The year is 1941 and the United States has managed to remain out of the 2nd World War. But on the morning of December 7th, history was changed for the American people. At 7:55am, Japanese militants dropped the first bombs on Pearl Harbor. This is “a date which will live in infamy.” Whether we liked it or not, America was now involved in World War II. Americans all across the country had to make many sacrifices to help out with the war efforts. There were restrictions placed on consumer goods such as automobiles, electronics, and nylons. Also, there were limitations placed on housing construction. But the greatest sacrifice of all was made by the Japanese Americans. In Mine Okubo’s book Citizen …show more content…
Through her illustrations and the text she shows us the reality of these harsh wartime conditions and how the Japanese Americans managed to make the most of the situation they were placed in. They managed to come together to create their own little community with schools, and visual arts, and even their own newspaper. Okubo’s illustrations allow us to see her emotions as we read her writings. Many of her emotions in the illustrations seem to lack any sort of anger and shed somewhat of a humorous light onto the text itself. I feel like her narrations would take on a more serious tone if her drawings were not present in the …show more content…
Although the Japanese-Americans were citizens of the United States and residences within the country, they did not have equivalent rights during this time in history. “The Constitution makes him a citizen of the United States by nativity and a citizen of California by residence. No claim is made that he is not loyal to this country.” Many Japanese-Americans were being treated as if they had been disloyal to the US and even alienated because of how they looked. Also, the freedom to own land was taken from them as well. “The Federal Reserve Banks took charge of property owned by evacuees, while the Farm Security Administration took over the agricultural property.” Owning property is one of the greatest freedoms and American can uphold and as history has shown it can easily be taken away in an instant. Japanese-Americans were forced to sell everything because they were very limited in what they could take with them to the internment