lines are full of hand washed items. They lived out of suit cases or trunks. There were no closets.
Remnants of the limited recreation at the site. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
A dirt basketball court shows there was time for play amid the travesty.
Scattered about are testimonials regarding the “loyalty questionnaire” they had to fill out. One question asked if the men would serve in the military and if the women would aid the war effort in some other manner. They were being asked to fight for a country that had taken away their freedoms. That irony was not lost on them.
Manzanar was one of 10 war relocation centers. Photo Copyright 2017 Carolyn E. Wright
More than 130 internees died at Manzanar. One of the inmates who had been a stonemason built a memorial at the cemetery. The literal translation of the inscription means “soul consoling tower,” though some say a better phrase in English would be “memorial to the dead.”
Since 1992 Manzanar has been a National Historic Site operated under the National Park Service. It’s one of those places every U.S. citizen should go to – especially white ones. We can’t forget our history, lest we repeat the evils of the past.
I was there this past summer on a motorcycle trip it was haunting.
Thank you, Kae. Like you, I’ve been reflecting on my trip to Manzanar recently. I turn 53 this week and was never taught about this shameful slice of our history while in school, although the Salinas Rodeo Grounds — a temporary detention facility for over 3,000 people — was less than five miles away.
My friend and I visited Manzanar many years ago, then our family again, taking a Swiss Exchange Student.
Each time we wondered: how could our people have done such a thing to the innocent. They were soul-searching visits, all within view of the mighty Mt. Whitney, and only a few miles from where my mother taught her first year of school. Many books have been written by survivors and survivors still give talks on their reflections of those years. We must never forget what horrors people do to people…..and we thought we were Civilized!
Thank you for this article!
This is a moving portrayal Kay. I had the same reaction when I visited. I especially loved the new messages left by visitors as they tried to explain how they felt. Everyone should be visit here.
In the context of the time where America and its allies were fighting the Japanese, German, and Italian axis for its very existence FDR, the great Democratic icon, issued an order for the internment of all persons of Japanese ancestry, along with internment of many Germans and Italians living in America. Only about half of the Japanese interned were citizens.
After Pearl Harbor there was a massive hatred of our new adversary and many historians believe for their own protection a round up and detention was necessary.
As an aside Stephan Ambrose, the great historian, said that what the Japanese military machine did to civilians and prisoners would have made the Germans blush.
Again, without taking the context of the times, you fail in making your judgments of the behaviors of that time.
Of course many, many Americans of Japanese ancestry were in two words, screwed over.
In the scheme of things there is no finer country ever in the existence of the human race. But, of course, we are not without blemishes both small and large.
So folks, please don’t only look at our warts without understanding the greatness and goodness of the United States of America.
Carl if you really want to have a haunting experience please visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial or Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen. If you want to really feel emotion visit the cemeteries at Normandy where your tears can flow. The seas of crosses are a sight never to be forgotten.
Ken Weitzman
PS Maybe I was just lucky to have Mr. Thomas Sanderson as a history teacher for four semesters while in high school in Los Angeles. He was a graduate of UCLA and taught history with truth and honesty. My history teachers at Santa Monica City College were also excellent. I wish I could thank them all personally but unfortunately they have all passed on.
Passed on…hmmm…just how long do you people think you’re going to live anyway? 75 yrs IF you’re lucky.
You should all calm down and enjoy life a little…you are just N0t going tp be here or anywhere else for that matter very long.
Hi Kae,
Thank you for your story on Manzanar. It is so relevant in this week’s developments with Trump signing Executive orders that can be construed as racial bigotry and xenophobic.
If we do not learn from history, where is our progress?
I don’t believe in persecuting people because of their ethnicity or religion. No matter what the alternative facts are from Mr Trump, his executive orders appear to be a reincarnation of the Japanese encampment.
FDR made over 3500 executive orders (yes he was in for 12 years), but the next highest was half that amount. Trump is in line to compete for this trophy. Making decisions without consult.
Yes, this article is very relevant… For those naysayers…WAKE UP.
“History repeats itself”…because nobody listens.